Hong Kong Louis Koo actor suffered another disappointment at the box office for long delayed criminal thriller Children of the night at the neon.
According to QQ, the film, directed, written and co-produced by Juno Mak, was opened to weak numbers despite boasted a constant cast of stars including Takeshi Kaneshiro, Louis Koo, Tony Leung Ka-Fai and Gao Yunyuan.
With a production budget of 450 million RMB, the film had been set aside for eight years, on top of “most anticipated” film lists almost every year. But at the time of release, he quickly lost momentum.
Within nine hours from the release on October 1, the film grossed only 6.49 million RMB. By 16:30 on the same day, the box office reached 15.5 million RMB, with an estimated ceiling of only 100 million RMB of total revenue.
The occupation of the screen and the stake at the box office remained with a modest 7%, much below the competing securities.
Production problems have afflicted the film from the beginning. According to reports, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Richie Jen were dissatisfied by the director Juno Mak, leading to tensions on the set. Kaneshiro later moved away from the film, refusing to participate in the promotions.
The long delay of the film also left its obsolete narrative, with different illogical plots. After its projection in Cannes, Runtime was cut from 132 minutes to 125 minutes, which critics claim that it hurt the narrative.
Although characterized by big names, QQ stressed that the youngest audience today is less familiar with older stars such as Takeshi Kaneshiro, Tony Leung Ka-Fai and Louis Koo. Once loved in continental China, Louis Koo has faced a series of films that are not very performing in recent years. His reputation suffered not only for the box office failures, but also on the excessive dependence on the marketing tactics that left the spectators disillusioned.
Children of the night at the neon It is a drama of crime that explores the topics of corruption and moral decay in urban society. Filming began in June 2017 and wrapped in March 2018, with an initial release scheduled for 2019. However, post-production was strongly delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Once a highly anticipated epic, the film is now seen as a story felt on the bad production management and the missed opportunities, obscuring the talents of its A-list cast.
Sources: Znews
