The biggest movie in the world right now isn't from Marvel or DC. It's a Chinese sci-fi movie.

• The Chinese movie "Moon Man" was the biggest movie in the world over the weekend.
• It's a bright spot for the Chinese box office, which has been hindered by lockdowns this year.

DC's "League of Super Pets," an animated movie about Superman's dog, topped the US box office over the weekend with $23 million. But it wasn't the biggest movie worldwide.

That honor went to the Chinese film "Moon Man," which grossed $129 million over the weekend, according to Comscore, all from the China market. "League of Super Pets" grossed a total of $41 million when accounting for international markets.

"Moon Man" centers on an astronaut who is stranded alone on the moon after Earth is destroyed.

The movie is a bright spot for the China box office, which has been hindered this year, compared to last year, by pandemic-related lockdowns.

China surpassed North America as the biggest box office in the world in 2020 through 2021 as US theaters were closed for most of 2020 and the industry struggled to recover last year.

Chinese-produced films carried the local box office in that time. The Chinese war film "Battle at Lake Changjin" was the second-biggest movie of 2021, behind "Spider-Man: No Way Home," with over $900 million, largely from China.

But the North American box office is on pace to retake its box-office crown this year thanks to a sluggish China box office and Hollywood releases like "Top Gun: Maverick," which has grossed $650 million in the US alone.

The Chinese box office is at $3.09 billion so far this year, according to the film-business consultancy firm Artisan Gateaway. The North American box office is at $4.85 billion so far, according to Comscore.