Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Kayleigh Donaldson | Film | May 8, 2026
It’s uncommon for mainstream Chinese films to get a wide release outside of their country. They don’t get the same international rollout that is typical of American blockbusters, achingly expensive tentpole flicks that need a worldwide audience (and their cash) to cover the exorbitant costs. While many Hollywood IP fare is now made with a non-American audience in mind, China hasn’t had to bother so much with that. Being the most populous country on the planet certainly helps with the grosses, and their biggest earners don’t necessarily need the extra money that comes with a larger release. So, when I see one of these Chinese blockbusters playing in my local cinema in Dundee, Scotland, I know it’s an even bigger deal than usual. It happened with Ne Zha 2, which went on to become the fifth highest-grossing film of all time, and it’s happening with Pegasus 3.
飞驰人生3 (which translates to “Flying Through Life”) is the latest part in the Pegasus film series. The franchise is the brainchild of Han Han, a writer and former professional rally driver who frequently wrote about his life on the track. He was something of a poster child in 2000s China, representing the generation who were torn between modernity and tradition amid the country’s rapid political shift. But Han also faced a number of controversies, including accusations that his writing was done by ghostwriters and maybe also his dad. He moved into directing in 2014 and had some success, but it wasn’t until Pegasus in 2019 where things really changed.
The film is inspired by Han’s life story and follows Zhang Chi (played by Shen Teng), a top driver who suffers a fall from grace and is suspended from the sport after being caught in an illegal drag racing game. Five years later, he’s a single father and making an honest living when he decides to re-enter the sport and fight to reclaim the top spot. It’s a solid comedy, although there aren’t enough driving scenes, and it all ends on a massive cliffhanger. It was also somewhat certain to be a hit, given its Lunar New Year release date and the presence of Shen Teng, a major star in China who is one of the highest-grossing actors in the country.
A sequel followed in 2024, which made even more money and became the second highest-grossing Chinese film of the year. But this year, Pegasus 3 went even bigger. The threequel largely features the same cast and crew as its predecessor (it’s a massive sausage fest, with nary a woman to be seen, alas.) Zhang Chi and his gang are invited to put together a team to represent China in a major international competition. There are schemes afoot but also a battle for something more important: friendship and the future of the sport. It currently has $647.8 million in the bank, making it the second highest-earning title of 2026, right behind The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and that one had to get a major worldwide release to accrue those profits. It’s also already outgrossed F1.
The Pegasus series is not a critical darling - even the Letterboxd ratings are pretty average - but they are a pretty platonic ideal of a diverting for-all-ages comedy with some fun set pieces that beg to be seen at the cinema. It’s all supremely corny, the humour is blunt, and there’s a soppy end credits song featuring the cast. By the third one, the effects are a bit better, the racing scenes more kinetic, and the stakes higher. In many ways, it feels like a ’90s Hollywood film in terms of narrative (right down to the third film using “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen), but the jokes and themes are distinctly Chinese. You can pick up on it easily enough if you’re not Chinese (but definitely don’t jump straight into the third one) but these films don’t need outsiders to get them.
That makes them fascinating to people like me who are aware of how dependent American cinema has become on international money. It took a long time for the Chinese government to allow American films to receive a half-decent release in the country, and they still took a big cut of the earnings, but if you had a hit there, it would be worth it. For a while, every major franchise picture in Hollywood was made with the explicit intention of appealing to Chinese audiences. Look at how Transformers: Age of Extinction was set partly in China and featured scenes of shameless product placement for local products, or how Iron Man 3 had a China-exclusive cut that featured a cameo from actress Fan Bingbing. Now You See Me 2 shot in Macau.
This worked for a while, leading to some billion-dollar paydays and record-breaking grosses. But eventually, audiences in China grew weary of the weak pandering. They coined the phrase “flower vases” to refer to the hastily added cameos of Chinese actors in unimportant roles. After all, it wasn’t as though they were replacing Robert Downey Jr. with Jay Chou. As the 2010s rolled on, Chinese films were getting bigger and audiences were more drawn to stories and performers they had strong connections to. The influences of Hollywood were evident in the craft, but everything else was homegrown. Audiences love specificity, which is hard to do when you’re trying to make something that, by financial necessity, requires everyone to enjoy it. Sometimes, it results in a kind of creative homogeny that wears thin very quickly. When we get the chance to experience something made just for us, whoever we may be, we latch onto it. Some things, though, are universal, like the thrill of a car going very fast.
