Why ‘The Climbers’ Flops at the Chinese Box Office
As one of the three highly anticipated films released during China’s national day holiday, The Climbers was expected to become a box office hit with its strong cast including Wu Jing, Zhang Ziyi, Jing Boran and Hu Ge. However, The Climbers delivered the worst box office performance among the three films, earning only RMB 770 million ($109) at the box office. The other two films My People My Country and The Captain earned RMB 2.2 billion and 2 billion, respectively. So what made The Climbers a box office bomb? According to interviews with audiences, film critics and cinema managers, lots of negative feedback is around the romance between the two characters played by Wu Jing and Zhang Ziyi, which is described by viewers as not necessary and not engaging. Read more on Mtime
Hainan Island International Film Festival Sets Golden Coconut Awards and Calls for Submissions
Now in its second edition, Hainan Island International Film Festival (HIIFF) will first set its competition section Golden Coconut Awards and is now calling for submissions. The new competition section comprises ten awards for three categories: feature-length film, feature-length documentary, and fiction short. Each award includes a cash prize. The nomination list will be announced in November and the festival will run from December 1 to 8. Read more on Mtime