(CFI) Journey to the West, one of the Four Great Classical Novels and its characters have long been a favorite among Chinese audiences and there is at least one film adaptation released every Chinese New Year.
2018 is no exception, Monkey King 3, produced by Filmko Entertainment, and released on February 16, is the latest Journey-to-the-West-themed film.
Costing 550 million yuan ($86.7 million), the film opened to 170 million yuan ($26.8 million) in box office earnings, but was quickly overtaken by animation film Boonie Bears: The Big Shrink; its projected ticket sales is under 1 billion yuan ($157 million), much less than that of Monster Hunt 2, Detective Chinatown 2, and Operation Red Sea. In the past few years, The Monkey King, The Monkey King 2, and Stephen Chow’s Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons and Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back, films based on the classic novel have all been box office winners.
Further, The Monkey King 3 is only rated 4.7 on review site Douban, making many question whether the moviegoers are tired of remakes of Journey to the West.
Source: China Film Insider