A scene from Feng Xiaogang's film Aftershock (MTIME.COM)

Feng Xiaogang's latest film Aftershock has taken just two weeks to become the most profitable Chinese-language film ever.

The tearjerker, about a mother's three-decade-long struggle with the emotional repercussions of the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, has raked in 510 million yuan ($75.4 million) as of August 7, according to projected figures released by the distributor Huayi Brothers.

This is the second crown for Feng, whose 2008 romantic comedy If You Are the One earned 350 million yuan, a new record for Chinese cinema before it was outdone by the all-star epic The Founding of a Republic in 2009 with 415 million yuan.

Aftershock, the first Chinese film released in IMAX, has been rapidly making money since its July 22 opening. It surpassed the 100-million-yuan mark in three days, faster than The Founding of a Republic.

Feng wrote on his blog on Saturday that he expected Aftershock to reach 600 million yuan in the next week.

The director is currently filming a sequel to If You Are the One, due out around Christmas.

(CRIENGLISH.com August 9, 2010)