2018 summer holidays: Five movies to put on your list

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Summer is not only a lucrative season for cold drinks, but also for the blockbusters.

According to a report by China Film News, the year 2017 proved the summer season's importance to the national box office, with takings of 16.3 billion yuan (2.55 billion US dollars), which entertained 474 million Chinese moviegoers.

L – R: Posters of 'Hidden Man,' 'Mission: Impossible - Fallout,' 'Shadow' and 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' /CGTN Photo

The statistics also revealed that more than 100 domestic and foreign films are scheduled to hit the Chinese film market from June to August.

Among them, which one will you pick? And which will be the next box office grabber like "Wolf Warriors 2"?

We recommend five movies you should not miss this summer.

'Dying to Survive'

The highly expected comedy “Dying to Survive” will hit theaters across China next Friday, July 6, among the first batch of young talented Chinese directors' film projects by well-known Chinese director Ning Hao's Dirty Monkey Pictures.

Official poster of 'Dying to Survive' /Photo via Mtime.com

Directed by up-and-coming director Wen Muye, the latest noir comedy, with Ning and actor Xu Zheng as executive producers, marks the first time the two top comedy filmmakers have teamed up for the fiercely competitive summer movie season since the 2006 sleeper hit, “Crazy Stone.”

Xu plays a drug dealer in the comedy feature, starring with popular actors Zhou Yiwei, Wang Chuanjun, Tan Zhuo and Zhang Yu.

The movie depicts the adventure of a Chinese leukemia patient who smuggled unapproved drugs from India to get affordably-priced medicine for himself and 1,000 others.

The story is always the top priority that the whole team “focuses on while keeping both a commercial sense and social responsibility in mind,” emphasized the director at a press conference in April.

'Hidden Man'

It is fair to say that "Hidden Man" at cult director Jiang Wen's helm, produced by Gravity Pictures and co-distributed by Warner Bros. in China, is the most expected blockbuster this summer among Chinese audiences.

Official poster of "Hidden Man“ /Photo via Mtime.com

As the third installment of the loose trilogy included "Let The Bullets Fly" in 2010 and "Gone With The Bullets" followed in 2014, "Hidden Man" continues to mix up overripe high life and power grabs with old-time gangsters in the years of revolution and chaos.

With a theme of revenge, the movie, adapted from a novel by Zhang Beihai, tells a story of a young swordsman returning home to Beijing in the 1930s before the Japanese invasion to solve a murder case that happened five years ago.

The 55-year-old director also played a lead role in this film and his cast includes Chinese Canadian actor Peng Yuyan (Eddie Peng), Liao Fan, Zhou Yun, and Xu Qing.

According to Jiang, he read the novel almost 10 years ago, but completed the preliminary screenplay only four years ago as he was constantly honing the scenario with his playwrights.

A still features Jiang Wen /Photo via Mtime.com

The first film of the gangster series received wide applause, totaling 140 million dollars at the box office. Whereas the follow-up movie got mixed reviews with merely 83 million dollars of revenue.

Whether the final piece will be a great surprise or a big letdown, the judgment can only be made on July 13 when the movie opens nationwide.

'Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings'

Helmed by Xu Ke (Tsui Hark), "Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings" is due to release at home and abroad on July 27, 2018 as a sequel to 2013’s “Young Detective Dee: Rise of The Sea Dragon.”

The main character Dee played by Mark Zhao as a detective during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) is ordered by Empress Consort Wu (690-705) to investigate a series of mysterious cases and has to defend himself against accusations and traps.

Official poster for 'Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings' /Photo via Mtime.com

The movie stars returning cast including Mark Zhao, Lin Gengxin, Feng Shaofeng, and Carina Lau with new case additions including Ma Sichun and Ethan Juan.

After the resounding success of the first release eight years ago, the third element of this action-adventure fantasy series featuring one of the best known Chinese detectives is facing a huge challenge to break through the bottleneck and satisfy audiences' larger appetites.

'The Island'

As the directorial debut of A-list actor Huang Bo, "The Island," scheduled for an August 10 premiere, has drawn massive attention among Chinese audiences.

Official poster of 'The Island' /Photo via Mtime.com

For his first time directing, Huang chose the genre he is most familiar with – comedy.

Very often Huang plays the little figures living at the bottom of the society in films such as “Crazy Stone” in 2006 and “Cow” in 2009. This time, he continues to focus on the growth of small potatoes.

Starring Huang himself, Shu Qi, Wang Baoqiang, Zhang Yixing, and Yu Hewei, "The Island" revolves around a group of mismatched individuals who find themselves stranded together on a desert island.

Stepping out of one's comfort zone is never easy. According to Huang’s post on Weibo, he and his team considered more than 1,000 alternatives before the final Chinese film name was decided.

Trailer poster for 'The Island' /Photo via Mtime.com

Huang has brought home numerous awards and prizes to prove his professional skills as an actor, but as a director, will he still win the hearts of audiences with "The Island"? The answer may soon come.

'Shadow'

Though the premiere date is still unknown, Zhang Yimou’s upcoming martial arts drama "Shadow" has received wide acclaim, thanks to its beautifully crafted posters and stunning trailers.

It reportedly took almost half a year for the production team to design the gorgeous posters in the style of a Chinese ink brush painting.

Trailer posters of Zhang's 'Shadow' /Photo via Mtime.com

On the basis of the posters and trailers, it can be clearly seen that Chinese philosophy about yin and yang is a primary element of the story as it perfectly describes the relationship between the master and his “shadow,” the avatar.

Audiences have expressed excitement about seeing the Chinese cinema legend, who has previously brought classic martial arts epics like “Hero” and “House of Flying Daggers," seems to be going back to his roots with the new epic after the costly, and ultimately disappointing, monster-packed Hollywood tentpole “The Great Wall” in 2016.

After waiting for three years, Chinese audiences have shown especially keen interest on Zhang’s new piece. The mysterious atmosphere in the teaser has stirred a heated debate online about the film’s plot.

Trailer posters for Zhang's 'Shadow' /Photo via Mtime.com

Starring Deng Chao, Sun Li, Zheng Kai, Wang Qianyuan and Wu Lei, "Shadow" depicts an epic story set during China's Three Kingdom's era (AD 220-280).

There are reasons to expect that the upcoming epic movie will storm the film market domestically and overseas.

(With input from agencies)

(Cover image by Yin Yating)