[2010.01.06] BODYGUARDS AND ASSASSINS HEADS TOWARD 300 MILLION

Although the New Year encountered a cold front, the year's strongest film BODYGUARDS AND ASSASSINS (SUP YUET WAI SING)'s box office did not. After breaking 200 million RMB last week, as of January 3 its cumulative box office reached 274 million and ruled the Mainland film New Year slot. The film's release and distribution company, Beijing Polybona film distribution chief Yu Dong expressed, "With AVATAR's arrival, other national films retreated. Only BODYGUARDS AND ASSASSINS remained strong. 300 million box office will be on the way." Even more interesting was with BODYGUARDS AND ASSASSINS' release, a series of online "culture" about the film was born.

Producer Peter Chan Ho Sun was very interested in such online "culture". "If a movie can not only promote its own visual power but also some talk in the town, it is an extra surprise result. Co-workers showed me some online messages. Some are brilliant and very creative. At lunch

we looked at them, read them out loud together to relax our mood and help digestion." He even revealed that one day a friend called him "Sincere Chan". He did not understand why. Actually he was called that online. He continued, "With comments, whether it was guerrilla or prank they show everyone cares and debates. For the film industry, they absolutely aren't 'cup tool' (tragic). I have to properly study them, to see if I can dig out any new screenplay material."