Monster Hunt is described as an “epic adventure” about an all-out war between monsters and humans to determine who rules a “fantasy world far, far away”, and something about that has struck a chord with worldwide audiences: The film, after just two weeks of release, has become the highest grossing Chinese production of all time, earning $211 million at the global box office (it raked in $46 million this past weekend in its home country alone).
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Lost in Thailand, a 2012 low-budget filmed directed by Xu Zheng, previously held the record in domestic box office earnings.
Initial prospects for the movie did not look good after its original lead, Taiwanese actor Kai Ko, became embroiled in a drug scandal previous year.
Meanwhile, Xu Zheng recently showed sportsmanship by posting a photo of the movie’s monster dancing on top of his head as his own form of congratulations to the “Monster Hunt” team.
Also, no other Hollywood blockbusters are scheduled for release in China until the end of July, leaving Huba some space to do his monster thing until Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Minions, and Inside Out come to hunt the monster.
The movie, directed by Hong Kong’s Raman Hui Shing-ngai also known for co-directing US comedy-animation Shrek the Third is about a young man who accidentally creates a monster named Huba.
China’s Bai Baihe also stars in the film with Hong Kong’s Eric Tsang and Sandra Ng. Ko was arrested along with Jackie Chan’s son Jaycee Chan for smoking marijuana in August 2014, and the movie was re-shot with a new lead.
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It had already set opening-day and single-day records by a Chinese film, Xinhua said. The box office totaled 20.4 billion yuan (US$3.28 billion) in the first half of 2015, according to SARFT. Domestic films raked in a very respectable 9.5 billion yuan, compared to foreign movies which grossed a total of 10.8 billion yuan.
