BEIJING, June 19 (Xinhua) -- China's word-of-mouth movie sensation "Dear You" has grossed more than 1.8 billion yuan (about 264 million U.S. dollars) at the domestic box office as of Friday, according to ticketing platform Maoyan.

Released on April 30, the low-budget, Chaoshan-dialect film featuring a largely unknown cast has emerged as one of China's biggest cinematic successes this year, gaining momentum through strong audience recommendations.

Its rating on Chinese review platform Douban recently rose to 9.3 out of 10.