Beijing, Aug 1 (IANS) Chinese cinemas’ box office hit a record high of 5.49 billion yuan ($897.5 million) in July, said data from the country’s entertainment authority.

A total of 159 million people went to cinema last month and box office revenue this year has totalled 25.85 billion yuan, reported Xinhua.

The new monthly record owes much to the success of Chinese films, which raked in more than 5.2 billion yuan, about 95.6 percent of the overall figure.

The three biggest earners — live-action animation “Monster Hunt”, animated feature “Monkey King: Hero is Back”, and comedy “Jian Bing Man” — took up more than 60 percent of the ticket sales.

According to a US box office count, “Monster Hunt” has also outperformed Hollywood productions “Minions” and “Ant-Man” in total box office gains.

It is estimated that the film earnings in China last month exceeded the yearly numbers from 2002 to 2005 combined.