In this year's Spring Festival movie arena, the momentum has soared, and the hegemon is still "Flying Life 2", "Hot and Hot" and "Article 20". The popularity of these three movies can be seen, among them, the pre-sale box office of "Flying Life 2" has exceeded 50 million, and the other two are 47 million and 48 million respectively.
However, in the face of this fierce competition, the advance box office results of some films seem to be bleak. For example, "Mr. Red Carpet" directed by Ning Hao and starring Andy Lau failed to attract strong attention in terms of lineup and subject matter, and the pre-sale box office was only 13 million. Even "Bear Infested" is better than it, if word-of-mouth can't counterattack, "Mr. Red Carpet" may become cannon fodder for this Spring Festival.
The most dismal is "Huang Pi: The God of Wealth Cat", the pre-sale box office failed to even touch 10,000, which can be described as a disaster at the box office. This undoubtedly gives a wake-up call to those movies who want to get a piece of the pie during the Spring Festival, if you don't have a strong configuration, don't make jokes!
However, some movies have locked in the popular position of the follow-up Spring Festival stalls in advance. Among them, "Zheng He's Voyage to the West", directed by Wu Ershan and assisted by a group of powerful actors, is highly anticipated and is expected to be released during the Spring Festival in 2026. Why did this movie shine in 2026? There are three reasons for this:
Wu Ershan was the first to enter the public eye with "Painted Skin 2", but it was "Looking for the Dragon" that really became famous by word of mouth. His famous work is the first part of "Fengshen", which not only won 78 points of praise, and won a box office of 2.6 billion. "Zheng He's Voyage to the West" focuses on historical restoration, telling the legendary story of Zheng He, a navigator in the three years of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, who led a fleet to the Western Ocean seven times, setting foot in Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean, Asia and Africa, and promoting the Maritime Silk Road to its peak. The IP chosen by Wu Ershan is still a household name, but his innovative and adaptation attitude will bring new vitality to this genre.
The success of "Fengshen" is inseparable from a strong creative team. Director Wu Ershan has become the soul of the film with his superb filmmaking skills. In order to create a more amazing effect, "Zheng He Goes to the West" underwent professional training in advance, and not only the actors, but also the director himself invested three months to learn sailing techniques, so as to truly restore the sea scene in the shooting. In addition, Wu Ershan also served as a screenwriter and worked with producers Lu Hanzi, Kong Beast, and sister Urhan to create a successful team. The selection of the lineup shows Wu Ershan's ambition and confidence in this film.
In terms of casting, Wu Ershan has selected experienced and outstanding actors as always. Chen Kun has cooperated with Wu Ershan many times, and it is not surprising that he will play the leading role again this time. The joining of popular superstars such as Wu Jing, Wang Baoqiang, and Lei Jiayin has added a lot to the film. Wu Ershan's strict training and requirements for actors ensure the quality of the film. Among them, Wu Jing's sense of smell has always been spicy, and his choice also endorses the quality of the movie. And Wang Baoqiang's performance in "In the Octagon Cage" showed more mature and stable acting skills, injecting freshness into the film. Lei Jiayin has gradually emerged in many collaborations with directors such as Zhang Yimou, and this joining will undoubtedly bring more attention to the film. Actress Zhang Yuqi's appearance has added a lot to the film, and her performance in adventure works has long been impressive.
In general, Wu Ershan showed his ambition and confidence in this film with the strong production team of "Zheng He Goes to the West" and the joining of powerful actors. If this configuration can fulfill expectations, then this movie will undoubtedly become a dark horse for the Spring Festival in 2026. Are you looking forward to this movie? Let's look forward to this journey through time!
February** Dynamic Incentive Program