Notizie

Thriller inspired by China’s 2008 milk scandal stars Luca Barbareschi and Zhang Jingchu.

Italy’s Rai Trade will launch sales on Italian actor and director Luca Barbareschi’s Hong Kong-set thriller The Mercury Factor (fka Something Good) at the American Film Market (Afm) next week.

The film, which will receive its market premiere, stars Barbareschi as unscrupulous, Hong Kong-based Italian businessman Matteo, who is involved in the trade of adulterated food goods. He has been forced to leave his native Italy due to shady dealings back home.

Chinese actress Zhang Jingchu, seen this summer in mainland China blockbuster Switch, plays a young woman whose only child died as a result of eating contaminated food. She unwittingly falls for Matteo, unaware of his criminal activities.

The storyline is loosely inspired by the Italian bestseller I Trust You – a joint work by journalist Francesco Abate and top crime writer Massimo Carlotto – as well as the 2008 China milk scandal in which...

Hong Kong – Seemingly ripped from the headlines about the tainted food scandals in China since 2008, Italian actor-director-producer Luca Barbareschi's Something Good tackles the worldwide cross-border trafficking of adulterated food, and chooses a Chinese victim for a chance of release in the country. A thriller and love story between a smuggler of adulterated food and a restaurateur whose son was killed by juice tainted with pesticides, starring Barbareschi (Il Trasformista, Ardena) and Chinese actress Zhang Jingchu (Rush Hour 3, Switch), Something Good made its world premiere at the opening of Cine Italiano! program, which was co-

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While the James Bond franchise has started to focus on character development and serious acting, China’s entry into the international espionage market, Switch, gets back to basics with an army of sexy female assassins guarding an invincible villain, futuristic electronics used without budget worries and the world’s most expensive branded cars and hotels – plus a great deal of acrobatic kung fu. As directed by producer-turned-filmmaker Jay Sun Jianjun, the overall effect is more retro camp than cutting edge, accounting for the critical beating the film has taken since its June 7 release. Yet the film’s detractors have

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As expected, Jay Sun's spy thriller Switch breezes to the top of the Chinese box office charts as the opposition waits wisely in the wings. Rank Title Origin 10/6-16/6 (Us$) Total (Us$) Screening days 1 Switch China $32.84 $41.04 8 2 Star Trek Into Darkness USA $14.07 $52.89 20 3 American Dreams in China China $6.75 $84.24 31 4 Colombiana USA $4.20 $6.42 10 5 Happy Little Submarine 3--Rainbow Treasure China $1.53 $8.83 17 6 Mysterious Face China $1.47 $1.47 3 7 The Adventures of Sinbad 2013 China $1.10 $6.06 17 8 Redemption China $1.04 $1.26 8 9 The Soccer Way China $0.81 $0.81 7 10 Touch of the Light Taiwan $0.67 $0.87 9 Running pretty much unopposed, Switch and its beloved star Andy Lau...

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Star Trek Into Darkness holds on to the top spot at the China Box Office for a second week, but Jay Sun's action-packed spy thriller Switch arrives late in the week and already looks like a huge success. Rank Title Origin 3/6-9/6 Total (Us$) Days on Release 1 Star Trek Into Darkness USA $12.73 $38.77 13 2 American Dreams in China China $8.27 $77.44 24 3 Switch China $8.01 $8.01 1 4 Colombiana USA $2.18 $2.18 3 5 I Love Hong Kong 2013 Hong Kong $1.59 $1.59 6 6 The Croods USA $0.89 $63.31 51 7 Iron Man 3 USA $0.53 $121.20 40 8 Happy Little Submarine 3--Rainbow Treasure China $0.41 $7.30 10 9 Oblivion USA $0.36 $23.86 31 10 Kuiba 2 China $0.35 $3.33...

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Bombastic, sprawling yet largely incoherent, writer-producer-director Jay Sun's debut feature shoots for top-flight blockbuster status with its mix of glamorous stars, exotic locations and high-concept action set-pieces, but not even Andy Lau can save Switch from collapsing under the weight of its own misguided ambition.Taking its cues from internationally successful franchises like James Bond and Mission: Impossible, Jay Sun's Switch stars Andy Lau as Xiao Jinhan, aka secret agent "X", who is tasked with retrieving both parts of an ancient Chinese painting, Huang Gongwang's "Dwelling in the Fushun Mountains", when half of it is stolen from Taipei National Museum. The other half is on display at Hangzhou Museum in China, and X finds himself up against all manner of interested parties who are also vying...

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Hong Kong – After several months of nostalgic rom-coms and local dramedies dominating the Chinese box office, local audiences have finally decided to embrace a homegrown action-driven blockbuster – and in overwhelming fashion too. Revolving around the efforts of a special agent (Andy Lau) and an insurance company executive (Zhang Jingchu) to protect an antique painting from a Japanese mobster, local heist film Switch opened in mainland China on June 9 and occupied nearly 35 percent of the total screenings for the day – a staggering reach, resulting in box office revenue of $7.8 million (47.9 million

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