A scene in On Your Mark. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

From the 2016 hit Dangal to this year's box-office champion Hi, Mom, touching tales about family affection have demonstrated their market potential as a popular genre.

On Your Mark - a new film that also delves into the theme - opened across the mainland theaters Friday, two days before Father's Day.

Under the helm of Malaysian director Chiu Keng Guan, the film casts veteran actor Wang Yanhui and rising star Zhang Youhao in a story about a taxi driver and his son, a marathon enthusiast who's struggling with a visual impairment disease.

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Actors Wang Yanhui (right) and Zhang Youhao, respectively starring a taxi driver and his son, attended the movie's Beijing premiere on June 15, 2021. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

In order to help his son to realize his dream, the father helps his son to join a marathon competition, serving as his son's personal "assistant" to run together on the 42-kilometer-long route.

Adapted from a true story, the film was shot in Southwest China's Chongqing.

Director Chiu said during a recent premiere held in a downtown Beijing cinema that Chinese people are restrained and shy to speak out their love to their children, wishing the movie can serve as a gift to enhance family ties on Father's Day.