“Cold War” Biggest Winner Among Hong Kong Films in 2012

In recent years, Hong Kong theatergoers have flocked to see Hollywood movies, while largely ignoring locally produced films. Cold War <寒戰> proved to be the exception, as it raked in $42.68 million HKD, to become the top grossing locally produced film in Hong Kong in 2012.

Starring Aaron Kwok (郭富城), Tony Leung (梁家輝) and a guest performance by Andy Lau (劉德華), Cold War was praised as the best Hong Kong crime thriller in ten years. The tightly written script is full of suspense and boasts a Best Actor cast. Cold War also performed well in mainland Chinese theaters and earned approximately 250 million RMB.

Other local films that showed strong box office sales in Hong Kong were: Vulgaria <低俗喜劇> with $30.06 million HKD in second place, Love in the Buff <春嬌與志明> with $27.97 million HKD in third place, and A Simple Life <桃姐> at $27.87 million HKD in fourth place. With the combined box office gross of Vulgaria and Love in the Buff, director Pang Ho Cheung (彭浩翔) was the most commercially successful local director at the Hong Kong box office, while A Simple Life received the widest critical acclaim, helping Deanie Ip (葉德嫻) win 7 international Best Actress awards.

Total 2012 box office sales in Hong Kong showed moderate gains in 2012, rising to $1.55 billion HKD or showing an 11.75 percent increase from prior year sales.

Factoring in international films, the 2012 top ten grossing films in Hong Kong were dominated by Hollywood films, with The Avengers in the number one spot at $96.70 million HKD. Cold War was the only locally produced film that made it on the top ten list, ranking fifth place.

Source: Ming Pao