Now that Golden Week is over and China's colossal work force is back to the proverbial grindstone, now would be the perfect time to see what kept the movie-going public entertained during the national holidays. This time last year the two notable releases were Tsui Hark's DETECTIVE DEE AND THE MYSTERY OF THE PHANTOM FLAME and Su Chao Bin's REIGN OF ASSASSINS.
This year it was again a couple of fantastical flights of fancy that topped the charts. After the first weekend the clear frontrunner was Ching Siu Tung's THE SORCERER AND THE WHITE SNAKE - reworking the same source material as Tsui Hark's beloved GREEN SNAKE from 1993. Jet Li stars as Fa Hai, alongside Raymond Lam, with Charlene Choi and Eva Huang playing the titular serpents. Despite mostly negative reviews (in Hong Kong at least), the film was top of the box office after five days with a reported haul of RMB73 Million (US$12 million). By the end of golden week it had slipped to second place, but had taken more money than any other film in the Top Ten, with over RMB150 million (US$24 million).
The other big holiday success was Gordon Chan's MURAL, which opened in second place, with a weekend total of RMB56 million (US$9 million) behind SORCERER, only to have overtaken its rival by the end of the holidays and end the week in first place with RMB137 million (US$22 million). MURAL originally started out as a proposed sequel to Chan's 2008 film PAINTED SKIN, before taking on a life of its own. It tells the story of a scholar (Deng Chao) and a bandit (Collin Chou) who follow a beautiful temptress through a secret portal, only to wind up in a heavenly realm populated entirely by women.
The big disappointment at the box office has been Jackie Chan and Zhang Li's 1911 REVOLUTION, which opened a week earlier on 23 September, and by the end of its opening weekend had grossed just RMB17.5 million (less than US$3 million), placing third. Come the end of Golden Week, Chan's film, which was not only positioned as the official centennial commemoration of the Xinhai Revolution, but also Chan's 100th acting role, had taken just RMB44 million (US$7 million).
The big US performers have been, unsurprisingly Marvel's CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER, which has now taken close to RMB100 million after a month on release, but also James Cameron's SANCTUM, which has pulled in close to RMB110 million in the same amount of time. The film, directed by Alister Grierson, has held its own in the Chinese top ten for five straight weeks now, and has yet to fall below fourth place. Likely the fact that it is playing in 3D and commands a higher ticket price has contributed something to the film's grosses, but records show that close to half-a-million Mainland moviegoers have now been to see the film.
Across the Straits in Taiwan, last week saw the announcement of this year's Golden Horse nominations, seen by many as the most important film awards in Asia. The frontrunners for the awards are Taiwan's own WARRIORS OF THE RAINBOW: SEEDIQ BALE with mentions in 11 categories, and Jiang Wen's LET THE BULLETS FLY, with 9 nods. The two films will go head-to-head in the Best Film category along with Ann Hui's A SIMPLE LIFE, Teng Yung Hsing's RETURN TICKET and Zhang Meng's THE PIANO IN A FACTORY.
One category to watch will be Best New Director, where the clear favourite is cult novelist turned filmmaker Giddens, whose debut YOU ARE THE APPLE OF MY EYE has been the surprise smash of the summer. He is nominated alongside Du Jiayi, Xu Haofeng and Wuershan for their work on KORA, THE SWORD IDENTITY and THE BUTCHER, THE CHEF AND THE SWORDSMAN respectively. This year's jury will include South Korean director Lee Chang Dong (SECRET SUNSHINE, POETRY) as well as actor Huang Bo (CRAZY RACER) and writer-director Pang Ho Cheung (DREAM HOME) and is scheduled to take place in Hsinchu City on 26 November.