Box office hits seen as sign of industry’s recovery
The recent success of several Hong Kong films has sparked hopes for recovery in the city’s lacklustre movie industry.
Industry players said investors had begun considering film projects with bold subjects that appealed to overseas markets, rather than focusing purely on the mainland, with its many restrictions.
“The recent boom in local films shows viewers like films that invite reflection on social issues, though I can’t say if it will be a dominant trend,” said veteran producer and actor Tenky Tin Kaiman, chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers.
“This has prompted investors to be more daring and innovative in choosing film topics.”
Cinemas closed for more than 100 days in the first half of the year when the city’s fifth wave of Covid-19 infections resulted in stringent curbs for businesses. But since summer, the scene has perked up with the arrival of one local hit film after another.
As of November 27, sci-fi action thriller Warriors of Future and comedy Table for Six raked in more than HK$81 million and HK$76.5 million respectively, making them the two topgrossing Asian films of all time in the city, according to Hong Kong Box Office.
Warriors of Future is about two combatants who lead a team defending Earth from the invasion of a lethal alien plant, Pandora. Table for Six is about estranged relationships and emigration and carries the tagline: “Home is where your family is.”
Another release that has fared well is Mama’s Affair, marking the film debut of Mirror boy band members Keung To and Jer Lau. It has raked in more than HK$40 million and is about a single mother’s struggles to balance family and career.
Low-budget film The Sparring Partner, a rare real-life crime drama which opened late last month, grossed HK$30.8 million in four weeks.
The film was inspired by a grisly double murder in Hong Kong in 2013, when a 28-year-old man killed his parents and dismembered their bodies. It will be made available on streaming platform Netflix.
The producer, Philip Yung Tszkwong, a critic turned director with works such as the awardwinning true-crime drama Port of Call (2015), said the recent success of several local films was a good sign for the city’s industry.
“The recovery trend is very obvious as the box office speaks for itself,” he said.
“It may be due to the prevailing social sentiment, Hongkongers’ growing sense of belonging, viewers’ preference for discussion and the fact that they have been starving for good films for a long time.”
Yung said the films might also have offered Hong Kong audiences a way to vent their emotions and concerns over issues such as emigration, family reunions and the issue of justice during these times of uncertainty and political change.
Tenky Tin said he could not say the film industry was on track to recovery as investors appeared to have a wait-and-see attitude on committing to new projects.
“There are not many new projects in the pipeline. Filmmakers are still watching to see if the recent boom is a one-off phenomenon or whether movies which touch on Hong Kong’s social phenomena have a long-lasting appeal,” he said.
But he added the recent box office successes gave filmmakers hope to look beyond co-productions released on the mainland, which undergo a long, complex approval process with restrictions on topics and content.