| Only Fools Rush In | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Chinese | 四海 |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Sì Hǎi |
| Directed by | Han Han [1] |
| Written by | Han Han [2] |
| Starring | Liu Haoran Liu Haocun Shen Teng Yin Zheng |
Production company | PMF Pictures [3] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 128 minutes [4] |
| Country | China |
| Box office | $90 million [5] |
Only Fools Rush In is a 2022 comedy-drama film written and directed by Han Han. [6] [7] [2] It was released in China on 1 February 2022 [4] and was received poorly by audiences. [8]
The film follows Wu Renyao [a] (nicknamed Ah Yao), a young motorcycle enthusiast who begins to bond with his estranged father Wu Renteng who he has not seen in many years. [6] [10] [11] He also befriends young waitress Zhou Huansong and her brother Zhou Huange who is the leader of a motorcycling gang. After Huange dies in an accident while swimming in the sea, Renyao and Huansong embark on a journey to the city of Guangzhou to try and start a new life together. [12] [13] [2] [14]
The film's Chinese title Sì Hǎi (四海) literally means "four seas" or "the whole world". An early working title was Niánqīng de Gùshi (年轻的故事), "a young story". [17]
The project was officially launched and gained approval for filming in February 2021. The same month, it was reported that shooting had started. [18] It was filmed on Nan'ao Island and in Guangzhou. [19] [20] Production was finished on 20 August 2021 in Guangzhou. [21] [19]
The film features motorcycle racing scenes and a variety of different motorcycles. The film's director, Han Han, who has experience filming car racing, said that motorcycle scenes are much more difficult to film than car scenes. When filming a car scene, Han said, a drone can get very close to the vehicle to get a good shot, and in the event of a collision the damage to the drone is a tolerable cost, but when filming a motorcycle the filmmakers cannot risk a drone accidentally striking the driver. [22]
Only Fools Rush In was released in mainland China on 1 February 2022 (Chinese New Year) [4] and was shown in IMAX theaters. [10] [8] It was advertised as an uplifting film. [10]
It was released in the United Kingdom on 4 February 2022. [23]
The film was highly anticipated, earning $44.48 million CNY in presales- [24] It went on to gross an opening day of $225 million CNY ($33.74 million USD) placing second at the Chinese box office, after The Battle at Lake Changjin II . [25] After receiving negative reviews, the film's daily box office grosses began dropping dramatically, to $62 million CNY ($9.79 million USD) by its third day and $25 million CNY ($3.98 million USD) by its fifth. [26] By the end of the first week of the Chinese New Year holiday, the film had grossed a total of $475 million CNY ($76.3 million USD) ending up sixth place below Sniper . [27] The film continued to drop in popularity and by 12 February had dropped below Dunk for the Future with a daily gross of $5.1 million CNY ($0.81 million USD). [28]
Though the film did well in pre-release ticket sales, it was a disappointment upon its release, [24] receiving negative reviews from audiences. [29] [8] It received an average rating of 5.5 out of 10 on Douban and 8.7 out of 10 on Maoyan. [4] [30]
Sun Jiayin of Xinmin Evening News wrote that the film's storyline and themes were very similar to Han Han's previous productions ( The Continent , Duckweed , and Pegasus ), so much so as to make viewers feel as if they had seen it before. [9]