Quake epic set for box office record
Source: Xinhua |
July 19, 2010, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
COULD the movie "Aftershock," about a mother's 30-year journey to an emotional reunion with the daughter she thought lost in the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, become China's most commercially successful movie?
That's the hope of the movie's director, Feng Xiaogang, who says he expects it to break the 500 million yuan (US$73.5 million) mark at the Chinese box office.
The current record holder, at 420 million yuan, is "The Founding of a Republic," a movie marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Although "Aftershock" has no big star names, it's a 150 million yuan production with foreign experts behind its visual effects, post-production and the miniature models of 1976 Tangshan. Also, the movie will be released in the IMAX format, a first for a Chinese movie.
Feng says that although the movie might seem like a typical summer action-and-disaster movie, it was really a heart-touching story about family and the healing of survivors' emotional wounds.
At the movie's recent world premiere in Tangshan, many in the 15,000-strong audience were in tears.
"For old folks like us, the movie reminds us about the painful past," said Zhao Xicheng, a 62-year-old survivor of the Tangshan quake, at the premiere.
In response to those who fear the movie might be too traumatic, Li Xianping, manager of the Ziguang Theater in Beijing, reassured movie-goers that the movie will tell the tragic story with an emphasis on family love.
She also said the movie was likely to net 500 million yuan in box office takings, citing the fact that it faced no strong competition and Feng's reputation for making popular movies.
Hao Shuang, a Tangshan-born college student, said he would see the movie to compare it with the stories his mother told him.
Lu Xiongyu, 24, who works in a foreign company in Beijing, said "Aftershock" would help him know how people lived through the disaster.
As to the sadness and pain the movie might cause, he said: "If you really want to know the disaster, you'll have to feel the agony."
"Aftershock" opens across the country on Thursday.
That's the hope of the movie's director, Feng Xiaogang, who says he expects it to break the 500 million yuan (US$73.5 million) mark at the Chinese box office.
The current record holder, at 420 million yuan, is "The Founding of a Republic," a movie marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Although "Aftershock" has no big star names, it's a 150 million yuan production with foreign experts behind its visual effects, post-production and the miniature models of 1976 Tangshan. Also, the movie will be released in the IMAX format, a first for a Chinese movie.
Feng says that although the movie might seem like a typical summer action-and-disaster movie, it was really a heart-touching story about family and the healing of survivors' emotional wounds.
At the movie's recent world premiere in Tangshan, many in the 15,000-strong audience were in tears.
"For old folks like us, the movie reminds us about the painful past," said Zhao Xicheng, a 62-year-old survivor of the Tangshan quake, at the premiere.
In response to those who fear the movie might be too traumatic, Li Xianping, manager of the Ziguang Theater in Beijing, reassured movie-goers that the movie will tell the tragic story with an emphasis on family love.
She also said the movie was likely to net 500 million yuan in box office takings, citing the fact that it faced no strong competition and Feng's reputation for making popular movies.
Hao Shuang, a Tangshan-born college student, said he would see the movie to compare it with the stories his mother told him.
Lu Xiongyu, 24, who works in a foreign company in Beijing, said "Aftershock" would help him know how people lived through the disaster.
As to the sadness and pain the movie might cause, he said: "If you really want to know the disaster, you'll have to feel the agony."
"Aftershock" opens across the country on Thursday.
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