Will foreign films 'conquer' the Chinese market this month?

If last December's Japanese anime Your Name, word-of-mouth flick Hacksaw Ridge and Oscar-favored Sully, are indicators of this year's box office performance, Chinese moviegoers should have high expectations for this December.

That's when a total of 12 foreign films from nine countries will be shown in Chinese movie theaters.

Loving Vincent, most expected among Chinese moviegoers

On Dec 1, six foreign films hit the big screens: Fireworks: Should We See It From the Side or the Bottom, Darkest Hour, Viking, Vier gegen die Bank, Aftermath and Kill Switch.

Adapted from prominent director Shunji Iwai's 1993 live-action TV drama of the same name, Fireworks hopes to follow in the footsteps of Iwai's Your Name anime, which saw box office success last year.

On Dec 8, six more films including Loving Vincent, Only the Brave, Paddington 2, Raid Dingue and 47 Meters Down opened in Chinese theaters. Loving Vincent, one of the most anticipated films among moviegoers, is a 2017 biographical animated drama film about the life of painter Vincent van Gogh. The film was also marked as one of "10 Animators to Watch in 2017" by Variety magazine.

Family-friendly Christmas film Santa and Cie, or Christmas and Co., will be shown on Dec 15.