Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter
Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter
Chow’s last two films set all-time China box-office records at the time of their release.
By Patrick Brzeski
Asia Bureau Chief
Sony has taken North American and multi-territory distribution rights to Chinese tentpole Journey to the West: Demon Chapter, the sequel to director Stephen Chow’s smash hit Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons.
Financed and produced by Chow’s Star Overseas company and Alibaba Pictures Group, the film is directed by Hong Kong fantasy master Tsui Hark, with Chow acting as producer. Like its predecessor, the film is a loose fantasy-comedy adaptation of a Chinese literary classic.
The Sony deal covers distribution rights in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, New Zealand and much of Asia outside China, including Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
The deal was announced by Sony Pictures Releasing International president Stephen O’Dell at the CineAsia convention in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
The film is set for release in China on Jan. 28, 2017, which comes at the start of the Chinese New Year holiday.
The last two films Chow directed and produced, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons (2013) and The Mermaid (2016), broke China’s all-time box- office records during Chinese New Year holidays in the year of their release, earning $215 million and $526 million, respectively.
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day
Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter
Send us a tip using our anonymous form.