Monster hunts down record in mainland movie market

But in China, the latest heartthrob on the silver screen is a baby-faced, green-haired monster that vaguely resembles a white radish with four tentacle-like arms.

Monster Hunt is described as an “epic adventure” about an all-out war between monsters and humans to determine who rules a “fantasy world far, far away”, and something about that has struck a chord with worldwide audiences: The film, after just two weeks of release, has become the highest grossing Chinese production of all time, earning $211 million at the global box office (it raked in $46 million this past weekend in its home country alone).

The mega-hit had brought in more than 1.268 billion yuan (HK$1.58 billion) as of yesterday, only 10 days after debuting, Xinhua News Agency said.

The previous record holder as largest grossing domestic film was Lost in Thailand, about tourists running into absurd situations.

Produced by Hong Kong’s Edko Films, Monster Hunt is directed by Raman Hui, who co-directed Shrek The Third, and stars an ensemble cast of Hong Kong and Chinese actors, including Jiang Wu, Eric Tsang, Elaine Jin, Tang Wei, Sandra Ng and Bai Baihe.

As Monster Hunt has been sweeping China’s box office, Huba has been amassing a huge fanbase that includes some of China’s biggest celebrities.

A movie poster for Monster Hunt, right, in Shenyang, Liaoning province, July 26.

It had already set opening-day and single-day records by a Chinese film, Xinhua said.

Huba’s thriving also because he’s up against scant box office competition.

Monster Hunt’s domination of the box office can’t be explained exclusively by Huba’s cuddly (if you are a fan of a radish-like baby monster) features, however. Chinese films have benefited greatly from the clear run at the box office during July because of an unofficial blackout period when Hollywood films are put on the back burner to give domestic fare a chance to thrive.