Pursuits
`The Mermaid' Sets China Box-Office Record at $417 Mln
- Director Stephen Chow's comedy gets $417 million in two weeks
- China's cinema market on track to overtake U.S. as largest
Stephen Chow and Lin Yun promotes new movie 'The Mermaid.'
Photographer: ChinaFotoPress via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
“The Mermaid” surpassed last summer’s “Monster Hunt” as the biggest-grossing movie ever in China, where box-office revenue is surging almost 40 percent a year.
The madcap love story of a mermaid who falls in love with a real estate tycoon she’s sent to assassinate had gross revenue of 2.72 billion yuan ($417 million) in the two weeks since opening for the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, exceeding the record held by “Monster Hunt,” according to data by Entgroup Inc.