Comedy trounces epics and fight films on list of box-office favourites

The box office results for 2008 are in and - surprise, surprise - a flick by funny man Stephen Chow Sing-chi topped the list of Chinese-language movies. CJ7 , Chow's 'dramedy' hit about a labourer's son and his alien toy (pictured), took HK$51 million at the local box office during its seven-week run early last year, according to figures released by the Motion Picture Industry Association. The fantasy out-grossed John Woo's period epic Red Cliff: Part 1, which managed a respectable HK$24.8 million. Coming in third and still running is Donnie Yen Chi-tan's martial arts vehicle Ip Man, which has registered a little more than HK$17 million. Fourth is the epic action movie Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon (HK$17 million), fifth is Connected (HK$14.4 million), sixth goes to L for Love, L for Lies, followed by Painted Skin, Kung Fu Dunk, La Lingerie and The Beast Stalker. You say you haven't seen any of them? Well, you're probably not alone. But Chinese-language movies seem to have been making a bit of a resurgence over the holidays. Lady Cop & Papa Crook, with Sammi Cheng Sau-man and Eason Chan Yik-shun, was No1, taking HK$1.2 million to edge out Thai fight flick Ong-Bak 2, while Chen Kaige's biopic of Chinese opera performer Mei Lanfang, Forever Enthralled, opened in third.