Posters for the 5th Beijing International Film Festival [Photo/njdaily.cn]

The 5th Beijing International Film Festival started online ticket sales on April 9, selling over two million tickets within the first two hours according to the festival organizers.

Tickets for the festival went on sale on the official website, gewara.com and mtime.com. According to the festival organizers, the ticket sales hit the one million mark within 15 minutes of launch.

American movies such as Once Upon a Time in America, The Godfather trilogy, Gone Girl are among the most best selling, while tickets for the late Japanese animation master Kon Satoshi’s work are already sold out. Last year’s Golden Lion Award winner A Pigeon Sat on a Branch and Academy Award Best Picture Birdman are also hot choices. It’s reported that China Film Archive has sold 12,000 tickets, more than the total number last year.

The 5th Beijing International Film Festival will kick off on April 16 and end on 23. Around 300 Chinese and foreign films will be played in cinemas, art institutions and colleges around Beijing.