After opening to an impressive first-day box office of 64 million RMB, Tsui Hark’s period suspense film Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon has continued its box office dominion during the seven-day national holiday beginning on October 1. Since its premiere on September 28, Young Detective Dee has raked in almost 500 million RMB in total, smashing previous box office records.
Although mainland Chinese films have been lackluster this past year, Young Detective Dee seems to be one of the few exceptions. In two days, the film had already reached 94 million RMB, and had broken the 100-million mark by the next day. Industry insiders estimate that at this rate, it may snag a total of 800 million RMB before bowing out of theaters.
During the week-long national holiday, Young Detective Dee brought in an estimated 340 million RMB — approximately equal to the total box office for all films during last year’s holiday, which came in at around 370 million RMB. As a result, it set a new record for the highest box office during this calendar period, as well as for being the fastest to attain such a high sum.
source: jaynestars.com
Young Detective Dee has the third-highest single and opening day tally of all time in mainland China.
The action-packed film also broke the opening day record for a Tsui Hark movie.
Box office analysts believe that Young Detective Dee’s box office figures may exceed 100 million RMB before October. With mainland China’s recent slump in box office turnouts, critics believe that Young Detective Dee will “breath life” into mainland cinema.
Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon, the prequel to the 2010 film Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame, is slated to open in theaters on September 28. The film recently unveiled its final trailer, giving viewers their first glimpse at the titular Dragon King.
The five main leads of new film, Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon, made their first appearance together at a news conference in Beijing. Mark Chao, William Feng, Angelababy, Lin Gengxin, and Kim Bum joked around and competed in revealing each other’s behavior in front of the press. The 3D film is currently scheduled to premiere on September 28, 2013.
Producer Wong Zhonglei and director Tsui Hark laughed and expressed they did not expect everyone to look so handsome. Producer Wong said, “Usually when filming is completed, everyone is already tired and tedious. Today onstage, we can actually see that the actors are very handsome!”
Director Tsui explained how they decided on the cast, “Selecting a new group of cast members requires courage. Three years ago, very few commercial blockbusters would select a cast full of young actors. In the past, Andy Lau portrayed Detective Dee as a perfect man. This time, I decided to split his talent with three people. Mark portrays the young Detective Dee with great judgment and wisdom. William and Lin Gengxin portray a kung fu master and a medical healer respectively.” Furthermore, the film’s theme will be romance, but besides love, it is also focuses on friendship.
Check out behind the scene video
First teaser for the Young Detective Dee Rise of the Sea Dragon
Tsui Hark’s upcoming period action film, Detective Dee: The Prequel recently commenced filming in Hengdian World Studios. A prequel to the director’s last hit film, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame, Detective Dee: The Prequel stars Taiwanese actor, Mark Chao, as the titular character, a young Tang Dynasty detective who eventually becomes a chancellor for Wu Zetian, China’s only female emperor.
