Will local audiences warm to Chinese filmmaker Xu Zheng’s Lost in Hong Kong?

Actor-director is curious about the reception a film with a Chinese view of city will get, after initial enthusiasm in China for the follow-up to Lost in Thailand tailed off

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Xu Zheng, director of Lost in Hong Kong, at Sky100 in the ICC in West Kowloon, where scenes from the film were shot.

Published: 7:30am, 17 Nov 2015Updated: 11:10am, 17 Nov 2015

Actor-director-producer Xu Zheng should have every reason to feel on top of the world, not least because we are 393 metres above sea level on the Sky100 observation deck at ICC in West Kowloon, where part of his latest offering, Lost in Hong Kong, was filmed.

The former theatre actor is now China’s only filmmaker to have two titles grossing more than 1 billion yuan (HK$1.2 billion) each at the box office – even if this fact, somehow, appears lost on him.

“I don’t have any particular feeling about this,” Xu says stoically when asked about his bankable profile. “I’ve always thought that money should be [considered] a bonus only. The most important thing is that you’re doing what you like to do. I’m lucky that I’m doing what I like.”

Eric Kot Man-fai (centre left) and Sam Lee Chan-sum (middle) as police detectives in Lost in Hong Kong.

It takes staggering poise for the 43-year-old to just breeze past the topic. Xu’s directorial debut, Lost in Thailand (2012), made over 1.2 billion yuan in China and became the highest grossing Chinese-language movie at the time. His follow-up effort, Lost in Hong Kong, opened on September 25 in China (it will be released in Hong Kong on November 19) and took in a record-breaking 200 million yuan on the first day.

The new film’s domestic takings have since dropped off, notably as a result of its mixed reception; currently at 1.6 billion yuan, Lost in Hong Kong’s earnings are set to fall short of the new Chinese record of 2.43 billion yuan, set by the 3D fantasy film Monster Hunt earlier this year.

Xu Zheng and Bao Beier in a still from the film Lost in Hong Kong.

“Monster Hunt is a summer movie catering ... for all ages,” says Xu. “People who watched Lost in Thailand had been really, really looking forward to watching our new film. But once we decided on the subject matter, we knew that Lost in Hong Kong was not a family movie. It’s not very suitable for kids.”