A record 1,027 copies of "The Warlords", a war epic set in the
1870s, have been released to Chinese cinemas for it mainland debut
this week.
The 40-million-USD blockbuster, which was premiered on
Wednesday, hit the general market on Thursday, one day ahead of
schedule as "cinemas nationwide had impatiently demanded it", said
Zhang Xiaosong, manager of the promotion department under the China
Film Group (CFG), one of the distributors.
Zhang was confident about its box-office success as preview
screenings of the film had drawn a "sound reaction" from the media
and cinema managers. A record 650 film copies and 377 digital
copies were ordered after the screenings.
"The Warlords" is an epic about three blood brothers and their
struggle amid war and political upheaval. It is based on "The
Assassination of Ma", a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) story about the
killing of General Ma Xinyi.
Zhang said tickets sold out extremely quick on Thursday. He
attributed the initial success to "breakthrough acting", "brand-new
scenarios", and strong distribution.
Nearly half of the film's budget was spent on its strong cast.
Chinese action star Jet Li was reported to rake in 100 million yuan
from his role, a record for an actor in a Chinese-language
film.
Also in the cast is Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau, heart-throb
actor Takeshi Kaneshiro and Beijing actress/director Xu Jinglei. It
is slated for release in North America in March.
"It is mainly targeted at a Chinese-language audience," said
Peter Chan, the film's 45-year-old Hong Kong director, in a press
release.
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(CRI December 14, 2007)
