[2013.03.19] XU ZHENG PREDICTS JOURNEY TO THE WEST WILL PASS LOST IN THAILAND

courtesy of mingpao.com

The Xu Zheng directed LOST IN THAILAND's Mainland box office reached 1.26 billion yuan RMB, the current Mainland Chinese film box office champion. It won the 7th Asian Film Award's 2012 Highest Grossing Asian Film award. He never imagined winning the box office award because Stephen Chow Sing Chi's JOURNEY TO THE WEST: CONQUERING THE DEMONS (SAI YAU GONG MOR PIN) in the Mainland so far received 1.237 billion yuan RMB and headed for LOST IN THAILAND's record.

As for the outside comparison between the two, Xu Zheng said, "I haven't thought much about it, actually Chow Sing Chi's past work has been very entertaining. He is my idol. I am already mentally prepared for the box office record to be broken. Even if it wasn't JOURNEY, other films would still break it. It proves that the market capacity is large. With more funding flooding in, to directors, investors and viewers it is a good thing. Thus demand for film should be elevated." Xu Zheng earlier spoke with Chow Sing Chi and posted the photo online. He wrote, "After many years, my wish finally came true. I have a photo with my idol!" They were described as the "1 Billion Club member" as they both broke 1 billion at the box office.

Although LOST IN THAILAND was a big hit, Xu Zheng reportedly only made 30 million yuan. Xu Zheng admitted that he has not received any bonus because the accounting took a long time. His contract however stipulated a bonus so it was "inescapable".