The Mermaid

[GeneChing]

Not sure if this will have any Kung Fu, but it's Stephan Chow.

The teaser is embedded in the article below but I found it on YouTube.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jskKf5YDDAI


First Teaser For ‘The Mermaid,’ From ‘Kung Fu Hustle’ Director Stephen Chow (http://thefilmstage.com/trailer/first-teaser-for-the-mermaid-from-kung-fu-hustle-director-stephen-chow/)
Written by Leonard Pearce on December 9, 2015

http://thefilmstage.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/The-Mermaid-1-620x378.png

With his unique brand of thrills and comedy on display in films like Kung Fu Hustle, CJ7, and Shaolin Soccer, the latest film from director Stephen Chow is always one to anticipate. Those in China will be getting one early next year with The Mermaid, and today brings the first entertaining teaser.
Said to follow a biological professor who discovers a real mermaid and falls in love, the first preview doesn’t reveal any of that story, but instead sets up quite a comedic scenario before getting a brief glimpse at the titular star. Hopefully arriving at film festivals in the United States sometime next year, check out the teaser trailer below for the film starring Deng Chao, Show Luo, Kris Wu, Lin Yun and Zhang Yuqi.


http://thefilmstage.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/The-Mermaid-Poster-620x326.png

The Mermaid hits theaters on February 8th, 2016 in China.

[GeneChing]

I got to hand it to Chow. This audition is brilliant. ;)


Stephen Chow Holds Open Casting Call for Upcoming Film "Mermaid" (http://english.cri.cn/12394/2014/09/16/2982s844414.htm)
2014-09-16 17:02:13 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Yangyang

http://english.cri.cn/mmsource/images/2014/09/16/acfea22b6b514060a5f2bb18f66ada24.jpg
A candidate performs during a public casting call for Stephen Chow's new movie 'Mermaid' in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, 15 September 2014. [Photo: CFP]

Hong Kong director and comedic actor Stephen Chow held a public casting call for his upcoming film 'Mermaid' on Monday in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province.

13 candidates joined the competition for the female lead; among them, six were chosen to continue in the audition process.

Recently, there has been a lot of online public criticism from many celebrities on Chow's personal life and working attitude, followed by the criticism from Tiffany Chen, producer and wife of China Star Chairman Charles Heung.

Chow seemed unconcerned with the criticism, and focused on the casting process of his upcoming film. He was full of smiles Monday while surrounded with hopefuls for the lead female role.

Neither did Chow's fans seem fazed by the buzz, coming to the site in waves and often shouting their support.

Mermaid is slated for a 2015 release.

http://english.cri.cn/mmsource/images/2014/09/16/9e586788171243709976fdc0c9b3198a.jpg
Hong Kong actor-director Stephen Chow at a public casting for his new movie 'Mermaid' in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, 15 September 2014. [Photo: CFP]

http://english.cri.cn/mmsource/images/2014/09/16/8f8d9bae1e794672802281940d8689c8.jpg
Hong Kong director Stephen Chow (R) presents a trophy to an auditioner during a public casting call for his new movie 'Mermaid' in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, 15 September 2014. [Photo: CFP]

http://english.cri.cn/mmsource/images/2014/09/16/9fc11f2d24324098be2b88b6047de864.jpg
A candidate performs during a public casting call for Stephen Chow's new movie 'Mermaid' in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, 15 September 2014. [Photo: CFP]

[GeneChing]

Stephen Chow Pursues Perfection in upcoming Comedy "The Mermaid" (http://english.cri.cn/12394/2016/01/25/4083s914471.htm)
2016-01-25 08:54:13 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Niu Honglin

http://english.cri.cn/mmsource/images/2016/01/25/3be305cf098341f08996fc56b1033adb.jpg
Poster of "The Mermaid" [File Photo: mtime.com]

With Hong Kong filmmaker Stephen Chow's latest work "The Mermaid" set to hit screens across China during next month's Spring Festival, the cast have taken time out to praise the director for his attention to detail and his desire to achieve perfection.

Chow is known for having strict demands of the actors and actresses who star in his films, but the cast, especially his leading stars Show Luo and Kris Wu, said they still enjoyed filming the science fiction comedy.

"I have to repeat my performance several times to meet the director's demands. It's toilsome but fun too."

"Every detail of the film is the best it can be because it's carefully selected by Grandmaster Sing."

The theme song of the movie, which was recently released, is a classic called "You Are Still the Best in the World."

Originally from the 1983 hit drama "Legend of the Condor Heroes," the song was re-recorded by Karen Mok and Adam Cheng.

It marks the first cooperation between Chow and Mok in 15 years.

The film is scheduled to be released on Feb. 8, the first day of the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Monkey.

I confess. I luv mermaid movies. :o

[PalmStriker]

:) I've become such a Stephen Chow fan, will have to see this one, especially as it is supposed to be a SciFi comedy. Year of the Monkey release date, strategic.

[donnyir]

Love the song rendition of LOCH 1983... Fun fact : a young Stephen Chow was actually appeared as an extra in the Legend of Condor Heroes 1983 (episode 1)


http://youtu.be/_6EypQM1qXI

[GeneChing]

Welcome back Stephen!


China just had its biggest day EVER at the box office, taking in 660 million yuan (http://shanghaiist.com/2016/02/10/china_box_office_record.php)

http://shanghaiist.com/attachments/shang_shanghaiist/mermaid_film.jpg

Cinema-goers overachieved this Lunar New Year's Day, with box office takings on Monday outdoing last year's single-day record by 78%. Stephen Chow's The Mermaid dominated with the best opening-day performance for a Chinese film ever.
According to EntGroup data, box office gross on Monday totalled 660 million yuan ($100.5 million), with The Mermaid taking most of that profit at $40.9 million. It's set an opening-day record in the country for a Chinese-language film, and is second only overall to the opening-day performance of Furious 7 last year.
A distant runner-up to The Mermaid was Chow Yun Fat's The Man From Macau 3, which raked in $26.9 million.
And a close third place was The Monkey King 2, at $25 million.
Meanwhile, DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda 3 has already faded from the spotlight, grossing just $2.9 million on NY Day. It also saw a 70% slump in performance in its second weekend, pulling in a mere $15.1 million from Friday to Sunday.
But while the top three enjoyed a combined screening total of 186,718 on Monday, Kung Fu Panda 3 was disadvantaged with just 9212 showings. Overall it's achieved $106.3 million over an 11-day period.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@shanghaiist.com with further questions, comments or tips.
By Shanghaiist in News on Feb 10, 2016 12:00 PM

[GeneChing]

China Box Office: Stephen Chow's 'Mermaid' Nears $200M at Record Pace (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/china-box-office-stephen-chows-864665)
10:11 AM PST 2/12/2016 by Patrick Brzeski

http://cdn3.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2016/02/mermaid.jpg
'Mermaid'

Two other Chinese blockbusters — 'The Man From Macau 3' and 'The Monkey King 2' — have also done huge business over the Lunar New Year holiday.

Stephen Chow's latest hit comedy, Mermaid, has become the must-see movie of China's New Year holiday.

After just five days in cinemas, the literal fish-out-of-water rom-com has grossed a huge $187.3 million — the largest five-day start ever in China.

With two days still remaining in the "Golden Week" festive period — plus Valentine's Day on Sunday, a major movie date occasion — the film looks well positioned to make a run at Monster Hunt's $391 million all-time China record set last summer. Mermaid's $40.7 million opening on Monday already nabbed the crown for biggest single-day gross.

Fusing Chow's ribald brand of humor with a love story and an environmentalist message, Mermaid has won a warm reception from Chinese critics and mainstream moviegoers alike. The fantasy comedy centers on a billionaire playboy (Deng Chao) who buys a dolphin preserve with an intention to illegally develop it. A beautiful mermaid (firsttimer Jelly Lin) hatches a scheme to protect her aquatic brethren by seducing and assassinating the tycoon — but her plans become complicated after she falls in love with him.

Mermaid was produced by Beijing Enlight Pictures and China Film Group.

Mermaid's commanding performance is all the more impressive given that two other Chinese franchise sequels have been doing strong business in parallel. Chow Yun Fat's comedy caper The Man From Macau 3 has grossed $91.9 during the same period, while The Monkey King 2 starring Aaron Kwok has pulled in $87 million of its own.

DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda 3 has been drowned out by Mermaid and its blockbuster companions. On Friday, KFP3 earned only $3.5 million compared to Mermaid's $35.7 million haul. After 15 days in China, the DWA's threequel earned $119.6 million.

The Lunar New Year holiday drove China's box office to outperform the U.S. theatrical market in February 2015; a feat it expects to repeat by an even wider margin in February 2016.
I hope this kicks Monster Hunt (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68878-Monster-Hunt)'s ass.

[GeneChing]

A U.S. release! 33 theaters! Man, Chinese films are bringing me back to the movie theaters (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67299-Monkey-King-2&p=1290598#post1290598). :D


China Box Office: 'Mermaid' Becomes Top-Grossing Film Ever With $400M (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/stephen-chows-mermaid-highest-grosser-867913)
7:36 PM PST 2/19/2016 by Patrick Brzeski

http://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2016/02/mermaid_0.jpg
"Mermaid"
Beijing Enlight

The fantasy comedy from Beijing Enlight Pictures and China Film Group achieved a milestone on Friday.

Stephen Chow has reclaimed the throne as king of the Chinese box office.

By early evening Friday in China, the Hong Kong hitmaker's latest comedy Mermaid had grossed 2.45 billion yuan ($375.6 million), officially surpassing Monster Hunt to become the highest-grossing film ever in the country.

Monster Hunt, directed by DreamWorks Animation veteran Raman Hui, grossed $374 million over a period of two months last summer, topping Furious 7's previous mark of $372 million. Mermaid's record run is all the more impressive given that it was achieved in just 12 days. (Local Chinese currency is used to track box-office records, as the exchange rate to U.S. dollars fluctuates considerably).

The producers of Monster Hunt tweeted an illustrated congratulations from the film's official Weibo account, writing: "Congratulations Mermaid! Congratulations Stephen!"

U.S. moviegoers who are curious to see what the phenomenon is all about can check it out in select locations this weekend when Sony Pictures releases the Chinese blockbuster in 33 U.S. theaters.

Blending Chow's signature brand of ribald humor with a love story and an environmentalist message, Mermaid centers on a billionaire playboy (Deng Chao) who buys a dolphin preserve with the intention of illegally developing it. A beautiful mermaid (played by newcomer Jelly Lin) plots to protect the aquatic paradise by seducing and assassinating the tycoon — but her plans go awry after she falls in love with him. The film was produced by Beijing Enlight Pictures and China Film Group.

Mermaid opened on China's Lunar New Year's Day holiday, facing fierce competition from rival blockbusters The Monkey King 2 and The Man From Macau 3, starring Chow Yun Fat. Both of those films have been huge successes in their own right: Monkey King 2 has grossed $147.6 million, while The Man From Macau 3 has earned $145.9 million (Hollywood imports are blocked from release during the Chinese New Year period, one of the busiest moviegoing weeks of the year.)

Mermaid's gross has an undisputed claim to the domestic box-office record. Monster Hunt's record was slightly tainted last fall by revelations that distributor Edko Films had purchased and given away some 40 million free tickets to boost returns. Chinese regulators also left the film in cinemas for an unheard-of 59 days until it finally topped Furious 7.

There is no contesting Mermaid's dominance. The film is expected to swim past the $400 million mark before the end of the weekend.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvMk7Z0Sp7E

[GeneChing]

It's showing through Cinemark, not AMC Wanda.


MEI REN YU (THE MERMAID) (http://www.cinemark.com/mei-ren-yu-(the-mermaid).aspx)

http://www.cinemark.com/media/50916943/the-mermaid-posterfinal.jpg

Open Limited 2/19/2016
Runtime 94 min
MPAA Rating NR
Genre Mandarin with English and Chinese Subtitles - Science fiction, Drama, Romance, Fantasy


Their website seems to be malfunctioning. For local theaters, their site shows:

Century 20 Great Mall and XD
1010 Great Mall Drive,
Milpitas, CA 95035 (map)
Tel: 408-942-7441

Century 20 Daly City and XD
1901 Junipero Serra Blvd.,
Daly City, CA 94015 (map)
Tel: 650-994-2488

Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza 15 + Xtreme
4020 Marlton Ave ,
Los Angeles, CA 90008 (map)
Tel: 323-296-1005


But a general goog search turned up the following for me too:

AMC Cupertino Square 16 - Map
Standard 4:25pm 9:35
3D 2:20pm 7:00

AMC Metreon 16 - Map
Standard 4:35pm 9:45
3D 7:10pm

:confused:

[GeneChing]

How Sony Buried ‘The Mermaid,’ The Most Popular Movie In Chinese History (http://uproxx.com/movies/the-mermaid-sony/)
BY: CHARLES BRAMESCO 02.24.16

https://uproxx.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/mermaid-chinese-film-1200x800.jpg?quality=80&w=600
SONY

Right now, every executive in Hollywood faces the same simple and yet maddeningly complex quandary: There is a whole lot of money currently surging into China’s entertainment economy, and American executives are puzzled over how to best get at it. Diverting Chinese funds across the Pacific is no easy feat, and while the major studios have all made moves to establish a Chinese presence, either through partnerships with extant Chinese studios or Chinese branches of their own enterprises, the fact remains that they’re not optimizing their profit margins. (That’s business-talk for “making as much money as they could be.”) Marvel has smartly carved themselves a niche in overseas markets by aggressively pushing their properties with cross-cultural appeal, the most recent example being last summer’s Paul Rudd-played Ant-Man, the design of which bears a striking similarity to jet-packed heroes of vintage East Asian sci-fi. Still, Tinseltown’s top brass has their best people working round-the-clock to figure out how to siphon that sweet, sweet yuan out of Macau and onto our fair shores.

That was Sony’s intention when they acquired the U.S. distribution rights to The Mermaid, the latest film from Kung Fu Hustle director Stephen Chow and, not incidentally, the most successful Chinese film in history. The action-fantasy-romance has already raked in a mind-boggling $419 million in its native China, besting the likes of Furious 7 and Monster Hunt, the two closest competitors at $390 million and $381 million, respectively. With a swiftness fairly described only as Star Wars-esque, the film broke all manner of box-office records, setting new bars for biggest opening day, biggest opening weekend, and biggest single-day take. The Mermaid‘s performance stateside was just as astonishing, with a million-dollar gross across a paltry 35 theaters and a robust per-screen average of more than $28,000 — the highest of the weekend. By anyone’s measure, Chow’s picture has put up phenomenal numbers.

Which poses the question as to why The Mermaid‘s U.S. distributor has made just about no effort at all to support this film. As noted above, this major import has only screened in a measly 35 screens, effectively barring huge swaths of potential viewers from even gaining access to the film in the first place. But in that relatively tiny number of theaters, this film was released almost in secret. Film critic Simon Abrams claims that he’s consulted with multiple representatives from Sony who admitted to not even being aware that the studio was distributing the film. There’s been zero advertising and marketing to spread awareness of this release, no advance screenings for press. It’s almost as if Sony, having already spent money to acquire the distribution rights to The Mermaid, now has no interest whatsoever in bringing it to the public.

I was fortunate enough to track down a screening in a suburb half an hour north of my native Washington, D.C., by the name of Rockville, Maryland. And seated in the theater, actually bearing witness to The Mermaid, Sony’s reluctance to throw their weight behind the release starts to make a little sense. Chow’s latest is an abundantly, profoundly weird piece of work; there was no chance in hell that this thing could play in an American wide release. Set aside the film’s strong message of eco-responsibility, a testy topic among American audiences, and there are still a lot of potential turn-offs in the mix. Chow’s artistic sensibility vacillates wildly between slapstick comedy, gleefully graphic violence, and soft-focus romance with a herky-jerkiness to which it is difficult to acclimate. The man turns on a dime; in a single scene, a mermaid-assassin sent to murder a tycoon spoiling her waters with sonar waves pulls a knife on him and begins to fall in love with him within a minutes-long timespan. There’s plenty of weirdly juvenile sexual comedy, from an octopus-man using one of his tentacles as a phallic symbol to an older man who can’t stop ogling breasts. It is, to put it mildly, not family fun.

Though the showing I attended was in the middle of the workday on a Monday and perhaps not a representative sample, the 10-or-so other attendees were all of Asian descent, and scattered reports from screenings in other cities allege similar demographics. The Mermaid‘s strong showing may not definitively assert the wide-scale viability of highly idiosyncratic Chinese cinema, but it does confirm the buying power of Asian-American audiences in concentrated markets, which is a realization just as vital. To be completely clear, The Mermaid is by no means a bad film; quite the opposite, it’s freakishly imaginative and frequently hilarious. Chow’s a major talent, but while his new film has conquered audiences in China, Sony’s rinky-dink release may have been a wise move. It’s saddening that Sony isn’t willing to cast their vote of confidence in foreign cinema with a little more vigor, but it’s tough to blame them while watching a comic interlude in which the same octopus-man chops off his own tentacle for a hibachi grill.

But of course, just because a decision makes good business sense doesn’t mean it’s good for the world. Having the ability to see movies like The Mermaid — foreign pictures that offer an alternative to Hollywood in terms of style as well as subject matter — is an important moviegoing right, and Sony’s choice here could set a troubling precedent. While more foreign pictures than ever are now available through the wonders of On Demand, being able to sit down in a theater and enjoy the film as it was meant to be experienced is of paramount importance. Sony’s brushing of The Mermaid under the rug isn’t just worrisome news for the comparatively small but devoted fanbase of Stephen Chow. It bodes ill for anyone hoping to stumble into something weird, wonderful, and fantastical at the movies.

I really want to see this and it's playing just down highway from our office but I won't be able to get away this week. Maybe next week, if it is still playing...

[GeneChing]

It made GQ. :D


Why the Wildest, Most Bat**** Blockbuster Movie of the Year Is Almost Impossible to See (http://www.gq.com/story/the-mermaid-2016-box-office)
BY JOSHUA RIVERA February 24, 2016, 3:49 pm ET

http://media.gq.com/photos/56ce056abe7cc2d56687d93d/3:2/w_840/Screen%20Shot%202016-02-24%20at%202.31.10%20PM.png
CHINA FILM GROUP

There's a half-octopus dude involved. We want to know more.

As far as movie openings go, The Mermaid is one of the biggest of the year. In two weeks, it's grossed a ridiculous $431 million. For perspective, that's almost as much as the global gross revenue of another surprise hit, Deadpool—but The Mermaid made all that money in China alone.

The Mermaid is the latest film from Stephen Chow, the Hong Kong director behind award-winning madcap action comedies like Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle—movies that seem pretty in step with what The Mermaid offers. If you aren't familiar, think of live-action Looney Tunes–esque slapstick humor, with loads of sight gags and absurd goofballery like dancing, axe-wielding gangsters or hybrid soccer/kung fu fight scenes.

By all accounts, The Mermaid looks like yet another masterpiece of cartoonish insanity. There's a nonsensical plot about a mermaid sent to assassinate a billionaire whose company is polluting the oceans, except they fall in love, which complicates things. There's also the mermaid's uncle, who is not a merman, but half-octopus?

Look, there's a trailer and everything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvMk7Z0Sp7E

Funny story, though: If you want to actually see The Mermaid, you might be all out of luck. According to Box Office Mojo, Sony—the film's U.S. distributor—has only opened the film in 35 theaters, where it's made about $1 million. Even in New York City, a town where even Fifty Shades of Black is still screening and just about every noteworthy movie can be found, you can find The Mermaid playing in only two theaters, and starting Friday (its second weekend Stateside) it will only be in one.

This is one of the weird realities of the movie business in 2016, an industry where international markets are more important than ever to the success of our own tentpole blockbusters, but massive hits abroad are worth nary a whisper on our shores.

And what makes this really on topic is that Chiu Chi Ling (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=944) is in it.

[Jimbo]

I may catch it if it's ever released here on DVD. I've become increasingly picky about going to movie theaters anymore. I haven't even seen The Force Awakens yet(!). The moviegoing experience just isn't what it used to be through maybe the '90s. Audiences now are so blasé about everything.

[RenDaHai]

Saw it the other day (in China at the moment).

Has some really funny moments, but generally I'd say its on a par with a poor early 90's comedy.

I also saw the new SunWuKong just now. Actually good CGI but almost unwatchable, I just saw it 2 hours ago and I can't recall a single event in it, such a messy narrative, why can't these people ever just stick to the book.


Then again all movies seem to suck these days, its probably just me getting old. Seems to me like if you have seen every movie made between 1977-1986 then there is no need to watch any other movie again ever.

[GeneChing]

Extra points for seeing it in China, RDH! I liked Chow's earlier stuff. It was more raw, more mou lei tau. As we just met our submission deadline yesterday, I'm going to cut out of work early today to see this at an AMC Wanda (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69324-Wanda-amp-AMC) theater a few exits down the highway. So if all goes well, I'll have the 2nd forum review next week.

I enjoyed the new Monkey King 2, but we can take up discussion of that there (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67299-Monkey-King-2&p=1290598#post1290598). ;)


its probably just me getting old. Ha...my birthday is this weekend, so I'll just decline to comment on this. ;)


This made Slate, so it must be 'hip'

The Mermaid Comes Ashore (http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/movies/2016/02/stephen_chow_s_the_mermaid_reviewed.html)
Even Sony’s publicists didn’t know Stephen Chow’s new movie was opening in the U.S. But it’s demented, great, and a hit.
By David Ehrlich

http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/articles/arts/movies/2016/02/160226_MOV_the-mermaid.jpg.CROP.promo-xlarge2.jpg
Show Luo plays the half-octopus uncle in The Mermaid.
Bingo Movie Development

There’s an old film-critic proverb—maybe Manny Farber said it first?—Never waste your time writing breathlessly about the latest record-shattering numbers at the Chinese box office, because your sentence might be outdated by the time you put a period on it. Way back in late January—in this very magazine—I wrote about a film called Monster Hunt, which had just become the highest-grossing blockbuster in China’s history. And while a month ago it was hard to imagine that anything could ever top that fantasy adventure about a small-town mayor who gives birth to a vampiric radish creature, I simply didn’t know that Kung Fu Hustle director Stephen Chow had a 3-D mermaid message movie waiting in the wings.

I won’t make that mistake again! As of Feb. 21, The Mermaid has pulled in more than $419 million in China, putting it nearly $40 million ahead of the previous record. Welcome to the contemporary Chinese film industry, where the rulebooks are written on an Etch a Sketch.

But what’s truly amazing about The Mermaid is how it’s performing in the United States: This past weekend, a Sony subsidiary called Asia Releasing snuck the film into 35 domestic theaters without telling anyone, even their own employees. When critic Simon Abrams called Sony to discuss the release, three of the four reps he spoke to had no idea what he was talking about. On its first weekend, the film nevertheless grossed more than $1 million, raking in $29,000 per screen, almost twice the average of the blockbuster Deadpool.

In my review of Monster Hunt, I bemoaned the fact that the film was being dumped in American theaters and swept under the rug. I wrote that Hollywood’s aversion to importing foreign misunderstands what domestic audiences want, and limits all of us to the same stripe of homegrown mediocrity. As I lamented all those days ago: “It was only a matter of time before a lack of opportunity was mistaken for the audience’s lack of interest.”

Well! There was barely an empty seat in the Times Square theater where I went to see The Mermaid on Monday night. The crowd was overwhelmingly Chinese and Chinese-American; the only other white person I saw was a fellow critic, hunched over his his notebook. And every single person in that theater howled at Chow’s shamelessly derivative, relentlessly idiosyncratic box office behemoth.

Reimagining Hans Christian Andersen’s immortal story about the Little Mermaid and her beloved prince as a broad allegory for environmental negligence, Chow’s film doesn’t even let you into the story before you’ve survived a gauntlet of zaniness. The film opens with a country bumpkin leading a tour through his hilariously half-assed museum of aquatic discoveries. The grand finale of this tragic pageant: our pot-bellied guide lying shirtless in a bathtub with a wig on his head and a fish tail wrapped around his legs. (One of the visitors laughs so hard that he literally dies of a heart attack.) If this sounds great to you—it is great!—you’re well-primed for the spectacle to come.

Deng Chao (whom Westerners might recognize from Tsui Hark’s Detective Dee and the Phantom Flame) is Liu Xuan, a real estate tycoon whose sparkly purple suit crinkles with the sound of new money. His latest financial scheme involves a sea reclamation project for which he’ll use explosive sonar technology to rid the area of its native inhabitants—the merpeople. With no other options, the underwater dwellers send the button-nosed Shanshan (Lin Yun, billed in the credits as “Jelly Lin”), to impersonate a human, crash one of Xuan’s lavish parties, and savagely murder him. What better way for a love story to start?

The pair are an immediately priceless comic duo. Liu Xuan is part Cary Grant and part clown, so caught up in the act of performing his richness that he forgets he’s wearing a fake mustache. (Chow expertly chides his country’s nouveau riche without ever attacking them outright.) Shanshan, a bubbly human supercut of all the Disney princesses, shuffles along the fine line between charming and manic, fluidly able to slip between the roles of guileless heroine and desperate survivor.

While several scenes find Chow matching the kinetic genius he displayed in Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle (one early bit in which Shanshan repeatedly tries to kill Xuan is an instant slapstick classic, channeling Chaplin as Liu Xuan obliviously dodges her attempts to stab him in the feet or whack him over the head), the heat he conjures between his leads never rises above a low boil. That’s because Chow never bothers to pretend as if the romance really matters —it’s merely an excuse for a parade of blisteringly clever comic set pieces. In one of the finest, Show Luo, a strapping actor strong enough to survive Chow’s 2013 disaster Journey to the West, plays Shanshan’s half-octopus uncle. Forced to pose as a sushi chef, Show is cornered into a position where he has to grimace through the pain of severing and serving his own tentacles for lunch.

There’s a reason that domestic distributors tend to import mediocre dramas over top-shelf mainstream comedies: Jokes are easily lost in translation. Not only is humor often inextricable from culture, but verbal punch lines arrive at different moments depending on whether you’re hearing them or reading them. It defuses a gag, or even a pun, to hear peals of laughter around you while you’re still scanning the setup, and most Americans aren’t used to being on the wrong end of that dynamic. But Chow, without overlooking his hometown crowd, directs with a primal wit that appeals to all audiences with the immediacy of silent cinema. In fact, it’s worth noting that the film feels directed at all—at a time when most champions of broad comedy are happy to cut together a hodgepodge of medium shots and get out of the way of their cast. (For example, Paul Feig, whose inability to compose a surprising shot is the only legitimate reason to be skittish about the Ghostbusters reboot.) In The Mermaid, Chow never forgets that the camera is the funniest tool at his disposal, and the only one that speaks in a language that everyone can understand.

David Ehrlich is a staff writer at Rolling Stone and a film critic for Slate.

[GeneChing]

I imagine it played better to a Chinese audience in China than it did here. I caught it with less than half-a-dozen other Chinese, and the rest seemed more fluent in the language because they laughed at more. Every Stephen Chow film has got a good belly laugh out of me somewhere, even the bad ones, but not this. It had some giggles, but it was marred by really crappy CGI & 3D, and like his Monkey King flick, the lack of Chow himself. No one can capture Chow's own comic timing. Show Luo as the Octopus tries to do a Stephen Chow impression but misses the mark despite some decidedly Chow set-ups. I did like his octopus, but I have a soft spot for anything octopussian. Chow still has a great eye for actresses. Jelly Lin (yea, that's the name she's going with in English) is delightful as the mermaid, akin to a young Shu Qi with her China doll beauty, and almost carries it. She too, is in Chow's shadow. Her most potentially funny scene, a botched assassination attempt, pales to Chow's knife throwing scene in Kung Fu Hustle (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?28036-KUNG-FU-HUSTLE-Stephen-Chow-s-latest-Kung-Fu-Flick) (I still giggle just thinking about that). Zhang Yuqi, as the femme fatale, is stunning. Chao Deng, the male lead, like Show, struggles to be Chow, but fails. It reminded me of Kenneth Branaugh doing Woody Allen in Celebrity (1998), which actually worked because Branaugh could do a decent Woody. But Show and Chao just couldn't capture that deadpan comic timing of Chow. Chiu Chi Ling is in this, along with many of Chow's stable from Shaolin Soccer (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?46486-Shaolin-Soccer)/Kung Fu Hustle, and Chiu has some lines, but he, like the rest of the film, is rather underwhelming. I did like the overall message even though it was so heavy handing - pollution bad (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67175-China-s-Pollution-problem) - it's what China, and the world, need to hear. But still, I was really hoping for a good Chow belly laugh and this film just didn't deliver.

[Jimbo]

Thanks for the reviews. I'll skip this one.

[GeneChing]

...fraud allegations again (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68878-Monster-Hunt&p=1289226#post1289226). :rolleyes:


China Box Office: 'Ip Man 3' Opens to $75M Amid Fraud Allegations, 'The Mermaid' First to Cross $500M (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/china-box-office-ip-man-873060)
9:05 PM PST 3/6/2016 by Patrick Brzeski

http://cdn4.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2015/12/ip_man_3_still.jpg
'Ip Man 3'
Courtesy of Pegasus Motion Pictures

'Zootopia,' meanwhile, gave Disney Animation its highest China debut ever, pulling in $23.5 million and earning rave local reviews.

Ip Man 3, the latest installment of the hit Hong Kong martial-arts franchise starring Donnie Yen, punched its way to a massive opening weekend in mainland China.

The fight flick, which was produced by Pegasus Motion Pictures and includes the stunt casting of Mike Tyson as a bone-crunching villain, grossed $71.5 million from Friday to Sunday, according to estimates from Beijing-based box-office monitor Ent Group.

The film's high-flying rollout has been marred by widespread allegations of fraud, however.

Several major media outlets, including the state-backed China Daily, carried reports Monday alleging that Ip Man 3's Chinese distributor, Dayinmu Film Distribution, orchestrated an audacious scheme to enhance the film's perceived performance.

The distributor is accused of bulk-buying discount tickets to its own film through various cinema chains across the country. The theater chains then scheduled multiple "ghost screenings" after midnight, with ticket prices set to the highest rates to ensure that the title racked up major revenue. China Daily ran a screen grab from a Chinese mobile ticketing service showing weekend screenings for Ip Man 3 running from 5:40 p.m. to 11:25 p.m. and charging about $6 per seat (38 Chinese yuan) — a common discounted online rate for a movie ticket in much of China — followed by two additional screenings at 12:50 a.m. and 12:56 a.m. asking for a suspiciously steep $31 per seat (203 yuan).

Some cinemas are alleged to have scheduled "sold-out" Ip Man 3 screenings every 10 minutes from midnight to 2 a.m. Reports of other alleged tactics include less desirable front row and aisle seats having been mysteriously sold out in advance to many Ip Man 3 screenings, and cinema chains in smaller regional markets reporting much larger grosses for the film than they have for other recent blockbusters.

Chinese distributors have been accused of deploying such tactics in the past. Most notably, Edko Films admitted to buying some 40 million tickets to last summer's CGI fantasy blockbuster Monster Hunt, which eventually unseated Furious 7 to become China's top-grossing film ever. The studio apologized and said those involved in the activity would be reprimanded.

Although bribing cinemas and mass-buying tickets to one's own films undoubtedly makes for hefty marketing expenses, the investment is believed to pay off if the mainstream Chinese attendance begins to regard the "hit" picture as an event film not to be missed.

Last October, China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), which oversees the country's media and entertainment sectors, said that it would introduce stricter regulation to improve oversight of ticket sales at cinemas. Wrongdoers would be blacklisted and their names made public, the regulators said.

READ MORE China Box Office Pulls in Massive $1B in February, Topping North America
Both SARFT and China Film Group, the country's dominant state-backed distributor, issued statements Monday saying they have begun investigating unspecified allegations of box-office fraud.

"We have received many complaints about box office fraud," said the SARFT statement. "We will nullify box office returns as necessary and punish the cinemas, distributors and film companies involved, depending on the seriousness of the offense."

SARFT Film Bureau head Zhang Hongsen also posted an ominously worded message via WeChat, writing: "It was not easy for the Chinese film market to get to the point where it is today. We should treat it with respect."

China Daily's report further alleges that the inflation of Ip Man 3's gross may be part of an even larger accounting scandal, whereby the distributor's parent company, Kuali Group, sought to temporarily inflate the value of one or more of its publicly listed subsidiaries.

Despite the hand-wringing and industry turmoil surrounding Ip Man 3, the Chinese film sector also had much to celebrate over the weekend. Stephen Chow's conservation-themed romantic comedy, The Mermaid, became the first-ever film to gross more than $500 million in China.

The film crossed the half-billion threshold on Saturday and pulled in $9.9 million for the full weekend, lifting its record-breaking cumulative gross to $505 million (3.29 billion Chinese yuan) after 28 days in Chinese cinemas, according to data from Ent Group.

The astounding performance gives The Mermaid membership in an elite group of just six other films that have earned more than $500 million from a single territory, not accounting for inflation. They are: Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($928.8 million), Avatar ($749.8 million), Titanic ($600.8 million), Jurassic World ($652 million), The Avengers ($623.4 million), and The Dark Knight ($533.3 million).

The Mermaid's record run comes amid rapid growth in the Chinese movie market as a whole. In February, the Chinese box office took in $1.05 billion, surpassing North America's monthly haul ($798.6 million) for the second time in history. At its current rate of growth, China's theatrical market is expected to surpass North America as the world's largest sometime in early 2017.

On Feb. 20, The Mermaid pushed past Monster Hunt, from director Raman Hui, to become the all-time top-grossing film at the Chinese box office. Monster Hunt grossed $373.7 million last summer (2.44 billion Chinese yuan), unseating prior record holder Furious 7's $371.7 (2.43 billion yuan). (Local Chinese currency is used to track box-office records, as the exchange rate to the U.S. dollar fluctuates considerably).

Blending Chow's signature brand of ribald humor with a love story and an environmentalist message, The Mermaid centers on a billionaire playboy (Deng Chao) who buys a dolphin preserve with the intention of illegally developing it. A beautiful mermaid (played by newcomer Jelly Lin) plots to protect the aquatic paradise by seducing and assassinating the tycoon — but her plans go awry after she falls in love with him. The film was produced by Beijing Enlight Pictures and China Film Group.

The Mermaid can be expected to extend its record slightly over the coming weeks. According to a statement from China Film Group released last Thursday, the film has been granted permission to screen for an additional three months in Chinese cinemas. In China's highly regulated film market, the gesture is akin to giving Chow and his producers permission to take a few victory laps.

Zootopia, meanwhile, outshone local expectations, giving Disney Animation its biggest China opening ever with a second-place weekend haul of $23.5 million, according to Ent Group. Outstanding word of mouth surrounding the title — it currently has sky high ratings of 8.8 and 9.4, the highest of any title in wide release, on reviews aggregators Mtime and Douban, respectively — bodes well for a strong hold next weekend.

[GeneChing]

Celestial Tiger Catches TV Rights to Chinese Smash ‘Mermaid’ (http://variety.com/2016/film/asia/celestial-tiger-the-mermaid-1201735970/)
Patrick Frater
Asia Bureau Chief

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/the-mermaid.jpg?w=670&h=377&crop=1
COURTESY OF BINGO MOVIE DEVELOPMENT

MARCH 22, 2016 | 04:31AM PT

Celestial Tiger Entertainment has picked up first and exclusive pay-TV rights in South East Asia to “The Mermaid,” the watery ecological fantasy film that has become the highest-grossing movie of all time at the Chinese box office.

In a licensing deal with Sony Pictures Television, CTE picked up the rights for its channels in Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Singapore.

Made on a budget of $60 million, “The Mermaid” stars newcomer Jelly Lin Yun as a mermaid who is tasked to seduce a ruthless real estate developer played by Deng Chao, in order to save her kind’s natural habitat. Its gross to date is over $525 million in China.

In North America, with Sony as the title distributor, the film currently stands at $3.15 million.

CTE has also acquired China’s two other top performing Chinese New Year titles, “The Monkey King 2” and “From Vegas to Macau.”

This article made me double-check Box Office Mojo (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mermaid2016.htm), and sure enough, Mermaid has earned $3mil+ in the U.S. Did anyone besides me see it?

Total Lifetime Grosses
Domestic: $3,160,702 0.6%
+ Foreign: $536,100,000 99.4%
= Worldwide: $539,260,702
Domestic Summary
Opening Weekend: $985,052
(#17 rank, 35 theaters, $28,144 average)
% of Total Gross: 31.2%
> View All 5 Weekends
Widest Release: 106 theaters
In Release: 32 days / 4.6 weeks

[GeneChing]

The Mermaid (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69162-The-Mermaid) goes to Chinese TV (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68972-Chinese-and-HK-Television-Series).


China's $500M Blockbuster 'The Mermaid' Getting TV Adaptation (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/chinas-500m-blockbuster-mermaid-getting-tv-adaptation-1012900)
1:58 AM PDT 6/13/2017 by Patrick Brzeski

http://cdn2.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2016/03/press_still_2014-02-16_005-h2016.jpg
Courtesy of Sony Pictures
'The Mermaid'

Beijing-based iQiyi has paid an historic $61.8 million for exclusive streaming rights to the show, which sources in China say will be scripted and produced by Stephen Chow.

China's biggest movie ever, Stephen Chow's blockbuster The Mermaid, which earned an astonishing $527 million in 2016, is set to be remade for television.

Chinese production company Shanghai New Culture Media Group revealed in a regulatory filing that it has sold the exclusive online streaming rights to the forthcoming show to Beijing-based SVOD company iQiyi for $61.8 million (420 million RMB) — a record for streaming video rights in the country.

Local Chinese media sources are reporting that Chow will script and produce the TV drama adaptation himself.

New Culture Media also said in a second filing that it has sold to iQiyi the exclusive broadcast and online streaming rights to another forthcoming TV drama based on a Chow blockbuster — 2017's Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back, which was released over Chinese New Year in late January and earned $240 million in China. iQiyi paid $42.4 million (288 million RMB) for those rights, the filing said. Both of the new shows will be developed and produced by New Culture Media.

A representative from iQiyi declined to comment.

In early 2017, Shanghai New Culture Media Group, whose stock is listed on the Shenzhen exchange with a market capitalization of $1.3 billion, acquired a 51 percent stake in Premium Data Associates Limited, a production and rights management company founded and owned by Chow, for $195.7 million (1.33 billion RMB). Chow retained a 49 percent stake in the entity.

iQiyi, a subsidiary of Chinese search giant Baidu, has been on a Netflix-like buying spree since raising $1.5 billion in February. While the company continues to beef up on high-value local content like the new Chow shows, it also has been buying prestige U.S. content aggressively.

In March, iQiyi acquired exclusive Chinese online rights to 2017 Oscar favorites La La Land and Moonlight (it's unclear whether the latter will be able to clear Chinese censorship, however). And in April, iQiyi inked an output agreement with Netflix, which has been barred from setting up its service within China by Beijing's regulators. iQiyi said it hopes to import such Netflix originals as Black Mirror, Stranger Things, Mindhunter, BoJack Horseman and Ultimate Beastmaster — as soon as the necessarily government approvals are granted.

[GeneChing]

Although I didn't really care for Wolf Warrior 1, I suspect I'll enjoy Wolf Warrior 2 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70311-Wolf-Warrior-2) more than I enjoyed The Mermaid (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69162-The-Mermaid).


Wolf Warrior 2 beats The Mermaid to become China’s biggest ever hit at the box office (http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2105882/wolf-warrior-2-beats-mermaid-become-chinas-biggest-ever-hit-box)
Patriotic action movie breaks Hong Kong fantasy romance’s record for takings in mainland cinemas just 12 days after release
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 08 August, 2017, 11:36am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 08 August, 2017, 3:25pm

https://cdn4.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980x551/public/images/methode/2017/08/08/d3892cce-7be3-11e7-83c9-6be3df13972a_1280x720_123335.JPG?itok=5w_UXnGw

Mandy Zuo
mandy.zuo@scmp.com


The action movie Wolf Warrior 2, the release of which coincides with the 90th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army, had taken 3.4 billion yuan (US$505.9 million) at the mainland box office by the end of Monday, beating the 3.39 billion record set by the Hong Kong fantasy romance The Mermaid last year.
Stephen Chow’s The Mermaid set to become mainland China’s highest-grossing film ever

The film, which stars martial artist Wu Jing, who also directed and co-wrote it, has proved to be a hit since its release on July 27 thanks to a screenplay that promotes nationalism and features Hollywood-like production values, local audiences say.
It has also made history with box office takings of over 200 million yuan every single day since the release.
Wu Jing, who directed and starred in the film, said there was a market for patriotism in Chinese cinema. Photo: Handout
In previous interviews with mainland media, Wu explained its success by saying: “Patriotism has been hidden inside the audience for a long time, and this sentiment needs to be released via a film and a role.”
The Hollywood directors Joe and Anthony Russo were consultants on the film and foreign actors – including American Frank Grillo, who played the villain, and Hong Kong-American Celina Jade, playing the female lead, made it a departure from traditional patriotic movies.
Celina Jade, the female lead. Photo: Handout
Domestic films have been suffering a box drought since Lunar New Year. Some analysts argue that the high quality and crowd-pleasing film has come just in time for the industry.
Patriotic Chinese blockbuster Wolf Warrior 2 packs a Hollywood-style punch at the box office

The first Wolf Warrior, released in 2015, grossed US$89 million in China. With similar nationalistic messages, it tells the story of a special forces officer, played by Wu, fighting foreign mercenaries hired by a drug lord in Xinjiang.

[Jimbo]

Then again all movies seem to suck these days, its probably just me getting old. Seems to me like if you have seen every movie made between 1977-1986 then there is no need to watch any other movie again ever.

I'm going OT right here, but I was feeling that way, too, until my interest reignited in the animated films of Japan's Studio Ghibli. For some reason I got away from them for around 14(?) years, but have come back to them and some newer ones I hadn't seen. I love the old-school hand-drawn animation, and overall, I've been impressed with not only the craftsmanship that has gone into them, but the stories as well. They run the gamut from fantasy, comedy, steampunk sci-fi, action, even straight drama, and it's clear they've had an influence on several American filmmakers, like James Cameron, for example. Some are more directed towards families, and some more towards adults, but all are good quality, solid movies, IMO. I only watch the Japanese language with English subtitles option, even if the movie is set in Europe (Castle in the Sky, Howl's Moving Castle, Tales from Earthsea, etc.), as (IMO) the Japanese voice actors generally seem to capture the personalities, emotions (and ages) of the characters better than the Hollywood actors' English dubs.

IMO, the hand-drawn animated characters have personalities, emotions, and come to life in a way that characters in purely CGI-driven Hollywood (and elsewhere) animated films lack. And even more than the actors in many live-action films.

There is still some originality in filmmaking. I don't know if Studio Ghibli will be producing any more films or are just on hiatus/restructuring. AFAIK, their last release was When Marnie Was There, which, oddly enough, has become my favorite movie, period.

All of this rambling to say that, yes, there is still freshness and originality in filmmaking, if you look for it.

[GeneChing]

Stephen Chow to Make ‘The Mermaid 2’ and TV Drama ‘The Mermaid’ (http://chinafilminsider.com/headlines-from-china-stephen-chow-to-make-the-mermaid-2-and-tv-drama-the-mermaid/)
BY CHINAFILMINSIDER OCT 18, 2017

http://chinafilminsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/the-mermaid-1.jpg

Stephen Chow to Make ‘The Mermaid 2’ and TV Drama ‘The Mermaid’

Recently, “Call For Actors” for ‘The Mermaid 2″ appeared on the internet, which indicates that Stephen Chow has started preparing for the shooting of ‘The Mermaid 2.’ In addition, ‘The Mermaid‘ has been set to become a TV show, according to an announcement made by Stephen Chow and Shanghai New Culture Media in June during the Shanghai International Film Festival. The main plot of ‘The Mermaid 2’ was revealed early this year in an announcement from China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and TV (SAPPRFT). While ‘The Mermaid’ is more of a fantasy drama, ‘The Mermaid 2’ will be closer to a sci-fi drama.

I doubt I'll split the sequel & TV show off into separate threads as I have with some other films. There's just not as much interest in this. It's influential so we'll still track it.

Did anyone else even see this beyond me?