Avid Chinese moviegoers will probably be spending a little more money than usual for the Lunar New Year holidays this year. Four major blockbusters—including The Monkey King 2 <西遊記之孫悟空三打白骨精>, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny <臥虎藏龍：青冥寶劍>, From Vegas to Macau III <賭城風雲III>, and Stephen Chow’s (周星馳) The Mermaid <美人魚>—will be competing for the number one spot in Mainland China’s box office when they premiere on Monday, February 8, Lunar New Year. Out of the four films The Monkey King 2, the sequel to the 2014 box office smash The Monkey King <西遊記之大鬧天宮>, is expected to have a better edge in the short term, as the film has gained exclusive IMAX rights across the country. This means that the two hundred-some IMAX cinemas across Mainland China will only be showing The Monkey King 2. Sources say that the fantasy adventure film is expected to gross at least 200 million RMB more than its competitors. The Monkey King 2, which will also be showing in 3D, stars Aaron Kwok (郭富城) as Sun Wukong and Gong Li (鞏俐) as Baigujing. Director Cheang Pou-sui (鄭保瑞) said he expects the film to achieve good results when it premieres in February, and encouraged moviegoers to enjoy the film in IMAX 3D. He joked, “In a regular theater, you would only be able to see nine thousand Sun Wukongs. On IMAX, you’d be able to see ten thousand of them.” Aaron expressed that while he has confidence in the film, he also hopes that the other movies will achieve fantastic box office results as well. “Let a hundred flowers bloom!” he said. The Monkey King 2 may have the winning edge, but its competitors are not to be underestimated. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny is a sequel to the 2000 film, and sees Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) reprising her role as Yu Shu-lien. It also stars Donnie Yen (甄子丹) and Glee star Harry Shum, Jr (岑勇康). From Vegas to Macau 3 has Chow Yun-fat (周潤發) teaming up with Andy Lau (劉德華), Jacky Cheung (張學友), and Nick Cheung (張家輝). The Mermaid is Stephen Chow’s first original film since 2008’s CJ7 <長江7號>. “The Monkey King 2 in 3D” Teaser Trailer “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny” Netflix Trailer “From Vegas to Macau III” Teaser Trailer “The Mermaid” Teaser Trailer
Aaron Kwok looks so much better than Donnie Yen as the Monkey King! Didn't anybody else think Donnie's Monkey King was actually quite ugly? Don't know about Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon sequel. I always felt western society gave it more credit than it deserved. Many Hong Kong martial arts films before it were better in my opinion but just didn't hit the Western market. Have high hopes for the Chow Yun Fat/Andy Lau gambing movie reunion. Very nostalgic. Seems the movie makers also think so, putting Andy Lau's 90s pop hit in the trailer! The Mermaid trailer is so funny and is classic Stephen Chow. His old Cantonese jokes sometimes didn't translate that well into Mandarin so I hope the whole movie has more of these classic jokes as the movie seems aimed at the Mainland market.
Looking forward to monkey king 2, though they need to stop rebooting it and just continue with the story.
Actually looking forward to CTHD2 with Yen and Yeoh and glad that the Zhang isn't it. Will be interesting hearing Donnie speak english. I wish the Vegas to Macau series were straight continuation from the first one but looking forward to seeing them.
What about Gigolo 2 shinobi b-lee I didnt even rmb there was Monkey King 1, i think it was forgettable. What sucks is asian CGI never looks as good as American CGI and you can see the difference immediately between the two trailers for Monkey King and Crouching Tiger.
