Tsui Hark’s ‘Journey to the West’ poised to be next blockbuster

HONG KONG: Tsui Hark’s interpretation of the classic theme Journey to the West looks poised to be the box- office hit for the next Lunar New Year season.

His version of the classic hit is entitled Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons 2, which is set to begin screening across China on Jan 28.

Tsui is expected to ride on the popularity of the same theme, which awardwinning Stephen Chow had taken to the top of the box office in 2013. Back then, Chow had stitched together a classic tale with his own brand of hilarity.

Chow been on a

Demons 2 will demonstrate whether audiences in China have the same enthusiasm for cinema in the Year of the Rooster as they have in the past.

has During the Lunar New Year season this year, he chose to debut the heavy- onanimation The Mermaid. It promptly delivered over US$ 500 million (about RM2 .05 billion) at the box office, a new record for the industry in China. Demons 2 will demonstrate whether audiences in China have the same enthusiasm for cinema in the Year of the Rooster as they have in the past. In this Year of the Monkey, which would seem a better time to release film versions of the Monkey King story. Box office revenues have been down for the first time in five years, although locallyproduced films have outpaced Hollywood productions as box office draws.

The film will also test moviegoers’ appetite for more takes on the Journey to the West/ Monkey King story.

Action star Donnie Yen took a swing at it in the 2014 movie The Monkey King, followed by a sequel earlier this year, in which Hong Kong singer-actor Aaron Kwok replaced Yen.

China’s nominee for the Best Foreign Language Film, Xuanzang, covered the same ground, although is a more traditional re-telling of the story, focusing on the title character, Xuan Zang, the monk who brought Buddhism to China.