Big-budget films gear up for China's vacation market

Major films that are set to compete this fall include The Foreigner, starring Jackie Chan, and comedies Never Say Die and City of Rock. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The Golden Monk, directed by the prolific Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Jing, will see a deferred release to avoid two of his movies fighting for the same box-office season. Chasing the Dragon, his latest entry based on a drug lord's true story, will hit screens on Sept 30. With Donnie Yen and Andy Lau, the movie has a bigger cast and budget than The Golden Monk.

For most industry watchers, the change signifies that six movies, or around half of the total new releases, are competent rivals for the leading box-office slots.

The rest, such as the animated feature The Legend of the Giant Panda and art-house title The Portrait of My Mother, have smaller budgets and lesser-known cast members. So, they are less likely to become sleeper hits, says Beijing-based industry analyst Jiang Yong.

But there are still exciting options.

A rarely-seen screen conflict between Chinese kung fu legend Jackie Chan and the former James Bond star Pierce Brosnan, The Foreigner is anticipated to be a winner.

Starring Hollywood star Orlando Bloom, the action thriller S.M.A.R.T. Chase promises a visual feast for movie fans. The movie set for release on Sept 30 is Bloom's first Chinese film, for which he has insisted on shooting action scenes without standins and toured a dozen mainland cities to promote it.

But Chan, Brosnan and Bloom are seen to be beaten at the box office by mainland stars, according to ticket presale figures of Maoyan.