The Chinese film beating James Bond at the box office

The biggest movie in the world right now is not the latest Bond film No Time To Die or even Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

It's a Chinese propaganda film about the 1950s Korean War, centred on a story of Chinese soldiers defeating American troops despite great odds.

In just two weeks since its release, The Battle at Lake Changjin has made over $633m (£463m) at the box office. This puts it far ahead of Shang-Chi's global earnings of $402m, and in just half the time.

It is set to become China's highest-grossing film ever.

Its success is good news for China's pandemic-affected film sector as Covid forced cinemas to shut and reopen multiple times.

It is even better news for the state, which experts say appears to have nailed a formula of making propaganda appeal to the masses.

But for Hollywood looking in from the outside, the immense popularity of a local film like this could mean even more challenges ahead as it struggles to gain ground in China - the biggest film market in the world.