Hong Kong cinema history will be made next week when for the first time a film from the city will be released across four continents and 64 countries.
Astro Boy, an animated feature film, premiered in Hong Kong yesterday and goes on general release on the mainland and in the US on Friday, and in other countries over the next few months. The film, made by Imagi International Holdings - a Hong Kong-listed company - in its Chai Wan studios, is based on the character created by Osamu Tezuka, the 'god' of Japanese manga-style cartoons, in the 1950s.
It is a story about the heroic exploits of a powerful little robot built by a scientist in the image of his dead son.
The movie's drama was almost matched by real-life antics involving the making of Astro Boy. At the beginning of the year, Imagi had run out of funds and it appeared unlikely that the movie would be completed, said Richard Witts, who was appointed chairman of the company in February.
'The company was on its knees and it seemed likely to go under,' he said.
The company was unable to pay salaries for 120 staff at its Los Angeles studios who were sacked on Christmas Eve. Despite the financial difficulties, none of the 440 employees at the Chai Wan studios left.