There is no doubt about it, “The Mermaid” is the blockbuster Chinese movie of all time after it earned on the box office 3 billion yuan ($460 million) on late Friday. It is the third record that the Stephen Chow movie has broken the past three weeks.
On Feb. 17, “The Mermaid” was reported to be close to shattering the record of “Monster Hunt” and “Fast & Furious 7” when it earned 2 billion yuan ($307 million) after nine days of exhibition. With this development, film industry observers believe the next record that the eco-comedy film would breach is the 5-billionth yuan mark.
Three years ago, it was an impossible goal, said Xiao Fei, founder of UP Pictures, a movie company, according to a report from EntGroup. “Now, everyone believes this mark is not far away anymore,” Xiao said.
“The Mermaid” overtook “Monster Hunt,” the previous record-holder, in only 12 days, noted Xinhua News Agency. Despite the bad review by critics, the movie continues to amaze viewers.
GQ describes the film as a “live-action Looney Tunes-esque slapstick humor, with loads of sight gags and absurd goofballery like dancing, axe-wielding gangsters or hybrid soccer/kung fu fight scenes.” It adds the movie is another masterpiece of cartoonish insanity with a nonsensical ploy.
But in the U.S., where the movie made only about $1 million, it only opened in 35 cinemas, and in New York, only two theaters exhibit “The Mermaid.” The magazine pointed out a weird reality of the movie business in 2016 in which massive hits overseas do not merit even a whisper in the U.S. market.