Oscar-winning war epic '1917' tops China's box office

By Zhang Rui and Song Haozhe
0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, August 11, 2020
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Sam Mendes' highly-anticipated film, "1917," debuted at the top of China's box office last weekend.

A Chinese poster of "1917" [Image courtesy of China Film Co.]

The war epic, which won three awards for best sound mixing, best cinematography and best visual effects at the 92nd Academy Awards as well as hundreds of awards worldwide, was released in China on Aug. 7 after a long delay due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

"1917" made nearly 12 million yuan on its opening day and grossed more than 36.66 million yuan during the debut weekend in China, which is a pretty impressive achievement since Chinese cinemas reopened.

Directed and co-written by Sam Mendes, the Oscar-winning director of "American Beauty" and the James Bond film "Skyfall," the film chronicles the story of two young British soldiers during World War I who are given a seemingly impossible mission, racing against time to cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on 1,600 soldiers. The film is reportedly inspired by the war stories of Mendes' grandfather, who enlisted as a 17-year-old and fought in World War I.

On Aug. 7, the film's Chinese co-producer Alibaba Pictures invited 20 Beijing medical team members who aided Hubei province during the COVID-19 pandemic to a special screening of the movie as a charity gesture. The medical staff praised the film. 

Li Yan, a respiratory doctor from Xuanwu Hospital in Beijing, said that in addition to the visual effects, "1917" is extraordinary because of the way in which it explores human nature. She believes the film resonates with all of the pandemic's frontline medical workers. 

"Like the protagonists in the film, we, as normal medical workers, approached the task without much thought. But as the job progressed, we saw that there were more people who needed our help, so we became even more determined, which helped us complete the mission," she said.

"A good film is not just about telling a story but also about exploring the raw motivation of people to move forward," Li added.

"1917" earned box office triumph and rave reviews in China. According to statistics provided by Lighthouse, a box office tracker and entertainment big data platform, the movie drew 1.12 million moviegoers since its debut on Aug. 7. On Douban, a leading movie rating website in China, the film earned an 8.5/10 rating based on 265,000 user reviews. 

The film is the fourth Oscar-winning or -nominated film to release in China with Alibaba Pictures' help in marketing and investment, after "Green Book," "Capharnaum" and "Free Solo." In the future, Alibaba Pictures stated it would continue to provide more excellent films to promote communications between Chinese and foreign films and filmmakers.

But "1917" is not the only Oscar film currently on the Chinese market. The Walt Disney Studios and Fox Searchlight Pictures released "Jojo Rabbit" in theaters under the National Alliance of Arthouse Cinemas (NAAC) on July 31. The film won an Oscar for the best adapted screenplay. Disney/Fox also released "Ford v Ferrari" on Aug. 7. The film stars Matt Damon and Christian Bale and won Oscars in film editing and sound editing. 

Although critically-applauded, "Jojo Rabbit" and "Ford v Ferrari" performed averagely, earning 9.57 million yuan and 8.06 million yuan respectively so far according to statistics by Monday morning.

Christopher Nolan's older sci-fi classic "Interstellar" (2014), nominated for 5 awards in 2015 Oscars, was re-released in China on Aug. 2 and performed pretty good. Its box office earning on Sunday took back the lead and surpassed "1917," and its total gross, combined with 755 million yuan in 2014, is currently standing at 836 million yuan.

More Oscar-winning films could come through the pipeline to China. Sony Pictures' "Little Women," which won an Oscar for best achievement in costume design, announced that it would hit Chinese theaters on Aug. 25, while Netflix's "Marriage Story," which won the best supporting actress Oscar award (Laura Dern), is on the potential China release list.

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