The Warlords, Hit The 2007 Chinese Box Office

Imagine three legendary Asia artist meets in one screen. “The Warlords” is the answer, film which starring Takeshi Kaneshiro, Jet Li and Andy Lau. Good news, “The Warlords,” has beaten Ang Lee’s much bankable “Lust, Caution” to secure the No.1 spot at the 2007 Chinese-language box-office!!!

As of Sunday, “The Warlords” has raked in 260 million yuan (US$35.74 million), ten million more than “Lust, Caution,” the second strongest box-office winner.

“The Warlords” is being or has been screened in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as Singapore and Malaysia. It reaped 200 million yuan on the mainland alone, making Peter Chan the second Chinese director, following Zhang Yimou, to have crossed the 200-million-yuan boundary.

Released nationwide on Dec. 13, 2007, “The Warlords” reaped 192million yuan (about 26 million U.S. dollars) by Jan. 1. Its overseas box office was 245 million yuan (about 33.6 million U.S. dollars), said the newspaper.

One week later in the release schedule, “The Warlords”’s evenly matched rival —”The Assembly”, directed by director Feng Xiaogang, got 180 million yuan (about 25 million U.S. dollars) at the end of last year.

“The Warlords”, directed by Hong Kong director Peter Chan, based on a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) story, follows the struggle of three blood brothers and their love entanglements with a woman during a time of war and political upheaval.

The 180-meter red carpet was rolled out to receive dozens of entertainment stars, and the cast led the audience in banging thousands of drums at what an investor in director Peter Chan's war epic "The Warlords" claimed was the grandest premiere ever held in China.

This premiere was studded with more than just stars. Drums were featured prominently throughout the premiere: Guests were invited to sign their names on a huge drum at the end of red carpet. When the ceremony began, lead actors Takeshi Kaneshiro, Jet Li, and Andy Lau emerged to bang three drums onstage. Small drums were distributed throughout the audience so guests could keep time with the performance.

The drumbeat was the signal to start battle in ancient China, around which the plot is centered. But these drums also evidenced the producer's desire to win the year-end box office battle. Director Peter Chan told media earlier this year that he hopes box office income will exceed 30 million yuan, or 4 million US dollars.


(all source)