Protagonists in summer blockbusters come in all shapes and species. 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.
Named Huba, the lovable characterhaspropelled the movie Monster Huntto the top ofChinese box office charts, where it has broken severalrecords.
The fantasy action film has racked up more than 1.2 billion yuan (about $267 million Cdn) since it opened on July 16, according to state news agency Xinhua, making it the top-grossing Chinese film of all time.
It also shattered the opening-day record (172 million yuan or about $36 million Cdn) and thesingle-day record (185 million yuan or about $38.7 Cdn) for a domestic filmand reachedthe one-billion-yuan mark faster than any other Chinese film,Xinhua said.
When compared againstHollywood productions, Monster Hunt is the sixth-highest grossing film in China.Furious 7holds the record as the top-grossing film in China, followed by Transformers: Age of Extinction, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Jurassic World and Avatar, according to Chinese box office observer 58921.com.
Set in an ancient world where humans and monsters coexist, Monster Huntfollows the life of a hapless young man named Tianying, who is accidentally impregnated with the heir of the monster kingdom. After giving birth to Huba, the baby radish monster, heis propelled into an epic adventureas he tries to protect his son against monsters and monster hunters.
Directed by Raman Hui, best known for animating and co-directing theShrekseries,Monster Hunt features both CGI monsters and live action from some of China's most popular actors. One of them isYao Chen, whoshared a photo ofHubawith her78 million followers onWeibo, China's popular Twitter-like site.
(Yao Chen/Weibo)
As Monster Hunthas been sweepingChina's box office, Hubahas beenamassinga huge fanbase that includessome of China's biggest celebrities.
Also on Weibo, actor Bao Beierposted a photoof himself with Huba-stylehair, whichMonster Hunt's production team saysis inspired by a plantcalled baby's tear.
(Baobeier/Weibo)
The movie's official Weibo account also shared photos of somepint-sized Huba fans.
(Zhuoyaoji/Weibo)
(Zhuoyaoji/Weibo)
Online retailers are alreadycashing in on the Huba craze. A search of "Huba" on China's e-commerce site Taobao returned more than 24,000 results,including human-sized Hubas, Huba-shaped piggybanks, and a voice-recording Huba that also lights up.
Monster Hunt's domination of the box officecan't be explained solely byHuba'scuddly (if you are a fan of aradish-like baby monster) features, however. The film opened duringChina's unofficial box office blackout period, when foreign films are shut out to givedomestic productions an advantage.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/monster-hunt-breaks-chinese-box-office-records-with-baby-radish-monster-1.3170213?cmp=rss
Named Huba, the lovable characterhaspropelled the movie Monster Huntto the top ofChinese box office charts, where it has broken severalrecords.
The fantasy action film has racked up more than 1.2 billion yuan (about $267 million Cdn) since it opened on July 16, according to state news agency Xinhua, making it the top-grossing Chinese film of all time.
It also shattered the opening-day record (172 million yuan or about $36 million Cdn) and thesingle-day record (185 million yuan or about $38.7 Cdn) for a domestic filmand reachedthe one-billion-yuan mark faster than any other Chinese film,Xinhua said.
When compared againstHollywood productions, Monster Hunt is the sixth-highest grossing film in China.Furious 7holds the record as the top-grossing film in China, followed by Transformers: Age of Extinction, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Jurassic World and Avatar, according to Chinese box office observer 58921.com.
Set in an ancient world where humans and monsters coexist, Monster Huntfollows the life of a hapless young man named Tianying, who is accidentally impregnated with the heir of the monster kingdom. After giving birth to Huba, the baby radish monster, heis propelled into an epic adventureas he tries to protect his son against monsters and monster hunters.
Directed by Raman Hui, best known for animating and co-directing theShrekseries,Monster Hunt features both CGI monsters and live action from some of China's most popular actors. One of them isYao Chen, whoshared a photo ofHubawith her78 million followers onWeibo, China's popular Twitter-like site.
(Yao Chen/Weibo)
As Monster Hunthas been sweepingChina's box office, Hubahas beenamassinga huge fanbase that includessome of China's biggest celebrities.
Also on Weibo, actor Bao Beierposted a photoof himself with Huba-stylehair, whichMonster Hunt's production team saysis inspired by a plantcalled baby's tear.
(Baobeier/Weibo)
The movie's official Weibo account also shared photos of somepint-sized Huba fans.
(Zhuoyaoji/Weibo)
(Zhuoyaoji/Weibo)
Online retailers are alreadycashing in on the Huba craze. A search of "Huba" on China's e-commerce site Taobao returned more than 24,000 results,including human-sized Hubas, Huba-shaped piggybanks, and a voice-recording Huba that also lights up.
Monster Hunt's domination of the box officecan't be explained solely byHuba'scuddly (if you are a fan of aradish-like baby monster) features, however. The film opened duringChina's unofficial box office blackout period, when foreign films are shut out to givedomestic productions an advantage.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/monster-hunt-breaks-chinese-box-office-records-with-baby-radish-monster-1.3170213?cmp=rss