Monster Hunt 2 | |
---|---|
Traditional Chinese | 捉妖記2 |
Simplified Chinese | 捉妖记2 |
Literal meaning | tale of catching demons 2 |
Hanyu Pinyin | Zhuō yāo jì 2 |
Directed by | Raman Hui |
Screenplay by | Jack Ng Sunny Chan Su Liang |
Based on | Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling |
Produced by | Bill Kong Yee Chung-man Doris Tse |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Anthony Pun |
Edited by | David Richardson |
Music by | Leon Ko |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 110 minutes [2] |
Countries | China Hong Kong [3] |
Language | |
Budget | RMB 900 million (US$143 million) [6] |
Box office | US$361.7 million [7] |
Monster Hunt 2 is a 2018 mainland Chinese-Hong Kong fantasy comedy adventure film directed by Raman Hui. It stars Tony Leung, Bai Baihe, Jing Boran, Li Yuchun and Tony Yang. A sequel to 2015's Monster Hunt , the film was released in mainland China and Hong Kong on February 16, 2018. [1]
Wuba is on his own journey through monster realm. The darker forces of the evil monster king are in search for Wuba. Peace is not restored in the monster world. Wuba meets Tu and BenBen, a human-monster team, and they rescue Wuba multiple times. Meanwhile, Huo and Song are in search of Wuba and reach Monster Hunter Bureau. They upgrade their weapons and find new friends. In the end, all of them fight, rescuing Wuba from the evil monsters. Finally, Wuba is reunited with its family.
Following the success of the first film, Edko Films upped the production phase of the sequel by doubling the number of visual effects shots, adding more monsters, building bigger sets, boosting merchandising output and marketing alliances, and adding veteran star Tony Leung to the cast. [10]
Principal photography began in Beijing in October 2016. [1] The film took three years to complete compared to the seven years taken by the first film. [11]
The visual effects were rendered by half a dozen companies and required a multinational effort, Industrial Light & Magic and Whiskytree from the U.S., and China’s BaseFX in Beijing, Original Force in Nanjing, Trouper Visual Effects in Shanghai and CGCG in Taiwan. [12]
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Performer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Stand Up" (什么什么) | Xu Qi | Hanif Hitmanic Sabzevari, Dennis DeKo Kordnejad, Pontus PJ Ljung, Daniel Kim | Jolin Tsai | 3:20 |
Total length: | 3:20 |
Edko Films tied-up with many licensing partners for marketing the film. They partnered with Alibaba on merchandising, and with Chimelong, China’s largest domestic theme park, for developing theme park attractions inspired by the franchise. They also partnered with SM Supermalls, China's biggest mall. Moreover, Lionsgate is discussing Monster Hunt attraction in the Middle East. [10]
The film was released in China and Hong Kong on February 16, 2018 to coincide with Chinese New Year. [13] It was screened at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival at the out-of-competition category. [14]
At the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, Lionsgate acquired rights to its North American and UK theatrical distribution as well as rights to the property's location-based entertainment venues in select territories. The film was released day-and-date in North America along with its Chinese release. [15] Lionsgate secured 70 screens there for its opening. [16]
Buoyed by the groundbreaking success of the first film and its impact on China's cinema, its sequel was highly anticipated by audiences and was already envisioned to be a huge commercial success following the footsteps of its predecessor. Moreover, the film was released during the lucrative Chinese New Year period which aided the sequel in its continued success despite heavy competitions. [17] In its hometown market, the film pre-sold around US$7.8 million tickets for its opening day (which later grew to RMB70.6 million or US$11.3 million fourteen days shy of release [10] ), seventeen days ahead of its premiere. By comparison, Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back and The Mermaid hit that mark three and four days prior to their release respectively. [18] At around 7:30 pm (GMT) of its opening day, ticket sales surpassed those of The Fate of the Furious to record the biggest opening day in the Middle Kingdom. On its full opening day, the film earned an estimated RMB545 million (US$85.9 million), setting a new single day box office record and occupying 44% of the market share. It is also the fourth biggest single-day in any territory behind the North American openings of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (US$119 million), its sequel, Star Wars: The Last Jedi (US$105 million) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (US$91 million). [19] [20] Including ticketing fees, the opening was worth RMB603 million (US$95.7 million), [17] while others reported US$97 million. [15] The Hollywood Reporter noted that had there been less to no competition, the film would've broken the all-time opening day record. [20] The film topped the daily box office for two days but was eventually overtaken by Detective Chinatown 2 on its third day. [21]
Earning a total of RMB1.14 billion (US$178.7 million) or US$190 million including online ticket surcharges, it broke a new all-time opening weekend in the country, topping Wolf Warrior 2 's previous record, [22] and securing 81% of the weekend total box office. [23] An estimated US$7 million alone came from IMAX showings. The film along with the combined grosses of Detective Chinatown 2 (US$154 million), The Monkey King 3: Kingdom of Women (US$79.9 million), Operation Red Sea (US$70.3 million) and Boonie Bears: The Big Shrink (US$40.9 million) amounted to a record breaking RMB3.21 billion (US$506 million) or US$543 million weekend with online ticket sales, which is more than double the feat achieved in 2017 (US$205 million) and 2016 (US$224 million) during the same time period. [24] [25] The previous weekend record was set in North America during the weekend of December 18–20, 2017, when the combined grosses of several films resulted in US$306 million led by Star Wars: The Force Awakens 's US$248 million debut. [23] [26] Moreover, the combined IMAX earnings of the three films also set a new record with US$15.1 million, led by Monster Hunt 2 and Detective Chinatown 2 (US$6.7 million). [24]
In the United States and Canada, the film made US$120,000 on its opening day from 70 screens, [16] and US$335,000 over its opening weekend. [23]
The film received an average rating of 8.5 out of 10 by moviegoers on Maoyan. [27] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 50% based on 10 reviews, and an average rating of 5.1/10. [28]
Hui and producer Kong have a story planned out through a fourth film. The two told The Hollywood Reporter in February 2018 that they plan to make an animated film after the fourth one which could serve as a potential spin-off. [11] [12]
Bai Baihe is a Chinese actress. She is among the highest-paid film actresses in China. She is best known for her roles in such films as Love Is Not Blind, Personal Tailor, Monster Hunt and Go Away Mr. Tumor.
2018 in film is an overview of events, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies, critics' lists of the best films of 2018, festivals, a list of films released, and notable deaths.
Monster Hunt is a 2015 mainland Chinese-Hong Kong 3D fantasy action comedy adventure film directed by Raman Hui. The film was released in China on 16 July 2015 in 3D and IMAX 3D. Upon release, it became a huge commercial success, breaking numerous box office records, including the highest-grossing film in China, before The Mermaid took the crown in 2016. It opened in North America on January 22, 2016 in 2D and 3D by FilmRise.
Mojin: The Lost Legend is a 2015 Chinese action adventure fantasy thriller film based on the novel Ghost Blows Out the Light. It was directed by Wuershan and produced by Chen Kuo-fu. The film was released on December 18, 2015.
Lost in Hong Kong is a 2015 Chinese comedy film directed, co-written and co-produced by Xu Zheng, starring himself along with Zhao Wei, Bao Bei'er, and Du Juan. This is Xu's second directorial feature, after the huge domestic hit Lost in Thailand (2012) which grossed over US$208 million. A third film in the "Lost in" series, Lost in Russia was released in 2020, although all three films' plot and characters are unrelated.
Go Away Mr. Tumor is 2015 Chinese comedy-drama film. It is based on the life of comic book artist Xiong Dun, who after her cancer diagnosis authored a popular webcomic that became a sensation in China. Xiong died in 2012 at the age of 30.
Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe is a 2015 Chinese 3D adventure action film directed and co-written by Lu Chuan, and stars Mark Chao, Yao Chen, Rhydian Vaughan, Li Chen, Tiffany Tang and Daniel Feng. The film is an adaptation of Zhang Muye's 2006 best-selling novel Ghost Blows Out the Light. Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe was released in China on September 30, 2015.
Surprise is a low-budget 2015 Chinese fantasy comedy film directed by Show Joy. It is based on a Youku web series of the same name by Show Joy but with a different content. It had wide previews on 12 and 13 December and was released on 18 December 2015.
Time Raiders is a 2016 Chinese fantasy-action-adventure film directed by Daniel Lee and starring Jing Boran and Luhan. It is based on the online novel series Daomu Biji written by Xu Lei. The film was released in China by Le Vision Pictures on August 5, 2016.
I Belonged to You is a 2016 Chinese romantic drama film directed by Zhang Yibai and starring Deng Chao, Bai Baihe, Yang Yang, Zhang Tianai, Yue Yun-peng, Du Juan and Liu Yan. It was released in China on September 29, 2016.
Operation Red Sea is a 2018 Chinese-Hong Kong action war film directed by Dante Lam and starring Zhang Yi, Huang Jingyu, Hai Qing, Du Jiang and Jiang Luxia. The film is loosely based on the evacuation of foreign nationals and almost 600 Chinese citizens from Yemen's southern port of Aden during late March in 2015 Yemeni Civil War. According to Chinaculture.org, the film is in similar style to that of Operation Mekong.
Us and Them is a 2018 Chinese romantic drama film directed by Taiwanese singer-actress Rene Liu in her directorial debut and produced by Zhang Yibai. The film stars Jing Boran and Zhou Dongyu, and was released on April 28, 2018. The film explores the relationship between a man and a woman who share the same rural hometown and try to find personal and professional fulfillments together in Beijing in the face of economic, social, familial, and romantic adversity.
2021 in film is an overview of events, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies, festivals, a list of country-specific lists of films released, and movie programming.
Detective Chinatown 3 is a 2021 Chinese comedy mystery buddy film directed and written by Chen Sicheng, starring Wang Baoqiang and Liu Haoran. It is a sequel to Detective Chinatown 2 (2018) and is the third installment in the Detective Chinatown series. It was released on 12 February 2021.
A Little Red Flower is a 2020 Chinese drama film directed by Han Yan from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jinliang Han, Han Li, Jia Jia Wei, and Yu Yonggan. It stars Jackson Yee as Wei Yihang, a teenager who has been in remission following a brain tumor operation years prior, and Liu Haocun as a fellow patient named Ma Xiaoyuan.
Boonie Bears: The Wild Life is a 2021 Chinese Computer animated fantasy comedy film, and the seventh feature film in the Boonie Bears series. The story follows Logger Vick who participates in a contest with Bramble and Briar, when guests who have been transformed into animals. The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics.
Case Closed: The Bride of Halloween, known as Detective Conan: The Bride of Halloween in Japan, is a 2022 Japanese animated mystery film directed by Susumu Mitsunaka. It is the twenty-fifth installment of the Case Closed film series based on the manga series of the same name by Gosho Aoyama, following the 2021 film Case Closed: The Scarlet Bullet. The film was released in Japan on April 15, 2022.