Furious

Erm try cramming longer HK movies into the theater circuits with multiple daily showings, it doesn't happen. Theater owners want as many movies with as many showings that they can cram into a day. Hence, its not uncommon for HK films to be cut down to a shorter run time when box office considerations and theater booknig take precedence. If anything, it is extremely cool that an extended version is getting a theatrical showing, as this is very rare.

yangshouwen

It doesn't cheapen the film at all. I'm pleased that Chiau did this, A. It's rare for such a move B. By some remarks. It improves the love story and has additional fight scenes C. It's a move againt the piracy, keeping one foot ahead, and bringing more people to the cinema to show that Hong Kong cinema isn't dead.

wonton

i dont think they care that much about the audience. their whole point of doing this is to get a bigger box office. i would feel cheated if i have seen the first version and now they are releasing their "un-cut" version. which means i have to spend twice the amount for this movie. errr. i dont know, it's just me or something because i hate being cheated this. stephen shouldnt do this, it's too cheap like leon lai in my opinion. even tho i like his movies very much, i have to go against him about this. i wouldnt pay for something like this.

Yellow Hammer

Shaolin Soccer is on a major roll. The new release did wonders for its box office, the last 4 days (Thu-Sun) alone garnered almost $8HK mil in box office, even beating out Planet of the Apes. After 25 days now it is up to $47.7HK mil. Another week or so of this and it could be approaching the HK all-time stratosphere, which is JC's First Strike, which came in at $57.5HK million.

Para Para Sakura for the weekend came in at $3.24HK million, which ultimately means it will be moderately successful box-office wise. Given the stiff competition coming in the next 2 weeks, probably will end up in the $10HK mil range. Won't be considered a blockbuster.

Love on a Diet finally hit the $40HK million mark. This will probably be it's last week in the HK theatres. I finally got a chance to see the movie on the big screen last night and it's a great movie, right up there with Needing You. Nice blend of romance and comedy. Probably will be a HKFA Best Picture nominee.

Source courtesy of Mov3.com

Rocky_Raccoon

according to an article I read some Mainland companies put up some of the money for the filming of Shaolin Soccer. They also were angry about the title of the film and wanted Stephen to change it but he refused . I hope Stephen wins this fight. 9 million would be a ridiculous amount to fine him. It would also be a huge step backwards for the HK-Chinese movie industry.

Clint

Kevin8284

According to Oriental Daily, Andy Lau is actually confident that the gross for his "Fulltime Killer" will beat Shaolin Soccer's current 49 mil and counting. I wonder after seeing those grosses is he still all that confident?
Before anyone else gets angry about the 10 extra minutes of footage, it'll probably be included in the DVD, if not at least VCD.
And I was checking out Stephen Chiau's past movie's grosses, and I thoguht my eyes were blurred when I saw a measly $15 mil HK for The God of Cookery?! I thought that was the funniest Stephen Chiau movie since Love On Delivery.

yangshouwen

God of Cookery only $15 mil? I'm sure it was more than that. However I don't have firm facts so won't render everyone with false stats.

Trigger

According to HKMDB:

Theatrical Run: 12/21/1996 - 01/24/1997
Box Office: HK $15,887,030.00

I find it odd as well... My favorite Steven Chow film.

Yellow Hammer

The sources I have say $40,861,655HK million - #2 ranked movie of 1996. By the Shaolin Soccer should hit $50HK mil today and is poised to top First Strike (the #1 movie of 1996 and the all-time HK box office leader).

Here's one of the sources, you need to be able to read Chinese:
http://na.stareastnet.com/tc/movie/top10.html

Kevin8284

Thanks Yellow Hammer for clearing it up. I swear I've seen that 40 mil gross on HKMDB before, but I guess it got messed up during the breakdown a week ago? At least I now know I wasn't high on anything.

Yellow Hammer

Tsui Hark article on the making of Legend of Zu:

http://www.totallyhk.com/TimeOff/Ent...2104004704.asp

Yellow Hammer

sorry for making this sound like a sporting event, but after 29 days Shaolin Soccer has broken the $50HK million barrier ($51.43 to be exact). This breaks Stephen's previous best mark of $49.8 for Justice My Foot, and puts him in line to break the all time record of $57.5HK million in a week or so. It is still the number 1 movie playing even after 29 days, which is remarkable considering the number of summer blockbuster movies coming out of the U.S. currently in the HK theatres. In fact Kiss of the Dragon just came out yesterday in HK and somewhat surprisingly did not do all that well, around $770,000HK for first day sales.

Para Para Sakuya is somewhat limping along at a bit over $5HK mil in box office after 8 days, and with so-so reviews probably won't last too much longer in the theatres.

Tomorrow is the opening of another highly hyped HK movie - Fulltime Killer - a movie which some are predicting may win HK Best Picture for 2001.

Kevin8284

Damn, Yellow Hammer beat me to it again. ^_^. Golden harvest seems to be having a pretty bad year. They haven't had a hit since Jackie Chan's Accidental Spy. At least Para Para Sakura(It IS sakura, by the way, after the name of a flower)is making more than Goodbye, Mr. Cool although the budget is way higher. Looks like Jingle Ma is on quite a bad streak this year.
I actually find 770,000 dollars HK a pretty good opening for Kiss of the Dragon since it's a weekday and the movie is not exactly aimed at teenagers. It may do better this weekend.
Fulltime Killer is sure to beat Shaolin Soccer in the box office this weekend, but the question is, by how much? And I wonder if I'll ever have the fortune to see it here in theatres in SF.

Yellow Hammer

weekend numbers are out and Fulltime Killer did very well. $8.3HK million in the first 3 days and is now #1 on the charts. Shaolin Soccer is inching along towards the all-time record, now at $53.3HK mil.

SiuBo

I had the misfortune to see Para Para Sakura at the cinema in Hong Kong. It is one hell of an awful film. Despite the title, there is hardly any para para dancing at all, but we do witness some lovely kung fu dancing from Aaron.

The problem with the film is the plot and script - it doesn't have any. It is not a musical, as some people has mentioned, and it is not a romantic comedy. It is simply a hybrid of so many ideas that it just falls flat.

Basically it is about a colourblind dancing teacher (Kwok) falling in love with a Chinese/Japanese girl (Cheung). That's it.

Performances are dire, especially that of Cecilia Cheung, whose airheaded acting is so damn annoying.

Believe me, this is one film to avoid. Watch Love on a Diet, or Shaolin Soccer instead.

Yellow Hammer

Fighting For Love, the early summer blockbuster starring Sammi Cheng and Tony Leung, will be out on DVD on August 10. Price is for $78HK at DDDHouse.

Yellow Hammer

The Legend of Zu opened today in HK, and unfortunately the reviews are all negative. Here's an example review:

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/lif...,62516,00.html


Fulltime Killer has also had its share of not-so-glowing reviews. Believe it or not, Paul Fonoroff sort of likes this one as well (that's two movies this year alone!)

http://www.totallyhk.com/TimeOff/Ent...9165132288.asp

wonton

paul fonoroff gave FULLTIME KILLER a **1/2, that's the mark he usually gives to hk movies. still, i'm looking forward of seeing it.

too bad for PARA PARA SAKURA...i think it would have done better if the female lead is someone else and not cecilia cheung (who has been in so many movies that i have lost my counting. i'm getting bored seeing the same face over and over again in movies, and her acting is limited). does she have any dancing scenes in the movie? this is still not it for her, she will also be in THE LEGEND OF ZU and SECOND TIME AROUND. sigh...does she even have the time to breathe? hehe. what would happen if they stick sammi cheng this film?

does anyone know the released date for MY SCHOOLMATE, BARBARIAN starring nicholas tse, stephen fung, and joey yung? according to hkmdb.com, it will release sometime this month?

Yellow Hammer

Looks like Shaolin Soccer is not going to get the HK local box office record. Fast fading with all the new competition (Jurassic Park 3, Legend of Zu, Full Time Killer) and is at $54.81HK million as of today.

With the year 2001 promising to be the breakout year again after a 5 year slump of consistent HK movies, I detect some major flameout here. Legend of Zu looks to be a dud and Fulltime Killer is not quite living up to the hype. What started out to be a great summer with Fighting for Love, Love on a Diet and Shaolin Soccer has turned into potential disappointment. Maybe I'm wrong, let's see.

ipkevin

Dud as in box office or in quality?

Yellow Hammer

Regarding Zu, the initial reviews all point to a film that is suuck. Film looks to be high on high-tech wizadry, low on content and performance. Box office is pretty decent for the first day but I'm guessing around a $8-12HK mil film at the box office when all is said and done.

Kevin8284

Damn, and I was really looking forward to Zu and Fulltime Killer. From what I'm hearing, those two should worth a look on DVD.
I think "My Schoolmate, The Barbarian" is coming out at the end of the month. I read that it just ended shooting a couple of weeks ago and Wong Jing is putting it all together now. I'm also reading that the movie should have a lot of fighting scenes, which the stars didn't expect to have.
Looks like the box office quality for this year got nowhere to go but down from here for HK films. I haven't heard about any big releases in the upcoming couple of months. If there are any, please let me know.
The real disappointment this year in seems to be foreign films in HK cinema. They are following the same pattern as the box offices number in the States. A big opening then a large drop-off in numbers the second weekend. The only real big blockbuster this Summer for foreign movie seems to be The Mummy Returns.

SiuBo

Mummy Returns was bloody awful. So was Pearl Harbor, Evolution, Tomb Raider, Swordfish, Final Fantasy, Planet of the Apes - the so-called Summer Blockbusters. The only film that was any good was Shrek. I haven't seen J.Park3 yet.

As for Legend of Zu, gonna go and watch it tomorrow. Sod the flaming reviews - HK films don't have good plots anyway.

Heard that My Mate, Barbarian is supposed to be out on the 23 August. Not confirmed though.

wonton

everyone seems to complain about the plots of hk movies. what is a good plot? what are some movies that you think have a good plot? many have said TIME AND TIDE is horrible cus it doesnt have a plot, plot holes, etc...i just saw the movie on dvd today myself, and it's a hella movie!! TIME AND TIDE is much better than some of the hollywood action movies i have seen. it's a very stylish and glossy action film, and it DOES have a plot. what more of a plot could there be? i like hk films and i'm happy with them.

CheungYF

I agree to what WANTON has just said regarding TIME AND TIDE which IMHO is stylish, kinetic and innovative. I rate this film 8/10.
Most film critics are intellectuals who see new films almost every day. They are generally against any "mindless" fun/entertaining film without a plot unless it is an "art" film. Anyway, I do not pay much attention to film critics' views which may or my not be the same with mine.
I am still looking forward to seeing Tsui Hark's "Legend of Zu" in 4 hours' time in a 17-seater luxury theater in Hong Kong. IMHO, Tsui Hark is a director whose uncontrollable imagination goes much faster than his storytelling. In the case of the Legend of Zu with characters loosely based on a difficult-to-understand 60-chapter/20-book wuxia-cum-god-and-demon novel, I do not expect much storytelling in the 2-hour film full of CGI. His "wuxia" films "Butterfly Murders", "Zu" and "Blade" were not well recieved in Hong Kong in terms of box office take when they came out. However, I like all of them which are stylish, kinetic and innovative.