Lost in Hong Kong: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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|image=lostinhongkong.jpg

|caption=poster

|film namenative_name={{Infobox name moduleChinese/Chinese|child=yes|hide=no|header=none|chinesec={{linktext|港|囧}}|pinyinp=Gǎng Jiǒng|jyutpingj=Gong² Gwing²}}

|starring={{Unbulleted list|Xu Zheng|[[Zhao Wei]]|[[Bao Bei'er]]|[[Du Juan]]}}

|director=[[Xu Zheng (actor)|Xu Zheng]]

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|cinematography=Song Xiaofei

|editing=Tu Yiran

|budget={{USD|15.6 million}}<ref name="SCMP">{{cite web|url=http://m.scmp.com/lifestyle/film-tv/article/1879532/will-local-audiences-warm-chinese-filmmaker-xu-zhengs-lost-hong|title=Will local audiences warm to Chinese filmmaker Xu Zheng’sZheng's Lost in Hong Kong?|author=Edmund Lee|work=[[South China Morning Post]]|date=November 17, 2015|accessdate=November 21, 2015}}</ref>

|gross= {{USD|255256 million}}<ref>{{cite web |url= httphttps://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Gang-jiong#tab=summary|title= Gang jiong (2015)|accessdate= October 27, 2015|work= the-numbers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt4242158/|title = Lost in Hong Kong}}</ref>

}}

'''''Lost in Hong Kong''''' is a 2015 Chinese [[comedy film]] directed, co-written and co-produced by [[Xu Zheng (actor)|Xu Zheng]], starring himself along with [[BaoZhao Bei'erWei]], [[ZhaoBao WeiBei'er]], and [[Du Juan]]. This is Xu's second directorial feature, after the huge domestic hit ''[[Lost in Thailand]]'' (2012) which grossed over US$208 million.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/filmart/chinas-enlight-hits-the-road-with-stellar-line-up/5085470.article|title=China's Enlight hits the road with stellar line-up|last=Shackleton|first=Liz|newspaper=[[Screen Daily]]|date=2015-03-25}}</ref> A third film in the "Lost in" series, ''[[Lost in Russia]]'' was released in 2020, although all three films' plot and characters are unrelated.

It was released in China on September 25, 2015, and broke several national box office records there.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/lost-in-hong-kong-sets-china-opening-day-record|title=Lost in Hong Kong sets China opening day record|last=Ma|first=Kevin|date=2015-09-26|website=[[Film Business Asia]]}}</ref> It was released in Hong Kong and Macau on November 19.<ref name="SCMP"/>

==Plot==

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==Cast==

{{Div col|2colwidth=30em}}

*[[Xu Zheng (actor)|Xu Zheng]] as Xu Lai, a man facing [[midlife crisis]]

*[[Zhao Wei]] as "Spinach" a.k.a. Cai Bo, Xu Lai's wife

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*Jacqueline Chong as Yang Yi's assistant

*[[Tao Hong (actress, born 1972)|Tao Hong]] as [[Hong Kong Film Award]] presenter (cameo)

{{Divdiv col end}}

==Hong Kong films referenced==

The film makes explicit or implicit references to well-known Hong Kong films such as:<ref name=bjnews>{{cite web|url=http://epaper.bjnews.com.cn/html/2015-09/25/content_599894.htm?div=3|title=港囧 到底有乜港味可以重来？|newspaper=Beijing News|date=2015-09-25|language=Chinese}}</ref>

{{Div col|3colwidth=22em}}

*''[[Police Story (1985 film)|Police Story]]'' (1985)

*''[[From Beijing with Love]]'' (1994)

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*''[[2046 (film)|2046]]'' (2004)

*''[[Kung Fu Hustle]]'' (2004)

{{Divdiv col end}}

Moreover, most insert songs also reference Hong Kong films and TV series popular in mainland China (see below).

==Soundtrack==

*The end theme song in [[Standard Chinese|Mandarin]] is "Qing Feng Xu Lai" (清风徐来, The Breeze Cand Slowly), written by Zhao Yingjun, sung by China's pop diva [[Faye Wong]] who had a remarkable career in Hong Kong. This is Wong's only recording in 2015. The song title, taken from [[Su Shi]]'s 1082 masterpiece ''Qian Chibi Fu'' (前赤壁賦; ''Former [[fuFormer (poetry)|Rhapsody]]Ode ofon [[Chibithe City|ChibiRed Cliffs]]''), can be translated as "the breeze blows gently". In this case, the title can also be interpreted as "Xu Lai the Breeze", a reference of the protagonist's name.

*The film also features a number of [[Cantopop]] hits from 1980s and 1990s Hong Kong, summarised below:<ref name=bjnews/>

{| class="wikitable"

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!Song!!Singer!!Music!!Lyrics!!Notes

|-

|"Pin Pin Hei FunFoon Nei"<br>{{small|(偏偏喜歡你; "I Just Only Like You")}}||colspan=2|[[Danny Chan]]||Cheng Kwok-kong||title track of Chan's 1983 album

|-

|"Seoi Ho Goi Bin"<br>{{small|(誰可改變; "Who Is Able to Change")}}||[[Alan Tam]]||[[Joseph Koo]]||Cheng Kwok-kong||theme song of ''[[The Fearless Duo]]'' (1984)<br>included in Tam's 1984 album ''Roots of Love'' (愛的根源)

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|"Zan Dik Hon Zi"<br>{{small|(真的漢子; "Real Man")}}||colspan=2|[[George Lam]]||Cheng Kwok-kong||theme song of ''[[And Yet We Live]]'' (1988)<br>included in Lam's 1988 album ''Song of Life'' (生命之曲)

|-

|"Cong Hoi Jat Sing Siu"<br>{{small|(滄海一聲笑; "A Sound of Laughter in the Vast Sea")}}||[[Samuel Hui]]||colspan=2|[[James Wong (lyricist)|James Wong]]||theme song of ''[[The Swordsman (1990 film)|The Swordsman]]'' (1990)

|-

|"Mong Cing Sam Baa Mou"<br>{{small|(忘情森巴舞; "Blame It on the Samba")}}||[[Grasshopper (band)|Grasshopper]]||Volker Barber||Chow Lei-mau||title track of Grasshopper's 1991 album

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===Box office===

Buoyed by growing anticipation from fans, minor competition and the ever -growing expansion of the Chinese movie industry, ''Lost in Hong Kong'' is projected to be a box office success. It made more than half of what its immediate predecessor earned in its entire lifetime in just three days. Critics noted that the film will no doubt surpass its predecessor's US$208 million gross.<ref name="Forbes"/><ref name="HP2"/><ref name="TG"/> It had a worldwide opening of US$106.8 million, which is the second biggest of all time for a comedy film behind ''[[The Hangover Part II]]'' (US$177.8 million) in 2011, and the biggest for a non-English language film.<ref name="worldwide"/> Its worldwide opening was also the biggest of its release weekend (ahead of ''[[Hotel Transylvania 2]]'').<ref name="HP2">{{cite web|url=httphttps://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/china-blockbuster-lost-hong-kong-827532|title='Lost in Hong Kong': 5 Things to Know About China's Latest Blockbuster|author=Patrick Brzeski|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|publisher=([[Prometheus Global Media]])|date=September 28, 2015|accessdate=September 29, 2015}}</ref> Although the film didn't face any serious competition with its fellow new releases during its opening weekend, it started facing competition from new releases—''[[Saving Mr. Wu]]'', ''[[Goodbye Mr. Loser]]'', and ''[[Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe]]''—on September 30, 2015, albeit none of them were albleable to outgross the former.<ref name="HP2"/><ref name="Forbes"/>

In China, it made $1.8 million from midnight screenings and $32 million on its opening day on Friday, September 25, 2015, which is the biggest debut ever for a Chinese film and the third biggest debut overall in China behind ''[[Furious 7]]'' and ''[[Avengers: Age of Ultron]]''. It debuted with an unprecedented 100,000+ first-day screenings on nearly 20,000 screens—and surpassed all newcomers by occupying 87% share of the day's box office receipts.<ref name="Forbes">{{cite web|url=httphttps://www.forbes.com/sites/robcain/2015/09/26/lost-in-hong-kong-romps-to-new-china-box-office-record/|title='Lost in Hong Kong' Romps To New China Box Office Record|author=Rob Cain|work=[[Forbes]]|date=September 26, 2015|accessdate=September 29, 2015}}</ref><ref name="HP2"/><ref name="TG">{{cite webnews|url=httphttps://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2015/sep/28/global-box-office-lost-in-hong-kong-the-intern-hotel-transylvania-2|title=China has last laugh as Lost in Hong Kong posts highest comedy debut ever|author=Phil Hoad|newspaper=The Guardian |date=September 28, 2015|accessdate=September 29, 2015}}</ref> It earned US$70.6 million in two days.<ref name="USA"/> During its opening weekend it grossed an estimated US$106.8 million from a massive 284,000 screenings in three days becoming the second Chinese film after ''[[Monster Hunt]]'' to open with more than US$100 million.<ref name="worldwide">{{cite web|url=httphttps://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/china-box-office-lost-hong-827830|title=China Box Office: 'Lost in Hong Kong' Finds Massive $107 Million On Debut|author=Patrick Brzeski|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|publisher=([[Prometheus Global Media]])|date=September 28, 2015|accessdate=September 29, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=httphttps://variety.com/2015/film/asia/lost-in-hong-kong-scores-107-million-opening-weekend-1201604501/|title=‘Lost'Lost in Hong Kong’Kong' Scores $107 Million Opening Weekend|author=Patrick Frater|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|publisher=([[Penske Media Corporation]])|date=September 28, 2015|accessdate=September 29, 2015}}</ref> Its 3-day haul of US$106 million is also the second biggest 3-day gross of any film in China irrespective of any day. Only ''Furious 7'', which debuted to US$121 million in its Sunday-Tuesday opening in April, has ever notched a bigger 3-day opening in China.<ref>{{cite web|url=httphttps://www.forbes.com/sites/robcain/2015/09/28/lost-finds-whopping-106-million-3-day-open-in-china/|title='Lost' Finds Whopping $106 Million 3-Day Debut In China|author=Rob Cain|work=[[Forbes]]|date=September 28, 2015|accessdate=September 29, 2015}}</ref> It topped the Chinese box office for the second weekend earning US$41 million.<ref name="Overseas10thOpening">{{cite web|url=httphttps://deadline.com/2015/10/martian-tops-100-million-55-million-international-box-office-the-walk-1201566927/|title=‘The'The Martian’Martian' Tops $100M Worldwide In Opening, $55M Abroad – Int’lInt'l Box Office|author=Anita Busch|work=''[[Deadline.com Hollywood]]''|date=October 4, 2015|accessdate=October 5, 2015}}</ref> It iswas then the second highest-grossing Chinese film of all time behind ''Monster Hunt'' and the third highest-grossing film in China in 2015 behind ''Monster Hunt'' and ''Furious 7''.<ref name="GML">{{cite web|url=httphttps://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/china-box-office-ant-man-833176|title=China Box Office: 'Ant-Man' Goes Big With $43M Debut|author=Patrick Brzeski|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|publisher=([[Prometheus Global Media]])|date=October 20, 2015|accessdate=October 20, 2015}}</ref>

In the United States and Canada, it opened to a [[limited release]] on the same day as its Chinese opening and made $559,000 from 27 theaters—at an average of $20,700 per theater—capturing the weekend's best opening per-theater-average. [[Well Go USA Entertainment]], the distributor of the film in the US said it was "thrilled" with the early results.<ref name="USA">{{cite web|url=httphttps://deadline.com/2015/09/lost-in-hong-kong-99-homes-stonewall-sicario-pecialty-b-o-1201553415/|title=‘Lost'Lost In Hong Kong,’' ’99'99 Homes’Homes' Boast Solid Starts, ‘Sicario’'Sicario' Fearsome In 2nd Frame: Specialty B.O.|author=Brian Brooks|work=''[[Deadline.com Hollywood]]''|publisher=([[Penske Media Corporation]])|date=September 27, 2015|accessdate=September 29, 2015}}</ref> Well Go USA Entertainment, the distributor of the film in the US said it was "thrilled" with the early results.<ref name="USA"/>

===Critical response===

The film received a 60% rating from critics on [[Rotten Tomatoes]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lost_in_hong_kong|title = Lost in Hong Kong (2015)| website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] }}</ref>

Despite setting many records, the film has also attracted many negative reviews from Chinese critics and a more mixed reaction than its predecessor ''[[Lost in Thailand]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1864114/how-lost-hong-kong-found-secret-box-office|title=How Lost in Hong Kong found the secret to box office success|author=Alive Yan and Celine Sun|work=[[South China Morning Post]]|date=October 4, 2015|accessdate=October 5, 2015}}</ref><ref name="SCMP"/> Martin Tsai of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' called the film a "rollicking crowd-pleaser" that "might just be smart and substantive enough to be one of the year's best."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-lost-in-hong-kong-review-20150925-story.html|title=Review: 'Lost in Hong Kong' finds its way to be a major crowd pleaser|last=Tsai|first=Martin|date=2015-09-24|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> On the other hand, Helen T. Verongos of ''[[The New York Times]]'' was not impressed, labeling it "a very, very, very, long-feeling movie" that "tries too hard to be too many things".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/25/movies/review-lost-in-hong-kong-is-part-music-video-part-buddy-film.html|title=Review: ‘Lost in Hong Kong’ Is Part Music Video, Part Buddy Film|date=2015-09-24|last=Verongos|first=Helen T.|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>▼

Despite setting many records, the film has also attracted many negative reviews from Chinese critics and a more mixed reaction than its predecessor ''[[Lost in Thailand]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1864114/how-lost-hong-kong-found-secret-box-office|title=How Lost in Hong Kong found the secret to box office success|author=Alive Yan and Celine Sun|work=[[South China Morning Post]]|date=October 4, 2015|accessdate=October 5, 2015}}</ref><ref name="SCMP"/>

''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'''s Maggie Lee considered the film "tamer but still agreeable" compared to ''[[Lost in Thailand]]'', noting the comedy is particularly tailored to the [[mainland China]] market, "which even Hong Kong viewers will miss." She also predicted that "mainlanders in their 40s" will embrace it much more readily compared to "millennials".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://variety.com/2015/film/reviews/film-review-lost-in-hong-kong-1201598166/|title=Film Review: ‘Lost in Hong Kong’|last=Lee|first=Maggie|newspaper=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=2015-09-23}}</ref>▼

▲Despite setting many records, the film has also attracted many negative reviews from Chinese critics and a more mixed reaction than its predecessor ''[[Lost in Thailand]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1864114/how-lost-hong-kong-found-secret-box-office|title=How Lost in Hong Kong found the secret to box office success|author=Alive Yan and Celine Sun|work=[[South China Morning Post]]|date=October 4, 2015|accessdate=October 5, 2015}}</ref><ref name="SCMP"/> Martin Tsai of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' called the film a "rollicking crowd-pleaser" that "might just be smart and substantive enough to be one of the year's best."<ref>{{cite web|url=httphttps://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-lost-in-hong-kong-review-20150925-story.html|title=Review: 'Lost in Hong Kong' finds its way to be a major crowd pleaser|last=Tsai|first=Martin|date=2015-09-24|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> On the other hand, Helen T. Verongos of ''[[The New York Times]]'' was not impressed, labeling it "a very, very, very, long-feeling movie" that "tries too hard to be too many things".<ref>{{cite web|url=httphttps://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/25/movies/review-lost-in-hong-kong-is-part-music-video-part-buddy-film.html|title=Review: ‘Lost'Lost in Hong Kong’Kong' Is Part Music Video, Part Buddy Film|date=2015-09-24|last=Verongos|first=Helen T.|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

▲''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'''s Maggie Lee considered the film "tamer but still agreeable" compared to ''[[Lost in Thailand]]'', noting the comedy's isreferences are particularly tailored to the [[mainland China]] market, "which even Hong Kong viewers will miss." She also predicted that "mainlanders in their 40s" will embrace it much more readily compared to "millennials".<ref>{{cite web|url=httphttps://variety.com/2015/film/reviews/film-review-lost-in-hong-kong-1201598166/|title=Film Review: ‘Lost'Lost in Hong Kong’Kong'|last=Lee|first=Maggie|newspaper=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=2015-09-23}}</ref>

==References==

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*{{IMDb title|4242158|Gang jiong}}

[[Category:Chinese adventure comedy films]]

[[Category:2010s adventure comedy films]]

[[Category:Chinese films]]▼

[[Category:2015 films]]

[[Category:Beijing Enlight Pictures films]]

[[Category:2010s Mandarin-language films]]

▲[[Category:ChineseIMAX films]]

[[Category:Films set in Hong Kong]]

[[Category:Films set in Shanghai]]

[[Category:Films shot in Hong Kong]]

[[Category:Films shot in Shanghai]]

[[Category:Films directed by Xu Zheng (actor)]]

[[Category:2015 comedy films]]