Hit racing comedy makes Shen Teng top-grossing actor in China

BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Thanks to the tremendous success of racing comedy hit "Pegasus 2," comedian and actor Shen Teng has replaced Wu Jing as the top-grossing actor at China's box office, in terms of the total box office revenue of films in which he played a leading role.

The combined revenue of all the films featuring Shen in a leading role was approximately 33.501 billion yuan (about 4.72 billion U.S. dollars) as of Monday afternoon, surpassing the previous champion Wu's total of 33.495 billion yuan, according to film data platform Maoyan.

"Pegasus 2," the sequel to a 2019 blockbuster racing film by writer-director Han Han, has played a pivotal role in Shen's ascent to the top. Since its release during the lucrative Spring Festival movie-going period in February, it has galloped its way to a staggering 3.386 billion yuan at China's box office.

Meanwhile, comedienne Ma Li has continued her reign as the top-grossing actress at China's box office. The cumulative earnings of films in which she played a leading role have reached 19.478 billion yuan, followed by Scarlett Johansson's total earnings of 12.535 billion yuan, according to Maoyan.