China's box office hit Pegasus 3 premieres in London

Pegasus 3, the highest-grossing film in China during the 2026 Chinese New Year holiday, had its London premiere on Wednesday.

According to data from the Chinese ticketing platform Maoyan, as of Thursday, the racing-comedy tops China's 2026 Spring Festival box office with a gross revenue of over 3.4 billion yuan ($497 million) after 10 days of release. It is followed by the espionage thriller Scare Out — directed by Zhang Yimou — in second place, and the comic book-based historical action film Blades of the Guardians in third.

As the third sequel of the series — directed by Han Han and starring one of China's most bankable comedic actors, Shen Teng — Pegasus 3 continues the story of racer Zhang Chi as he becomes the coach of the underdog national team and leads it into the international Muchen 100 Rally, bringing entertainment, tears, and excitement to audiences in London.

"During the last hour or so, when they do that race, honestly, I couldn't look away from the screen," audience member Callum Williams said. "In a typical Western movie that's two hours long, maybe one hour is spent on character setup and only half an hour on the race. In this movie, however, so much time and emphasis were dedicated to the race itself, with so much detail, and I loved that."

"I've grown up watching different car movies, but I felt like this one was a different take on what you usually see when people race in movies," Crash Threlfall said. "It was really cool."

Audience member Sal Esen described it as very well made. "It worked on an entertainment level, and at the same time it worked as a piece of filmmaking — the pacing, the editing, the shots, the story, the visuals. The acting was very good, too."

Esen also believes the film explores a universal theme that audiences worldwide can relate to. "It's entertaining and fun, yet serious. You can see the politics behind sports franchises, a theme that transcends nationality. Whether you are Chinese, Greek, English, or Turkish, it doesn't matter."

Another audience member, Tony Gohagan, compared it to a cross between Ron Howard, who makes autobiographical, serious, moving movies, and Michael Bay, who directed the Transformers films.

"There was lots of dynamic action, inventive camera work, and action used as a way of conveying emotion and narrative," he added.

The first two installments of the series were released during the 2019 and 2024 Spring Festival seasons, grossing a combined 5 billion yuan ($730 million).

The third installment has entered the top 20 of China's all-time box office chart as of Thursday.