Actor Wang Baoqiang in his directorial debut, Buddies in India. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Meanwhile, except for animated movie Bonnie Bears: Entangled Worlds and author-turned-director Han Han's second directorial venture, Duckweed, the remaining seven films to be released for Chinese New Year are all comedies.

Among them is Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons 2. The first collaboration in 40 years to unite top directors Tsui Hark and Stephen Chow presents a loosely humorous adaptation of the 16th-century novel Journey to the West.

Hark takes the director's role while Chow is the producer.

Incidentally, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons 1 topped the box-office charts during the 2013 Spring Festival. And Chow's Mermaid topped the 2016 Spring Festival ticket charts. So industry watchers expect the sequel's dream-team duo of Hark and Chow will give the new film an added edge.

But doubts about the film persist because of its casting of Kris Wu and Lin Gengxin, who have been criticized for their performances.

Among the other comedies is Jackie Chan's Kung Fu Yoga, the first China-India coproduction.