Although the teaser for the big budget Feng Sheng/ The Sound of Wind, or the Message , showed only about two seconds of each big-name actor, what it did show was startling for its graphic content (for a mainland movie), and Zhang Hanyu (the actor who was receiving punishment in the teaser) said that this was the tip of the iceberg only. But it should be all worth it come release time, because it expects a huge box office.
People raised the question about the lack of film classification system in China, and whether due to this problem there would be cuts. Producer Wang Zhonglei said there would not be edits made to the film due to blood, saying that they discussed with the board, nothing was gratuitous, and it was an integral part of the movie.
This movie is targeted for a National Holiday release, on October where it will be battling it out with The Great Cause of Founding the Nation, an even more star-studded event (I’ll be posting more on that film later…the number of celebs in it is eye-popping).
Wang Zhonglei said that last year in China the National Holiday domestic box office was around 400 million yuan. This year he expects it to be around 500 million yuan, and that Feng Sheng should be able to get 200 million of that (~30 million USD).
More info from the press conference where the trailer was relesed at CRIEnglish
That’s a good question. I’m actually not sure. I figured for If You Are the One it was just a low-key movie, and that they were mainly banking on Feng Xiaogang’s name to sell it.
Much obliged! I’ve run across the AF forum but don’t think I’d seen their news section — worth a bookmark.
Do China companies usually wait to set up web sites for big films? HY has nothing new (featuring IF YOU ARE THE ONE and ASSEMBLY), and I don’t think the other upcoming high profile films have sites yet, either. Seems odd to neglect a good source of publicity.
Af is Asianfanatics.net. They have Asian news on their front page, and I usually try to not overlap with their news, because more people go there, and probably see their news.
It’s surprising Feng Sheng has no official site for such big movie! Cool site. I made a topic for the movie at AF and linked to your site there.
You’re welcome! Um, excuse my ignorance, but what’s AF? Sounds like something I should know about….
Largely out of frustration trying to collect and translate material for this film project (and as HY has not yet set up an official site), we’ve set up an English web site, which — among other things — has links to all of the articles we have found in English:
http://www.themessage2009.com
Thanks! I figured since AF posted it, I wouldn’t but I might stick it with news on Chinese box office in general.
Huayi has just released a new set of character posters for THE MESSAGE. Here’s a link to the images and an article in English:
http://english.cri.cn/6666/2009/07/08/1221s499835.htm
I just want to cut in, that I would prefer Yu Haoming too. And not because he is too obedient.
I’m going to stop elaborating there though, because if I were to elaborate more, it’d be paragraphs and paragraphs.
@Nepheliad
The cynical and ver disappointed-in-Long-Danni side of me would say that Wang Yuexin’s not obedient enough. Wang Yuexin broods way too much. Almost He Jie like, though not as emo. And Long Danni seems to prefer obedient idols.
@Nepheliad – I want to answer, but I want to answer more fully, so I’ll do it in a couple of days when I have more time.
I wasn’t directing this at the post – you’ve covered this movie before, so I was expecting an update. If you hadn’t answered Lenn’s comment the way you did, I wouldn’t have thought anything at all. It just sounded like you were kinda worn down, ‘s all.
And you made it sound like you’re thinking of quitting in some measure of soon. That wasn’t intentional, was it?
Digression – speaking of Wang Yuexin, I don’t get why they’re not giving him more work. He’s certainly talented enough, and his popularity seems strong even without heavy promotion…
@Lenn It’s ok. I shall be satisfied if one day I can fangirl and pine in English with people over Wang Yuexin’s lack of any activities.
PS, That is some decent CG and the ending with the parade and stuff is awesome…..not much about the tortures thingy >.>
@Cfensi
Oh sorry, I overreacted :D
You can cover anything you want because I’m thirst for mainland stuff. I don’t know why I’m so interest in Mainland stuff might be because not a lot of people care about it but the market is growing fast and i want to be the one to witness it. :P
@nepheliad – Yeah, I wrote this post rather quickly, and wasn’t really sure how to phrase the title.
But I’m not covering this particular movie because I feel the need to accommodate everyone (although I do have this sort of panicked frenzy where I want to cover everything before I quit).
I just think that it’s worthy of coverage since it’s the largest film company in China, putting all of their talent and tons of money into one movie. That’s what has intrigued me…
Ah, the CGI looks solid, but a little lacking on the planes. Better than I’d hoped for, though. Looking forward to seeing if this’ll deliver on the gritty war-realism that the trailer shows, rather than being a bit heavy-handed with dropping anvils as usual.
I’m not sure that the amount of blood (if the trailer is indicative) is a problem – it’s more that the form of torture is intense. However, it didn’t strike me as gratuitous – just gritty, which is a good thing for a film like this.
BTW, Cfensi, I’m sure there are or will be others who will cover these kinds of genres if you’re not into them…
@idarklight They’re all spies/traitorsor something like it. Everything is real and not real. And I think everyone gets tortured at some point
@Lenn
Are you new on this site?
Most of what I talk about falls into comedy/romance, and people think there should be less of that, and more of this type of news. I feel it’s so hard to please.
If China has WWII movies, I’d say all of them have tackled extremely different subjects. Assembly was about the love of a commander for his men, Nanking! Nanking! was well, about Nanking, and this is more of a psychological thriller.
There’s a lot of other options though… Check the movie tag, or the post Ten Most Anticipated Chinese Movies for the Holiday Season (2008-2009) which had no WWII films.
OMG not another WW2 era movie…..
They should at least slow down on releasing these movies, it’s brainwashing Chinese youth. IMO they should try family comedy like CJ7 not war, too much of them and a lot of mainland dramas are wars too…
I’m still lost as to what the story is about or who’s role is suppose to be what.
sidenote: Wang Zhongjun reminds me a bit of Feng Xiaogang in looks.
Many great casts to look forward to.
wow, looks really really good.
The film have some of my favourite actors
Li Bing Bing, Su You Peng, Zhang Hanyu, Huang Xiao Ming……very strong cast