Wu Jing on Wolf Warrior 2’s record-breaking run, his cinematic roots in Hong Kong and Wolf Warrior 3’s story direction
Actor-director pays tribute to cast and crew of his record-breaking film, and credits ‘friends and teachers’ in Hong Kong film industry, and says his happiest moment was when film broke even
Wu Jing may be a super soldier on screen and a box office sensation off it, but that doesn’t make him immune to exhaustion at the tail end of a weeks-long promotional tour across China.
“What I want to do most is to have a good night’s sleep,” says the director, co-writer, co-producer and star of action epic Wolf Warrior 2 , which, with ticket sales of 5.6 billion yuan (US$860 million) and counting, is the runaway box office champion of Chinese language cinema. For perspective, the second-highest grossing Chinese film ever made is Stephen Chow Sing-chi’s The Mermaid , which took 3.39 billion yuan.
“It’s been one city per day, and 10 cinemas in every city. This tour – it’s torture; it’s unimaginable for you here,” says Wu, 43, in an interview before the film’s Hong Kong premiere on Wednesday. “But luckily today is the last stop for Wolf Warrior 2.”
Film review: Wolf Warrior 2 – Wu Jing cements Chinese action star status with record-breaking hit
While his film’s remarkable coup may leave many with mental pictures of him swimming in money, Wu is understandably keen to downplay his new fortune.
In a way, Wolf Warrior 2 is my way of repaying these friends and teachers. It’s my homework assignment. Technically, these directors are a lot better than me.
“Every journalist I’ve encountered asked: Do I have a target box office figure in mind? Do I want to make it on so-and-so top-grossing charts? Do I want to break 6 billion yuan? Is that even possible? I have no idea at all,” he says. “From July 27, 8:01 am onwards [when the film opened in China], the life of Wolf Warrior 2 ceased to belong to me.