December 20, 2005
The Promise storms China
We talked about The Promise trailer before, and now it's released in China it has broken box office records and taken $9m (£5.1m) in it's first four days!
The BBC have the facts:
Kung fu epic film The Promise has taken $9m (£5.1m) in its first four days of release, making it the biggest-ever movie opening in China.Chen Kaige's film broke the previous record set by Kung Fu Hustle, according to trade website Screen Daily.
The Promise, which cost a reported $42m (£23.7m) to make, is China's submission for the best foreign film Oscar and is up for a Golden Globe...
...It took $2.6m (£1.47m) on its opening day and highest single day revenue on 17 December was estimated to be £3m (£1.7m) - again breaking the record set by Kung Fu Hustle of $2.7m.
That's great news for the movie, and if you're in the US and slightly confused you'll be wanting to keep your eyes out for it under the name of Master of the Crimson Armor, for some bizarre reason. I'm keen to see this movie, the trailer looked fantastic. Has anyone out there seen it yet and can give us some thoughts on how good or bad it is?
Posted by at December 20, 2005 11:09 AM
Comments
Posted by: Mack at December 20, 2005 21:47
Yes and I am sorry to bare the burdon of bad news. This movie stunk, in the tradition of big budget hong kong cheese cinema. Alot of effects, but extremely cheesy storyline and even worse casts of actors to play the parts. To give you a reference point, see the recently released "Seven Swords". Yes its this bad. If you are looking for the next Hero, Kung Fu Hustle, or House of Flying Dragon, this is not it.
Posted by: Mr Bean at December 22, 2005 16:30
Those numbers are for mainland China only. It did very well on the mainland as you said but did not fair well at all over in Hong Kong. It is struggling in that market losing out to King Kong and Harry Potter. It failed to surpass box office records still held by Tsui Hark's Seven Swords [which sucked nuts by the way]. Reviews have been mixed. Cheers!