Never Say Die

[GeneChing]

I got nothing on Never Say Die but it beat out both Jackie's The Foreigner and Donnie's Chasing the Dragon (and Orlando's S.M.A.R.T. Chase, which we do care about because Orlando is cool and rocks Feiyues) for the Moon Fest movie rush, so I guess I should check it out.

China Box Office: Martial Arts Comedy Opens to $46M, Topping Jackie Chan's 'The Foreigner'
2:46 AM PDT 10/2/2017 by Patrick Brzeski


'The Foreigner'

Local comedy 'Never Say Die' outperformed Chan's STX-backed action thriller, which earned $21.9 million on Saturday and Sunday.
Martial arts comedy Never Say Die came out swinging at the Chinese box office over the weekend, opening with $46.2 million on Saturday and Sunday.

The slapstick hit relegated Jackie Chan to a rare second-place finish, as his STX-produced action thriller The Foreigner opened with $21.9 million over the same two days.

Sunday was the start of one of China's so-called "Golden Weeks," a lucky succession of national holidays that results in most Chinese employees getting a full seven days off work. In recent years, this reprieve has translated into brisk business at Chinese multiplexes. In response, Chinese regulators have taken to blocking Hollywood movie openings during the holiday, putting the focus on Chinese culture while giving local studios a boost.

Never Say Die was produced by Beijing theater group Mahua Fun Age, the creative force behind last year's comedy smash Goodbye Mr. Loser ($226 million). Never Say Die tells the story of a boxer and a journalist who mysteriously swap bodies after they are zapped by electricity, sending the duo spinning through a series of slapstick misadventures. The film is an adaptation of a hit Mahua stage comedy of the same name. Directed by Song Yang and Zhang Chiyu (the director pair behind the play), the film stars Ai Lun and Ma Li, two of the leads from Mr. Loser.

Directed by Martin Campbell and co-starring Pierce Brosnan, The Foreigner finds Chan in "serious Jackie Chan" mode, playing a humble London businessman whose mysterious past erupts in a revenge-fuelled vendetta when his teenage daughter dies in a terrorist attack. The English-language film earned just shy of $2 million on Imax screens over the weekend. Respectable word of mouth suggests the movie will hold onto second place throughout the week. A U.K.-China co-production, The Foreigner is set to open in North America on Oct. 13.

Chasing the Dragon, a slick martial arts drama starring Hong Kong favorites Donnie Yen and Andy Lau, landed in third place with $14.2 million. It was followed by Sky Hunter, a patriotic air force action flick directed by and starring Li Chen, which earned $13 million. Fan Bingbing, Li's real-life fiance, co-stars as the romantic lead.

Although Hollywood movies are blocked from opening over National Day, one other familiar Western face did pop up on Chinese screens over the weekend. S.M.A.R.T. Chase, a Chinese road race thriller produced by Shanghai-based Bliss Media and starring Orlando Bloom, also debuted Saturday. The film hit the track with a sputter, however, taking just $1.5 million for the frame.

[GeneChing]

This looks silly.

Mahua's latest movie to be released in September
By Xu Fan | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2017-07-14 15:20


A scene from Never Say Die [Photo provided to China Daily]

Mahua Fun Age, one of the country's most popular comedy troupes, announced its third feature movie, Never Say Die, will hit Chinese mainland theaters on Sept 30.

The new comedy star most of the cast members of Goodbye Mr Loser, the troupe's highest-grossing movie and the first movie adapted from one of Mahua's theater plays.

Led by Ai Lun and Ma Li, the new movie also casts Shen Teng, Chang Yuan, Tian Yu, Huang Cailun and Wang Zhi.

Goodbye Mr Loser raked in 1.44 billion yuan ($212.6 million), making it one of the third highest-grossing domestic titles in 2015.

Also adapted from Mahua's popular theater play with the same title, Never Say Die is about a body-exchange comedy. A boxer and a journalist accidentally exchange bodies after they are struck by current, embarking a series of adventures.

Song Yang and Zhang Chiyu, director duo of the play, co-helm the film.

Song reveals the movie will have a lot of close combats to blend comedy with martial arts, during a Beijing event on July 13.

Zhang Chen, founder of Mahua, says the troupe will focus on producing quality original comedies.

Mahua's latest movie to be released in September


Ai Lun (left) alongside Ma Li (center) and Shen Teng promote the upcoming comedy Never Say Die in Beijing on July 13. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Chinese actor 'remembers' he is a woman
By Xu Fan | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2017-09-04 15:19


Actor Ai Lun (left) stars a female journalist who exchanges soul with a boxer, played by comedian actress Ma Li (right). [Photo provided to China Daily]

When Chinese actor Ai Lun was shooting the comedy Never Say Die, he repeated his lines every morning in front of a mirror before going to the set.

Ai, who is tall at 187 centimeters and weighs 85 kilograms, repeated the line: "Remember, you are a woman."

At a recent Beijing event to promote the upcoming movie, Ai revealed his method to prepare for the role of a female journalist who exchanges soul with a masculine boxer.

Adapted from the popular stage play with the same title, Never Say Die is about the two's messy yet joyful adventures brought by the incredible exchange.

Comedian actress Ma Li, who shot to fame with the 2015 hit comedy Goodbye Mr Loser, stars as the boxer who gets into the journalist's body.

"I have closely observed the way Ai usually speaks, walks and even blinks. In the movie, I become the real-life Ai. It was such a big challenge," said the 35-year-old actress.

The film, set to open across China on Sept 30, is the third such stage play-inspired movie produced by Mahua Fun Age, one of the country's most popular comedy troupes.

The previous two are Goodbye Mr Loser and Mr Donkey (2016).

[GeneChing]

Funny how perspective plays out on the same data.

OCT 1, 2017 @ 11:00 AM
Box Office: Jackie Chan's 'The Foreigner' Kicks Butt In China, 'Flatliners' Flatlines
Scott Mendelson , CONTRIBUTOR I cover the film industry.
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.


Christopher Raphael/Courtesy of STXfilms
Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan in 'The Foreigner'

First, a digression over in China, where Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan's The Foreigner scored $11.4 million on its opening day in China on Saturday, before earning around $8.5m on Sunday for a $19.9m two-day total, or $21.1m with online ticketing fees. The Martin Campbell action thriller, about a former government agent who puts his skills back to work to avenge the death of his daughter, is one of a few big releases in advance of National Day.

The top movie was actually a Chinese comedy titled Never Say Die, which earned $20.1 million on Friday. But since The Foreigner is the first live-action Jackie Chan movie in seven years to get a major North American theatrical release (STX Entertainment opens it here on Oct. 13), I am beyond curious as to whether this is his first big (recent) Chinese hit to also cross over into American cinemas as well. With a $35m budget, it doesn't really have to.

The $11.4 million opening day (not counting online fees) is lower than the $18.7 million opening day of Dragon Blade, but it's worth noting that Kung Fu Yoga earned $39m in its first two days before exploding for what would be a $254m Chinese total earlier this year. The Martin Campbell-directed thriller, which I haven't yet seen, is (presumably) less of a family-friendly crowdpleaser compared to Kung Fu Yoga or even the Jackie Chan/Johnny Knoxville action comedy Skip Trace which earned $133m in China last year.

But, again, those films had limited domestic theatrical releases and made pennies in theaters while testing their fates in the VOD markets. We'll see if a post-Karate Kid absence has made the heart grow fonder.

The only "big" domestic opener this weekend aside from American Made was Flatliners, which snuck into theaters sans pre-release reviews or even Thursday night advance screenings. Yeah, I'm wondering if the whole "no Thursday previews" thing is a new way to hold off a terrible Rotten Tomatoes score too, but we'll see how that goes. As of this morning, the ill-advised and allegedly quite flat Flatliners remake had a 0/35 score with an average critic ranking of 3.5/10.

The Niels Arden Oplev-directed picture is a remake of a 1990 Joel Schumacher movie that is famous for both a pretty great premise and a white-hot cast (Keifer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, Oliver Platt, William Baldwin). This remake actually has both, with the same "med students kill themselves to bring themselves back to life and tell of the afterlife" premise and a pretty decent cast in Ellen Page, Diego Luna, Nina Dobrev, James Norton and Kiersey Clemons.

But star power isn't what it used to be and the whole "remake an old movie because it's now IP" thing isn't nearly as sure of a bet as Hollywood thinks. The new film didn't look any bigger or more outlandish than the original, and the original is available to rent on Amazon Prime for $3 right now. So, anyway, sans good reviews or any real buzz, the film grossed $6.7 million over the weekend, an admittedly strong weekend 3x multiplier.

Sony is only on the hook for around 75% of the film's $19m budget, but this is still not a good look for the studio. Once again, one cannot survive on Spider-Man alone, so fingers crossed for Only the Brave, Denzel Washington's Roman J. Israel Esq, The Star and Jumanji.

There were two blink-and-you-miss-them newbies this weekend as well. Newbie distributor Novus opened Til Death Do Us Part in 550 theaters this weekend. The Chris Stokes (You Got Served) thriller, starring Jessica Vanessa DeLeon, Taye Diggs and Stephen Bishop, is a loose variation on Julia Roberts' Sleeping with the Enemy.

Had it done better this weekend, I could have opined about the value of the rip-off versus the remake. It earned $1.533 million for the weekend, again with an oddly strong 3.3x weekend multiplier. Still, there is a case to be made that, relatively speaking, the remake was no more successful than the loose rip-off, with the difference being that folks might actually discover Til Death Do Us Part in the years to come while most folks will opt for the original Flatliners.

Pureflix’s faith-based film A Question of Faith opened in 661 theaters and grossed $1 million for the weekend.

Never Say Die vs. The Foreigner.

Dragon Blade
Kung Fu Yoga
Skiptrace

[GeneChing]

Still got nothing on this film. But we do have a thread on Goodbye Mr. Loser

China Box Office: 'Never Say Die' Hurtles Past $200M
9:08 PM PDT 10/8/2017 by Patrick Brzeski


'Never Say Die'

STX Entertainment's Jackie Chan thriller 'The Foreigner' came in third place in its second weekend, with its total climbing to $67 million.
Local comedy Never Say Die dominated China's Golden Week autumn holiday period this year.

The body-swapping comedy from Mahua Funage, a Beijing theater troupe turned box-office powerhouse, earned $65.3 million in its second weekend, taking its nine-day total to a massive $220 million. The blockbuster pulled in around $25 or more every day of the weeklong holiday, nearly tripling the individual totals of the various local titles that trailed it.

The film will easily surpass Goodbye Mr. Loser, Mahua's debut release, which wildly surpassed expectations by earning $226 million in 2015.

Jackie Chan's gritty English-language thriller The Foreigner slipped to third place in its second weekend, earning $15.2 million behind Hong Kong martial arts drama Chasing the Dragon with $17 million. A U.K.-China co-production, backed by STX Entertainment, The Foreigner has earned $67 million after nine days. That's well below Chan's recent martial arts action comedies, such as Kung Fu Yoga ($254.5 million) and Railroad Tigers ($101.5 million), but it's less surprising given that the foreign-themed thriller sits far outside Chan's usual family-fun wheelhouse.

Although it's nudged ahead in daily earnings recently, Chasing the Dragon, which stars Donnie Yen and Andy Lau, is still a step behind The Foreigner for the full holiday period, with its nine-day total sitting at $59.7 million as of Monday.

Musical movie City of Rock, directed by and starring Chengpeng Dong (Jian Bing Man, $186 million in 2015), added $12 million in its second weekend. After 10 days, it has earned $38.7 million.

Fan Bingbing's patriotic air force movie Sky Hunters is the fifth-place finisher for the holiday, having earned $10.6 million in its second frame and $37.8 million overall.

STX Entertainment will be back in the China market later this week, with the studio's local partner Huayi Brothers set to release The Space Between Us on Friday.

Never Say Die
Jackie's The Foreigner
Donnie's Chasing the Dragon

[GeneChing]

China Box Office: 'Never Say Die' Becomes Biggest Single-Market Comedy Ever With $280M
9:16 PM PDT 10/15/2017 by Patrick Brzeski


Screengrab
'Never Say Die'

The body-swapping sports comedy surpassed a Jackie Chan movie for the local title while overtaking 'Meet the Fockers' ($279 million) for the single-territory title worldwide.
Never Say Die just won't quit.

The body-swapping sports comedy from theater troupe turned film powerhouse Mahua Funage earned $30.9 million in its third weekend, bringing its 16-day total to a massive $280 million, according to box-office analysts EntGroup.

That was just enough to give it the title of biggest comedy ever in a single market, taking the crown from Ben Stiller's and Robert DeNiro's Meet the Fockers ($279.3 million, 2004). It also surged past Jackie Chan's Kung Fu Yoga ($250 million) from earlier this year, becoming the biggest comedy ever in the China market.

The slapstick hit is an adaptation of a Mahua Funage stage play of the same name. It tells the story of a boxer and a journalist who mysteriously swap bodies after they are zapped by electricity. Both the play and the film were co-directed by Song Yang and Zhang Chiyu, and the film stars Ai Lun and Ma Li, the two leads from Mahua's previous blockbuster smash, Goodbye Mr. Loser ($226 million in 2016).

Bad Genius, a Thai thriller about cunning high school kids who create a system to cheat on exams, opened in second place with $17.1 million for the weekend — a huge haul for a Southeast Asian title. Co-written and directed by Nattawut Poonpiriya, the critically well-regarded film earned $3.3 million in Thailand after its May opening.

Martial arts drama Chasing the Dragon finished in third place, adding $7.1 million for a total of $76.6 million after three weekends. That was followed by musical dramedy City of Rock, which earned $7 million, taking its total to $53.7 million.

STXfilms's Jackie Chan co-production The Foreigner brought in $3.7 million in its third frame, taking its China total to a healthy $76.7 million. Globally, the movie just crossed $100 million, making it a clear winner given that it cost just $35 million to produce.

I watched Goodbye Mr. Loser over the weekend. I'll have a review of it up later...

[GeneChing]

China Box Office: ‘Never Say Die’ Wins Third Weekend Ahead of ‘Bad Genius’
By Patrick Frater
Patrick Frater
Asia Bureau Chief



Martial arts comedy “Never Say Die” took the top spot at the Chinese box office for the third week in a row, while the best-performing new release was Thailand’s “Bad Genius.”

“Never Say Die” earned $30.9 million, according to data from Ent Group. That lifted its cumulative B.O. to $281 million after 16 days.

“Bad Genius,” a dark thriller about a school exams cheating system, opened in second place and earned $17.6 million in three days. The film was released in Thailand in May and has become the top local film of the year. It has since gone on to have success on the international festival circuit, and at the box office in Asian territories including Hong Kong and Taiwan. According to ComScore, the film’s total gross is $26.4 million so far.

The weekend score in China was good enough to make “Bad Genius” the sixth-ranked film globally, according to ComScore. The China release is handled by Huaxia Films.

Martial arts action drama “Chasing the Dragon” took third place with $7.14 million. That gives it cumulative box office of $76.7 million after 16 days.

Music film “City of Rock” took fourth place with $7.09 million. Its cumulative B.O. after 17 days is $53.7 million. Chinese drama “Hold Your Hands” opened in fifth place with $4.33 million in three days while actioner “The Foreigner,” starring Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan, earned $3.7 million in its third weekend in release. After 16 days, its cumulative B.O. is $76.9 million.

Minor places on the chart were taken by “The Son of Bigfoot,” which earned $2.39 million from a Saturday release; continuing military action film “Sky Hunter” with $1.86 million for a $43.7 million cumulative take; Chinese musical romance “Love Is a Broadway Hit” with $1.57 million in its opening frame; and U.S. sci-fi romance “The Space Between Us,” which opened with $1.18 million.

Never Say Die is being shown theatrically in America through AMC.

3 Can’t-Miss Chinese Titles

This weekend, AMC is bringing three compelling Chinese titles to a theatre near you. Whether you're in the mood to laugh, cry or sit on the edge of your seat, we have you covered with YOUTH, a drama; CHASING THE DRAGON, an action and suspense film; and NEVER SAY DIE, a body-exchange comedy. Read more about each movie below and get tickets to their premieres this Friday, September 29.

Youth


The coming-of-age drama YOUTH follows the intersecting lives of members of a military arts troupe, starting during the Cultural Revolution, to the Sino-Vietnam border wars and into their adulthoods. Every growing pain — bullying, loneliness, longing — is chronicled through a historical lens, its center fixated on new recruit He Xiaoping (Miao Miao).
Xiaoping joined the troupe to escape her family's ridicule, but from the moment she arrives, she is treated as a joke by the collective — everyone except Liu Feng (Huang Xuan). Feng, a lead dancer, is admired by all of his peers, until one mistake costs him his place in their small, isolated world.
Once Feng's sent away, Xiaoping loses her spirit and is reassigned as a field medic, where she experiences the horrors of war firsthand.
The film is based on the novel "Fang Hua" by Geling Yan, one of the most acclaimed contemporary novelists and screenwriters writing in the Chinese language today. Yan served with the People's Liberation Army during the Cultural Revolution, starting at age 12 as a dancer in an entertainment troupe.
Her real-life inspiration, with direction from "China's Spielberg," Feng Xiaogang, create a painful, yet hopeful story of love and loss. Youth

Chasing the Dragon


"Life or death. Poverty or riches. It's all destined" — and you are destined to see CHASING THE DRAGON this weekend at AMC. The action and suspense film toplines Donnie Yen and Andy Lau, two of the biggest stars in China and Hong Kong, respectively.
You likely know Yen from the IP MAN TRILOGY, the most recent XXX movie and ROGUE ONE; Lau from his successful music career and recurring "gangster" role in film, which he reprises for CHASING THE DRAGON.
Lau plays the infamous real-life drug kingpin Crippled Ho, who came to Hong Kong an illegal immigrant in 1963 and ruthlessly carved an empire from the chaotic underworld of drug dealers and corrupt police that ruled the city under notorious detective Lee Rock (Yen).
CHASING THE DRAGON is co-directed by Jason Kwan — a cinematographer making his directorial debut — and veteran director Jing Wong. Chasing the Dragon

Never Say Die


If you're looking for a lighter storyline, watch NEVER SAY DIE, directed by Song Yang and Zhang Chiyu.
NEVER SAY DIE is a follow-up film to 2015's GOODBYE MR. LOSER, starring the members of one of China's most popular comedy troupes, Mahua. NEVER SAY DIE features most of the cast of GOODBYE MR. LOSER, which was one of the third highest-grossing domestic titles that year, the troupe's highest-grossing movie and the first movie adapted from one of the troupe's theater plays.
In NEVER SAY DIE, a boxer and a journalist accidentally exchange bodies after they are struck by a current, sparking a series of hilarious adventures. Never Say Die

Don't miss YOUTH, CHASING THE DRAGON and NEVER SAY DIE this weekend at AMC — one title for each day! Get your tickets now and browse all of our other amazing Asian Pacific films.