A domestic drama reminiscing about love on campus has dominated China's box office, taking 331.7 million yuan (about 53.9 million US dollars), since its debut on April 26.

Love story "So Young" is the first film by actress-turned-director Zhao Wei, who was catapulted to fame in TV series "Huan Zhu Ge Ge," or "Princess of Pearl," first shown in 1998.

In the week ending April 28, "So Young" raked in 148.6 million yuan, outperforming foreign counterpart "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," an action sequel which took 80.2 million yuan, China Film News said on Friday.

"The Croods," a cartoon set in the stone age, came third, taking 64.8 million yuan in the week.

"So Young" was also the most favored movie during the May Day holiday ending on Wednesday, earning 183 million yuan in ticket sales, according to the paper.

But, it added, the drama is on the edge of losing top spot as "Iron Man 3" has set a new Chinese box office record by raking in 116 million yuan on its opening day on Wednesday.

The superhero sequel topped the 110 million yuan which "Transformers 3" took on its opening day in 2011.