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Hong Kong film industry veteran and longtime assistant director Albert Mak directed a few films back in 2000 with his last solo directing effort being “Forget Me Not” (2010). However, he is also known as an associate director to filmmaker Johnnie To in the film “Drug War” (2012). Released during the Chinese New Year 2024, Mak returns as director in the wacky comedy action heist film “Rod N Roll” which is just perfect for the occasion.

Taxi driver Robby (Gordon Lam Ka Tung) lives in a small apartment with his frustrated pregnant wife and his nagging mother. Unreliable and timid, loser Robby lives day to day and avoids the conflicts at home. On the other hand, his good friend Fai (Richie Jen) is an honest man who runs a small elderly home business. But he is forever in financial trouble and the recent rent increase makes his life even more difficult. Nonetheless, these two middle-aged men are kind,...

Chicago – The Season 18 Finale of Chicago’s Asian Pop-Up Cinema (Apuc) is the Hong Kong Showcase from April 19th-21st, 2024, featuring a Lifetime Achievement Award for the legendary Rebecca Pan, Hk filmmakers/actors and current Hong Kong cinema.

In March 1972, Rebecca Pan self-financed the production of the first ever Mandarin musical, “Pai Niang Niang,” and performed it 60 times at the Princess Theatre (in Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui district). This is a piece of Hk art and cultural history, and an important milestone of Rebecca’s long career. This work used the Broadway musical model to adapt the famous myth “Legend of the White Snake,” and brought together Eastern and Western theatrical styles for the first time.

Apuc Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient Rebecca Pan

Photo credit: AsianPopUpCinema.org

It’s all in the documentary “Pai Niang Niang: The Last Osmanthus Blossom” on April 20th at AMC Newcity at 5:...

The Hong Kong box office was dominated by a trio of local titles over Chinese New Year, earning almost $8m (Hk$62m) in 10 days.

Taking the top spot was Table For Six 2, with a cumulative box office of $4.07m (Hk$31.86m) as of February 18, while The Moon Thieves ($2.5m/Hk$19.58m) and Rob N Roll ($1.35/Hk$10.54m) ranked second and third respectively.

All three opened on Chinese New Year’s Eve (February 9) when multiple tentpole titles traditionally open to take full advantage of the lucrative festive period.

Ensemble family comedy Table For Six 2 rode on the success of its predecessor,...

Cinema box office in Hong Kong failed to live up to expectations over the Lunar New Year holidays, even as local films led the chart.

Movie theatre takings between Feb. 9-13 in Hong Kong weighed in at just Hk$48.6 million ($6.23 million), according to data provided by Hong Kong Box Office Limited, a joint venture between Motion Picture Industry Association (Mpia) and the Hong Kong Theatres Association. That was fully 24% below the Hk$64 million attained last year.

Unlike mainland China, where the official Lunar New Year (aka Chinese New Year) celebrations last for a week, Hong Kong takes three only three days as public holidays. This year one of them, Saturday, occurred over a weekend, meaning that workplaces were closed only for four days (Friday-Tuesday).

Audiences in the territory, which returned to full Chinese sovereignty in 1997, also have substantially different taste from their northern brethren.

The top film in Hong Kong...

Mainland China’s cinema box office recorded its lowest weekend revenue in over 12 months, at just $21 million, leaving a crop of long-playing titles largely unchanged at the top of the chart.

Fish out of water comedy film “Jonny Keep Walking” kept its place at the top of the China box office in its sixth weekend of release. Three of the other top five titles remained unchanged from the previous week, though “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom replaced “The Beekeeper” in fourth place.

“Jonny,” in which a man from the countryside struggles to hold down a corporate job in a big city, earned $8.1 million (RMB57.3 million), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. The cumulative total for “Jonny” is now $171 million (RMB1.21 billion) since releasing on Dec. 29.

Hong Kong-made action comedy “Rob N Roll,” with its starry cast of Aaron Kwok, Richie Jen and Lam Ka-tung, held on to second place,...

Fish out of water comedy film “Jonny Keep Walking” kept its place at the top of the mainland China box office in its fifth weekend of release. The top five titles remained unchanged from the previous week.

“Jonny,” in which a man from the countryside struggles to hold down a corporate job in a big city, earned $12.1 million (RMB86.2 million), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. That was another good hold after $15 million in the film’s fourth weekend. The cumulative total for “Jonny” is now $155 million (RMB1.10 million).

Hong Kong-made action comedy “Rob N Roll,” with its starry cast of Aaron Kwok, Richie Jen and Lam Ka-tung, held on to second place, but slipped 56% weekend-on-weekend with $5.3 million, down from $12.1 million.

Another Hong Kong-made film, “The Goldfinger” took $3.5 million in third place. Its cumulative stands at $71 million since releasing on Dec. 30.

Jason Statham-starring “The Beekeeper” maintained fourth place in China with $1.9 million.