Poster (file photo) |
Top 4: Lost in Thailand
The real miracle for China's film market happened towards the end of the year. The low-budget film "Lost in Thailand" smashed tons of records of the nation's film industry and the movie has already become the biggest grossing Chinese film of all time.
The comedy had grossed 1.08 billion (US$173.34 million) as of Jan. 2, 2013 (updated on Jan. 2, 2013), but numbers are still pouring in as it is still showing in theaters. It officially took the best-grossing-domestic-film crown from 3D blockbuster "Painted Skin: The Resurrection," which earned 702 million yuan (US$112.6 million) over the 2012 summer and was the No. 1- grossing Chinese film ever.
With a budget of about 30 million yuan (US$ 4.8 million), "Lost in Thailand" follows three Chinese men who meet on their individual trips to Thailand, where hilarity ensues. Actor Xu Zheng made his directorial debut with this film, in which he costars with Wang Baoqiang and Huang Bo.
"Lost in Thailand" is actually a comedy of mere moderate-quality. The hilarious, and at times extreme, comedy tricks are not unusual. But it works for Chinese audiences who want to be entertained and be kept laughing for a long time as there have already been too many low-quality films and grim-themed blockbusters dominating the market for months.
The film opened on Dec. 12 and quickly became popular via word of mouth. With the 3-day-long New Year holiday starting on Jan. 1, the film has become the first Chinese film ever to pass the 1-billion-yuan threshold. The movie will surely be included in the history and text books of the Chinese film industry to be studied and learned from.
Temperatures recorded since the end of November have marked the lowest to hit China in 28 years