CHINESE moviegoers are hooked on Australian thriller Bait 3D.
The film has taken the number one position at the Chinese box office, grossing $1.96 million on its first day of release.
In just three days the film has already reached $7m in China's box-office takings.
Bait 3D opened on more than 1700 screens, making it the largest release of any Australian film in China, and its box-office success will probably result in more screens being added this week, according to Screen Australia.
The Australian film stars Xavier Samuel (Twilight) and former Home and Away actress Sharni Vinson. It revolves around a group of shoppers who find themselves trapped in a flooded underground supermarket with a crazed gunman and a giant great white shark after a freak tsunami hits an Australian seaside community.
Screen Australian chief executive Ruth Harley said the strong result in China was a testament to a marketing strategy for the film that had its focus on "broad international audience appeal".
Director Kimble Rendall puts the film's success in China down to a "massive" publicity and advertising campaign run by Chinese distributors Yunnan Film Group and Enlight Media.
"We have been absolutely thrilled with the campaign undertaken by Yunnan and Enlight, who could really see the potential for Bait 3D in the Chinese market," she said.
"Their faith has been vindicated by this stunning result, which follows box-office success for the film in other countries, including Malaysia where it has taken $US1.2m ($1.17m), as well as Russia, Italy and Vietnam."
Bait 3D is screening in Australia.