zhong kui : snow girl and the dark crystal
“ zhong kui: snow girl and the dark crystal is an action - packed fantasy adventure, with dramatic twists and turns and a compelling love story at its core, ” said an. “with an incredible team of international talent both onscreen and behind the camera, we’re confident that zhong kui: snow girl and the dark crystal will become a modern classic of chinese cinema. ”
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village roadshow pictures asia and warner bros. will team up to co - finance and co - produce desen international media’s 3 - d chinese fantasy film zhong kui: snow girl and the dark crystal .
shot in various scenic locations in china, zhong kui: snow girl and the dark crystal tells the story of legendary chinese anti - hero zhong kui, a young man endowed with mysterious powers who is forced into a battle among the realms of heaven, earth and hell in the course of his attempt to save his countrymen and the woman he loves .
directed by academy award winner, peter pau, snow girl and the dark crystal is a big budget (30m us) romantic fantasy adventure about the legendary hero zhong kui, a fabled warrior with mysterious powers who is forced to conquer the realms of heaven and hell to save his people and the woman he loves .
from director peter pau comes the epic fantasy tale of zhong kui – a mythical chinese warrior and demon slayer endowed with mysterious supernatural powers. forced to conquer heaven and hell to rid the world of demons, zhong kui’s fight against evil threatens to destroy snow girl, his long lost love .
directed by academy award winner, peter pau, snow girl and the dark crystal is a fantasy adventure about the legendary hero zhong kui, a fabled warrior with mysterious powers who is forced to concur the realms of heaven and hell to save his people and the woman he loves. starring: li bingbing and kun chen (c) well go usa
shanghai film fest: village roadshow, warner bros. to co - produce' zhong kui'
in fourth was zhong kui: snow girl and the dark crystal, a $ 30 million, 3d, vfx fantasy action adventure co - directed by peter pau and zhao tianyu and produced by ann an of desen international media, with $ 56 million, followed by xu jinglei' s romance somewhere only we know with $ 44 million .
rounding out the list was zhong kui: snow girl and the dark crystal, a $ 30 million, 3d, vfx fantasy action adventure co - directed by peter pau and zhao tianyu and produced by ann an of desen international media, which added $ 810, 000 for a gross of $ 64. 47 million after 25 days on release .
shanghai film fest: village roadshow, warner bros. to co - produce' zhong kui' | hollywood reporter
snow girl ’s protagonist is not li bingbing ’s titular porcelain - white spirit. instead, the lead character is zhong kui (chen kun), the fabled demon hunter legendary as much for his ghost - busting abilities as his hideous appearance. his bearded mug is right there from the beginning when he is seen fleeing with the dark crystal, a vessel said to contain the spirits of all mortals. it’s a mission overseen by zhong’s mentor, master zhang (winston chao), in a move to prevent hell’s soldiers from invading the living world. zhang helps zhong develop the ability to transform himself into a powerful ogre – which, zhang says, reveals zhong’s darker, inner self .
deity zhang daoxian (winston chao) volunteers to save the city, and sends his protege zhong kui (chen) to hell to steal the dark crystal, a receptacle for the captured souls that also serves as a database of every demon’s merits and demerits. zhong, who believes he’s been singled out by heaven to vanquish evil and injustice, stoically endures corporal pain and spiritual torment to master demon - slaying techniques. his relationship with zhang takes on faustian undertones as the mentor helps him unleash his raging alter ego. meanwhile, the demon king defrosts the snow spirit xueqing (li, “transformers 4”) and dispatches her to hu city to reclaim the crystal. arriving with a caravan of demons disguised as a persian erotic dance troupe, she mesmerizes zhong, who believes she is his lost love, little snow .
a 3d fantasy adventure about a demon slayer who becomes smitten with, erm, a demon, “snow girl and the dark crystal” comes up with a splashy, game - influenced visual look new to this popular chinese genre. however, the decision to binge on cgi action setpieces overwhelms the romantic spark of the central characters, played by impossibly beautiful leads li bingbing [ … ]
legendary chinese anti - hero zhong kui, a young man endowed with mysterious powers who is forced into a battle among the realms of heaven, earth and hell in the course of his attempt to save his countrymen and the woman he loves .
an accomplished, well - established filmmaker with a colorful career of his own, peter pau might possibly loathe being associated with ang lee, with whom he worked – and won an academy award – on the paradigm - shifting crouching tiger hidden dragon. but the hong kong cinematographer’s first directorial effort in 13 years (and third in total) does mirror – if inadvertently – his erstwhile taiwanese collaborator’s work: snow girl and the dark crystal injects a chinese folk hero with narrative elements from the incredible hulk, and is effective enough in its fusion of visual effects and story .
reviewed at ua kk mall, shenzhen, china, feb. 21, 2015. running time: 117 min. (original title :
zhong kui fu mo: xueyao moling
)
all movies has it' s flaws, but besides that, snow girl and the dark crystal is a visually - pleasing movie. the cgi isn' t perfect, but it does its job. it most certainly is better than other chinese movies when it comes to the animations. the story is mostly a drama / fantasy surrounding the subject of heaven and hell, demons and gods. i didn' t really enjoy the movie at the start, but i' m glad i watched through the entire film. the movie itself is good, and the story line stays interesting and entertaining. i would definitely recommend trying this movie out especially if you love mythical creatures .
starting with the same premise as just about every other chinese supernatural fantasy, “snow girl and the dark crystal” is set in a universe where deities, demons and mortals uneasily coexist. once every millennium, demons get the chance to reincarnate as humans, or even upgrade to celestial status. as the date draws near, jade emperor (pau) worries that all hell will literally break loose. true enough, hu city, a fringe town on the silk road, has already been raided by demons who have sucked dry the souls of many inhabitants .
when the white fox spirit falls for a naïve mortal girl, his loyalties are tested in the clash between humans and demons. (mandarin with english subtitles )
the appearance of snow girl – a femme fatale from hell, arriving in zhong’s border outpost town as the lead performer of a titillating dance troupe – kindles zhong’s memories of a past relationship, when he was a handsome scholar preparing for an examination that would propel him toward power. these episodes, revealed in flashback, evoke that old cliché of a man trading in his bright future for cynicism because of a lost love .
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more compelling is the screenplay’s nuanced insight into human foibles, and how the three realms mirror existing social hierarchies. zhong kui was a demigod in chinese mythology whose bearded, plug - ugly countenance was scary even to ghouls; taking liberties with the myth, the film’s hero is a handsome scholar whose noble ideals come into conflict with worldly corruption and the temptations of the flesh. though he vows to be celibate so he can devote himself to serving his country, it doesn’t take long for him to end up in a hot tub with little snow, especially with her purring, ”i have low body temperature. ”
a 3d fantasy adventure about a demon slayer who becomes smitten with, erm, a demon, “snow girl and the dark crystal” comes up with a splashy, game - influenced visual look new to this popular chinese genre. however, the decision to binge on cgi action setpieces overwhelms the romantic spark of the central characters, played by impossibly beautiful leads li bingbing and aloys chen kun, while the film’s themes of class division, human desire and hypocrisy find darker, more riveting expression only toward the end. co - helmed by hong kong lenser peter pau and mainland director zhao tianyu, the film came in third among eight domestic films released for chinese new year, grossing $ 10. 8 million in two days. with the clout of its overseas co - producers village roadshow asia and warner bros. , it could generate reasonably more international buzz than other asian genre fare; a north american 3d release kicks off friday .
david wu ’s editing contributes much to the film’s flow between past and present while keeping the ultimate truth under wraps. but it’s pau’s visual talent, both in terms of his work as dp and also in supervising visual effects, that brings weight to snow girl. this could be seen as another reminder of the technical expertise of hong kong film professionals, what with pau and wu joined by production designers kenneth mak and lam waikin and costume designer shirley chan. with loose ends aplenty, a sequel seemingly awaits — perhaps a test of the crew’s mettle in pushing this whole concept forward .
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featuring chan, john cusack and adrien brody, the movie had 44, 069 screenings and 547, 235 attendances .
the film is directed by zhao tianyu (the law of attraction, deadly delicious) and stars chen kun (the painted skin, the painted skin 2, bends) and li bingbing, who appeared in detective dee and transformers: age of extinction .
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the strongest performance actually comes from the commanding chao, who infuses an ostensibly meritorious role with subtle layers. during a crucial dramatic turn, he takes hold of the scene with just the faintest shift in expression, vividly conveying the mindset of a petty official sent by the central government to meddle in county affairs. as zhong’s sister ling and her fiancee du ping, respectively, yang zishan and bao beier buzz in and out, providing barely noticeable comic relief. jike summer exudes mystery in the role of xueqin’s quasi - sapphic sidekick .
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but pau’s screenwriters – a six - strong team led by his co - director zhao tianyu – manage to push the story toward a plot twist beyond romance as zhong discovers his current incarnation as a scary superhero of uncontrollable temperament .
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village roadshow pictures asia will have distribution rights in singapore, australia and new zealand, and warner bros. pictures will handle distribution in taiwan, hong kong, malaysia and vietnam .
the yarn is almost at an end before it emerges that some of the narrative obscurities are in fact building up to a neat revelation. zhong’s origins, which most chinese know, are reconfigured into a self - searching saga, setting in motion an epic showdown with a human resonance beyond the sheer eye - popping mayhem .
beijing enlight pictures has also joined the project as a co - financier and china co - distributor .
with its nods to the high - octane, paranormal action romances that emerged from pau’s hometown in the 1980s – mostly in its forbidden love story between a man and a non - human woman, à la a chinese ghost story or green snake – snow girl, a hit in china (with takings of over $ 53 million since its feb. 19 release), should play well with a niche international audience. the film’s major fanbase might be those who liked tsui hark ’s the taking of tiger mountain, also handled by well go usa and yet another recent example of a hong kong filmmaker reshaping an existing text in the image of the city’s genre movies (in that case, transforming a propagandistic peking opera piece into a gun - slinging gangster thriller) .
backed by china film group, the movie had 83, 857 screenings and 1. 29 million admissions .
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the chow yun - fat - starrer' the man from macau ii' has now passed the $ 150 million box office threshold .
the north american box office for february came in at $ 710 million, according to entgroup, but once canada was stripped out, the figure was $ 640 million, making china the biggest box - office market in the world for the month, the firm said .
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the holiday period is kept clear of foreign movies to give domestic films an even run. the biggest hollywood movie in the month was the hobbit: the battle of the five armies, which brought in $ 36 million. the hunger games: mockingjay — part 1, the latest installment in lionsgate' s ya film franchise, amassed $ 35. 5 million in china in february .
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pau, the 64 - year - old son of distinguished thesp pau fang and brother of actress nina paw, is best known for lensing “crouching tiger, hidden dragon” and “the forbidden kingdom, ” but has only directed three undistinguished films in 20 years. billed as helmer, producer and visual - effects supervisor, he has coherently streamlined 3d cinematography and ambitious visual effects into a mythological story set during the tang dynasty. yet, with $ 8 million of the $ 26. 4 million budget poured into the vfx (with 20 or so houses employed), it’s no surprise that reportedly 77% of the production is cgi, resulting in a cold, metallic look that sometimes jars with the story’s human elements and whimsical fantasy .
ann an (ip man 2, tiny times, tiny times 2) and oscar - winning cinematographer peter pau (crouching tiger, hidden dragon, the forbidden kingdom) are producing. pau will also be cinematographer on the movie and supervise visual effects .
scenes of chen becoming unhinged are so hysterical that they border on camp; doubling as the cross - dressing demon king, he delivers a kitschy homage to “swordsman ii. ” as xueqing, li is like a sexualized elsa with a subtly insinuating maleficent streak. but despite her ability to enliven even schmaltz like “snow flower and the secret fan, ” li is hamstrung by having to play two separate yet practically identical roles without any depth .
while pau has certainly achieved a lot on the technical front, what the production needs is a topnotch production designer like william chang or tim yip to give its aesthetic a touch of class. as for zhao, his contributions include helming the “drama” scenes and serving as one of six writers, though the resulting screenplay is a bit deficient in structure and dramatic flair .
the top movie in china for the month was chow yun - fat starrer the man from macau ii, which brought in $ 104 million, followed by historical action movie dragon blade, starring jackie chan, john cusack and adrien brody, which accumulated $ 95 million during the month .
the lunar new year holiday led to the country' s biggest box - office month with $ 650 million, making it the top film market in the world for february, according to research firm entgroup .
village roadshow and warner bros will have a “significant participation” in the film' s global revenues, including those earned in mainland china, village roadshow said at the shanghai international film festival .
the film is now in production and is set for release on feb. 19, chinese new year, a big date for moviegoers .
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winston chao, yang zishan, bao bei - er and jike junyi are also starring .
disney scored a double whammy atop the chinese box office with cinderella opening in top spot after a day - and - date release with the u. s. , while oscar winner big hero 6 was in second place .
other chinese co - financiers include kun’s production company k. pictures and shenzhen - based wu’s entertainment .
for a high - profile international co - production that also brought china’s major film companies such as wanda media and beijing enlight pictures onboard, it seems a gamble for desen intl. media, which produced and released the film, to bank on a hong kong helmer who’s more recognized as an ace d. p. and an untested mainland helmer whose only feature film credits are a flimsy drama anthology (“the law of attraction”) and a low - budget culinary thriller (“deadly delicious”). their bet has only partly paid off .
compared with other similar period fantasies that play it safe for family audiences, such as “the white haired witch of lunar kingdom, ” the love scenes have a racy frivolity, enhanced by fine chemistry between li and chen. nevertheless, their characters’ relationship is largely recounted through disjointed flashbacks (not improved by david wu’s mechanical editing), unfolding in a piecemeal fashion that lacks any grand emotional sweep. nor is there enough of the wit and character complexity that lent dramatic heft to the likes of “painted skin: the resurrection” (also starring chen) .
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behind that in third place was jupiter ascending, which added $ 16. 93 million for a cume of $ 40. 14 million in its first full week in china. the expensive sci - fi thriller from directors lana and andy wachowski had 186, 098 screenings and 2. 86 million admissions .
tech credits are visibly superior to those of recent big - budget chinese costume fantasies, though the 3d effects don’t look as sharp or vibrant as they ought to at the mainland screening caught. the shadow of the “ring” franchise hangs heavily over the early inferno visions, but production designers kenneth mak and lam wei - kin gradually evolve their own visual style, fusing futuristic cyber - elements with classical chinese aesthetics. jacky yeung’s robust and wide - ranging action sequences consciously break away from traditional martial - arts choreography, while shirley chan’s magnificent costumes, enhancing li’s voluptuousness, will take couturiers to fabric heaven .
the entgroup figures for north america (the u. s. and canada) are lower than those of rentrak, which says domestic revenue hit $ 760 million in february, but they highlight a trend that china is set to become the world' s biggest film market sooner rather than later, especially as the number of screens increases dramatically every week. rentrak doesn' t separate out u. s. revenues .
big hero 6 added $ 22. 76 million for a total of $ 66. 42 million after 16 days in chinese theaters, according to data from the research outfit entgroup. the oscar - winning disney animation title had 140, 672 screenings and 3. 9 million admissions .
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cinderella took $ 25. 12 million in its opening weekend, with 110, 998 screenings and 4. 84 million admissions .
chinese box - office revenue edged ahead of the united states in february for the first time ever as a record lunar new year bonanza brought in $ 650 million in the second - largest movie market, according to data from research firm entgroup .
behind that was domestic favorite the man from macau ii, featuring hong kong action star chow yun - fat, which took another $ 10. 78 million for a total of $ 150. 58 million after 25 days on release. the movie had 114, 646 screenings and 1. 83 million admissions .
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and still in fourth place was the $ 40 million sino - french epic from jean - jacques annaud, wolf totem, which added another $ 7. 64 million for a gross of $ 107. 46 million after 25 days .
also taking part is composer javier navarrete, action choreographer jacky yeung, production designer kenneth mak, costume designer shirley chan and editor david wu .
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before february, the biggest box - office month ever in china was july last year with $ 580 million, thanks to transformers: age of extinction' s release that month. the lunar new year has become the peak moviegoing period in china. this year, it ran feb. 18 - 24. box office during that week alone amounted to $ 270 million, according to data site 58921. com .
jupiter ascending again managed to balance out its poor performance in north america with upbeat revenues in the world' s second - biggest film market .
in third place was the $ 40 million sino - french epic wolf totem, directed by jean - jacques annaud, which brought in $ 72 million .
movies and tv shows are certified fresh with a steady tomatometer of 75% or higher after a set amount of reviews (80 for wide - release movies, 40 for limited - release movies, 20 for tv shows), including 5 reviews from top critics .
wang ning' s romantic comedy the right mistake took $ 1. 96 million in its first full week for a cume of $ 5. 64 million after 11 days, while domestic thriller nowhere to run earned $ 1. 83 million in its opening weekend .
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running man, an adaptation of a korean reality tv format, made $ 42 million in february .
behind that was studiocanal' s cgi live - action film paddington, which took another $ 5. 5 million in its first full week in china for a gross of $ 13. 02 million after 11 days .
in sixth place was jackie chan' s historical epic dragon blade, which took another $ 3. 35 million for a gross of $ 116. 78 million after 25 days on release .
rain li' s beijing, new york added $ 930, 000 for a total of $ 2. 89 million after 10 days on release .
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aloys chen kun, li bingbing, winston chao, yang zishan, bao beier, jike summer. (mandarin dialogue )
production: (china - australia - u. s .) a desen intl. media (beijing) co. , beijing enlight pictures, wuzhou film distribution co. , huaxia film distribution co. (in china) / well go entertainment usa (in u. s .) release of a desen intl. media (beijing) co. , desen intl. media (beijing) group co. presentation of a international media group co. production in association with beijing enlight pictures co. , wanda media co. , village roadshow pictures asia, warner bros. (f. e .), k pictures (beijing) co. , shenzhen wus entertainment co. , shenzhen tencent video culture communications co. , beijing tianhua xiuxing media co. , china film co - prod. (international sales: arclight, sydney; village roadshow pictures asia, beijing; warner bros .) produced by ann an, peter pau. executive producer, an. co - producers, wang ding, chen lizhi. co - executive producers, wang changtian, jerry ye, ellen eliasoph, pan xiaoxiao, aloys chen kun, bruce wu, sun zhonghuai, greg basser .
crew: directed by peter pau, zhao tianyu. screenplay, zhao, qin zhen, shen shiqi, li jie, raymond lei jin, eric zhang. camera (color, widescreen, hd, 3d), peter pau; editor, david wu; music, javier navarrete; production designers, kenneth mak, lam wai - kin; set decorator, zheng miantian, wu zhiqing; costume designer, shirley chan; sound (dolby atmos) / re - recording mixer, zhu yanfeng; stenographer, vincent e toto; visual effects supervisors, peter pau, kim jong - pill, bernard o. ceguerra; visual effects, weta workshop, studio mg, macrograph, magnon studio, dixom, pixomondo, digital idea, w2 studios, mofac, illumina, realade, madman post production, d4cus, pretzeal, gianststep, digitron, jepet, anitemy; action director, jacky yeung; associate producers, patrick ho, serena wang, derek huang, xiu yani; assistant director, zi xi .
with: aloys chen kun, li bingbing, winston chao, yang zishan, bao beier, jike summer. (mandarin dialogue )
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production companies: desen international media group, in association with beijing enlight pictures, wanda media, village roadshow pictures asia, warner bros (f. e .) inc, k. pictures (beijing), shenzhen wus entertainment, shenzhen tencent video culture communication, beijing tianhua xiuxing media
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zhong kui : snow girl and the dark crystal ( chinese : 钟馗伏魔 ： 雪妖魔灵 ) is a 2015 chinese-hong kong-united states 3d fantasy action adventure film directed by peter pau and zhao tianyu and starring chen kun , li bingbing , winston chao , yang zishan , bao bei'er , and jike junyi . production began on february 16 , 2014 . the film was released on february 19 , 2015 . 
zhong kui: snow girl and the dark crystal (chinese: 钟馗伏魔 ： 雪妖魔灵) is a 2015 chinese-hong kong-united states 3d fantasy action adventure film directed by peter pau and zhao tianyu and starring chen kun, li bingbing, winston chao, yang zishan, bao bei'er, and jike junyi. production began on february 16, 2014. the film was released on february 19, 2015.
zhong kui: snow girl and the dark crystal (chinese: 钟馗伏魔 ： 雪妖魔灵) is a 2015 chinese-hong kong-united states 3d fantasy action adventure film directed by peter pau and zhao tianyu and starring chen kun, li bingbing, winston chao, yang zishan, bao bei'er, and jike junyi. production began on february 16, 2014. the film was released on february 19, 2015.