The six new films scheduled to debut at this year’s Spring Festival have been setting records since ticket pre-sales kicked off on January 19. This year’s festival has reached the milestone of becoming the fastest in Chinese cinema to achieve over 10 million yuan, as well as the quickest to exceed 100 million yuan and 200 million yuan in pre-sale box office revenue.
The primary factor contributing to the record-breaking pre-sale box office this year is the film “The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Great Hero,” directed by Tsui Hark and featuring Xiao Zhan.
“The Legend of the Eagle Shooting Heroes: The Great Hero” is a martial arts blockbuster directed by Xu Ke, who is making his directorial comeback after a hiatus of over twenty years. This film marks the first adaptation of a Jin Yong story featuring Xiao Zhan in the leading role.
Xu Ke is celebrated as the leading martial arts film director in the nation, while Xiao Zhan stands as the most prominent star in China today. Their partnership on a Jin Yong adaptation has understandably generated considerable buzz and high expectations among viewers. Since the film’s pre-sale for tickets opened, it has achieved remarkable ticket sales, outpacing other films released during the Spring Festival.
Statistics indicate that the pre-sale box office for “The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Great Hero” has reached 140 million RMB, with nearly 100 million RMB generated on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
While this achievement is certainly thrilling, the remarkable pre-sale box office success of “The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Great Hero,” which significantly surpasses that of other films, comes as a surprise. Films such as “Ne Zha” and “Detective Chinatown 3” are strong contenders for this year’s Spring Festival release and are both anticipated to set new records at the Chinese box office.
On the other hand, what’s even more surprising about the film “The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Great Hero” is that the role of Guo Jing’s mother is portrayed by Cai Shaofen.
Initially, it was common knowledge that Xiao Zhan takes on the lead role of Guo Jing in this movie. Other significant characters, such as Hong Qigong, Ouyang Feng, Master Yideng, and Genghis Khan, were only introduced when the first full trailer dropped. Nonetheless, the audience quickly identified each of these characters during that reveal.
Guo Jing’s mother, Li Ping, is featured in the second extended trailer; however, at that moment, viewers did not realize that the actress portraying Li Ping was Cai Shaofen. It wasn’t until they examined the cast list that they made the connection.
Cai Shaofen’s performance as Li Ping was difficult to recognize primarily because of the drastic change in her appearance from her previous roles. Director Xu Ke employs an unconventional method in his character portrayals.
