"The Mermaid" has smashed China's box-office record, grossing about 2.47 billion yuan ($378.9 million) as of Friday, according to Chinese news publication Xinhua.
Stephen Chow's sci-fi comedy opened in theaters on Feb. 8 (Chinese Lunar New Year Day) and overtook another domestic film "Monster Hunt," which previously held the record at 2.44 billion yuan, closely followed by the high-octane "Furious 7," according to numbers from the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.
The film follows the story of a mermaid, who falls head over heels for a business tycoon she has been assigned to seduce and assassinate. "The Mermaid" stars newcomer Jelly Lin as the titular character alongside Deng Chao, Kitty Zhang and Show Lo, according to Deadline.
"The most delightful comic fantasy in Chinese-language cinema since his own 'Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons' (2013), Stephen Chow's 'The Mermaid' defies the time-worn nature of its material, concocting pure enchantment with the director's own blend of nutty humor, intolerable cruelty and unabashed sweetness," according to Variety magazine's Maggie Lee.
