A festive mood in Shanghai encompassed a raft of reveals this weekend, including the first official teaser for The Climbers. Rejoining director Daniel Lee and producer Tsui Hark, the film is officially poised for a September 30 release.
This news already dates back a few months when Twitter rumors began circulating over Jackie Chan’s involvement in a Wu Jing-led biopictoral climbing action epic. Alas, The Hollywood Reporter is now freshly confirming out of Hong Kong that Climbers is now underway, reteaming Chan with Jing eight years since co-starring in Andy Lau’s Benny Chan kung fu actioner, Shaolin.
Apart from its paltry reception in the U.S., Raman Hui’s Monster Hunt bolstered China’s box office with record numbers and was a major hit in the region. Its critical approval also stands firm as a fairly exciting and enthusing endeavor from a director boldly stepping up at the helm following a notable career on several animated projects in the U.S..
As of this Chinese New Year now, fans of the first film will finally get to set foot back into the world Hui helped build, setting the stage for Monster Hunt 2. Storied by Peter Cirlella and scripted once more by Alan Yuen, the sequel further chronicles the adventures of a baby monster destined to become king and prevent a civil war with the help of human allies.
Recent campaigning for the film saw more gags than not with some behind-the-scenes footage to boot. This time, we have some actual footage to share per the narrative with appearances by principals Tony Leung Chui-Wai, and returning cast members Jing Boran and Bai Baihe among others listed.
Pending releases for the film in the U.S. and U.K. remain pending courtesy of Lionsgate. Check out the trailer below!
2015 was a milestone year for burgeoning filmmaker Raman Hui. That CG hybrid creature fantasy, Monster Hunt, became the highest grossing film in China until this year is no easy feat to achieve and took quite the ambitious steps it needed to so and now together with producer Bill Kong, the two are back to see if lighting can strike twice with forthcoming sequel, Monster Hunt 2.
On its face, Raman Hui’s 18th century short story adaptation, Monster Hunt, may seem like a kids’ movie not worth all the hype. That said, if that’s the basis for your abstinence from seeing it either this year or last year, you couldn’t be more wrong and its status as China’s highest grossing film of all time notwithstanding, the film tells one of the most heartfelt, exciting and compelling stories you’ll ever see on screen and with fun action sequences to boot as well from a script by Hui and co-scribe Alan Yuen.
This, plus the CG fare and adorable creature lore, should bode well for anyone simply looking for something fun to watch and it’s worth a rental, and you would be wise at the very least to catch it as a preamble for the sequel now underway in Beijing according to Variety. Chongqing Hot Pot star, actress Bai Baihe is returning with Rise Of The Legend co-star Jing Boran following the first film which saw a bumbling village mayor accidentally impregnated by a Monster Queen’s egg. Upon its hatching, he reluctantly pairs up with an aspiring monster hunter to protect the young creature whose royalty could very well determine peace amid the civil unrest and rift between the monster and human worlds.
The film marked Hui’s debut as director after serving as supervising animator and lead character designer for films such as Dreamworks’ Antz, Shrek and Shrek 2, and as co-director for Shrek The Third, among others. Bill Kong is back and producing the film as well through Edko Films and plot details are underwraps while more casting announcements and updates following its attendance next month at the American Film Market remain pending.
Considering China’s continuing efforts in sharpening its visionary methods for 3D fantasy filmmaking, debut director Raman Hui‘s newest offering couldn’t come at a better time. His new film, Monster Hunt, which he also wrote with Alan Yuen, is based on an 18th century short story compilation, serves up quite the for someone like Hui to deliver the same caliber of family-oriented action adventure spectacle seen aplenty in his previous work as supervising animator and lead character designer for films such as Dreamworks’ Antz, Shrek and Shrek 2, and as co-director for Shrek The Third, to name a few.
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