This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. Patriotic films are enjoying a wave of popularity in China.
First came Nanjing Photo Studio, also known as Dead to Rights, which dominated the summer box office. Now, all eyes are on 731, which will hit cinemas on September 18. Even before its release, the film is already breaking records, according to Shin Min Daily News.
According to reports, as of Monday (September 15), presale tickets for 731 had already brought in more than RMB 80 million (S$14.37 million). Its first-day presales alone reached nearly RMB 50 million (S$8.98 million), making it the hottest title in the market.
On opening day, the film is set to screen in more than 100,000 sessions across China, making up over 99.7 per cent of all slots, a new record. Meanwhile, the Maoyan ticketing platform showed that 4.4686 million users marked “want to watch” by September 14, breaking the all-time record and overtaking Detective Chinatown 3’s 4.4685 million in 2021.
The war drama 731 retells the horrors of the Japanese army’s Unit 731 in northeast China. The unit set up a biological warfare research base, where they conducted brutal live experiments on civilians and spread deadly diseases like plague and anthrax. The film does not shy away from showing the cruelty, from live dissections to freezing limbs in minus 196°C liquid nitrogen before smashing them apart.
Directed by Zhao Linshan, the film stars Jiang Wu, Wang Zhiwen, Sun Qian, Feng Wenjuan, and Irene Wan. The project took over ten years to prepare and film. To stay true to history, the team conducted field research at the original Unit 731 site in Harbin’s Pingfang District, visited multiple locations, and meticulously reconstructed sets based on historical records.
Beyond exposing the atrocities, the movie also highlights the courage of guerrilla fighters who risked everything to infiltrate enemy camps and destroy the biological warfare facilities.
The release date of September 18 is symbolic as it marks the Mukden Incident, seen as the start of China’s 14-year war of resistance.
Anticipating that the film may stir anti-Japanese sentiment, the Japanese Embassy in China has issued safety advisories to Japanese residents. Kyodo News reported that after last year’s September 18 incident in Shenzhen, where a Japanese boy was fatally stabbed on his way to school, parents are being urged to take precautions.
In response, the Japanese School in Shenzhen will suspend classes on September 18, while the Japanese School in Shanghai will switch to online lessons.
Coming to Singapore and Malaysia on September 25
Beyond China, the film’s producers unveiled a global poster on September 14, announcing its release in cinemas across Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Singapore, and Malaysia. Audiences in Singapore and Malaysia can catch 731 from September 25.
“Nanjing Photo Studio” breaks records in China and Malaysia
Earlier, Nanjing Photo Studio, also known as Dead to Rights, which focused on the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, took the summer box office crown in China.
As of yesterday, it had earned RMB 2.984 billion (S$536 million), setting a new summer record for historical films and becoming the highest-grossing Chinese war film ever.
The film was released in Singapore and Malaysia on August 28. On Monday (September 15), its Malaysian distributor announced that viewership there had already exceeded 250,000, setting new milestones, including the highest-grossing Chinese historical film and the largest audience for such a film in Malaysia.
In Singapore, the film has pulled in S$390,789 as of September 14, ranking sixth among Chinese films released this year. The top five are Nezha 2, Creation of the Gods 2, Jackie Chan and Tony Leung Ka-fai’s Shadow Stalker, Chow Yun-fat’s Detective Chinatown 1900, and Xiao Zhan’s The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Great Hero. Condor Heroes currently leads the chart with S$542,936.
