Distributors' astronomical bet on upcoming film 'Mermaid'
- By Zhang Rui
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E-mail China.org.cn, January 14, 2016
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A poster of Deng Chao's character in Stephen Chow's new film "Mermaid." [Photo/China.org.cn] |
China.org.cn has independently contacted the reported distributors to verify the story. As of now, they have made no comment. The reports indeed demonstrate that the industry has high expectations and the distributors seem to see the potential for "Mermaid," which will debut during the Chinese calendar's New Year's Day on Feb.8, 2016 and may break a series of box office records.
"Mermaid" is a new science fiction comedy by China's "King of Comedy" Stephen Chow, starring Deng Chao, Kitty Zhang Yuqi, Jelly Lin Yun, Show Lo and Kris Wu. Chow has been absent from the big screen for three years as he focused on making this new film. His previous film, "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" (2013) made box office history as the highest grossing film released during the lunar New Year holiday and remains one of the top grossing films of all time, with domestic grosses of US$189.75 million and a worldwide total of US$215 million.
It was reported that Chow allowed a lavish budget for "Mermaid", using as much as 400 million yuan (US$60.72 million), much of which was spent on special effects.
Chow's film will face two other furious rivals. The first one is "The Monkey King 2," the sequel to the 2014 box office hit "The Monkey King" with Cheang Pou-soi returning as director with Sammo Hung as action director, replacing Donnie Yen from the previous installment. The film stars Aaron Kwok, Gong Li, Feng Shaofeng, Xiao Shenyang and Law Chung-him. Considering the incredible popularity of the classic novel "Journey to the West" together with the film's star-studded cast, fabulous visual effects and the special significance that this is the Year of the Monkey in the Chinese Zodiac, the film is expected to earn massive grosses as it opens on the same day as "Mermaid."
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