The Chinese war drama movie ‘The Eight Hundred’ is now the highest-grossing film worldwide. Directed by Guan Hu, the movie has successfully earned $425 million globally. It beats the record of ‘Bad Boys for Life’ becoming the highest grosser movie of 2020. ‘Bad Boys for Life’ was released on 17th January, 2020, and received a positive response. Directed by Adil El Arbi, the movie grossed $424 million worldwide. Even during this time of pandemic, the record marks as a big win for the whole cast and the crew of the movie. Many theatres have opened worldwide which has led to the success of the movie. The movie was originally scheduled to release in July 2019 but was delayed due to the controversies it led to. The Communist Party was unhappy with how positively the Kuomintang Army officers were portrayed in the movie.
What is ‘The Eight Hundred’ about?
Written by Guan Hu and Ge Rui, the movie is set during the Sino-Japanese War and World War II. They talk deeper about the battle of Shanghai. The Japanese and Chinese fight each other which led to losses of lives. It mainly focuses on Lieutenant Colonel Xie Jinyuan’s point of view. 452 young officers fighting for their nations against 20000 troops of Japanese division. Guan Hu has mentioned that he has been working on this movie for more than ten years.
Guan Hu also added that they have invested around 550 million Yuan in the production of the film. Guan Hu is the youngest director in Beijing Filming Studio and has worked on more than 10 movies. The cinematography of the movie is amazing from the breathtaking scenes of the Shanghai bombing to the war, everything is portrayed beautiful giving the audience chills down the spine. The suicidal defense is still read by many and the movie shows us about the thumping patriotism. Starring Huang Zhizhong, Zhang Junyi, Oho Ou, Du Chun, and many others, the movie has received an 82% approval rate on Rotten Tomatoes.
Why was the release of the movie delayed?
The film’s initial release was planned during Shanghai International Film Festival in 2019 which was withdrawn after the Chinese Red Culture Research Association denied about the events in the movie. Yet again, after making changes the film was delayed for a year. It had to go through numerous censor rounds before the official date of release was announced. With ‘Mulan‘ trying to drive in theatres ‘The Eight Hundred’ has helped the Chinese film industry to stand and also break the American industry records. The movie is now available in theatres near you.
