Kowloon Citadel: Siege of the Citadel is one of the most notable films released during the May 1 holiday at the recent Chinese box office. The film brings together many martial arts legends of Hong Kong cinema such as Co Thien Lac, Hong Kim Bao, Ngu Doan Long… The content is inspired by the famous novel Kowloon Citadel by author Yu Nhi Nguyen. Before filming, the cast spent a year practicing physical strength and coming up with ideas for martial arts and action segments in the film.
Co Thien Lac's Kowloon City: Siege of the City disappointed at the box office.
The story of Kowloon City: Siege of the City begins with young man Tran Lac Quan (played by Lam Phong) deciding to illegally enter Hong Kong. Here, he was helped by Long Quyen Phong (played by Co Thien Lac) to survive in a complicated area where there are many gangsters.
The work was invested more than 300 million yuan (more than 1,000 billion VND), not including promotion costs. In particular, the team invested more than 70 million yuan to build the Kowloon scene into a camp. When released in theaters, the work received positive feedback from critics and was heavily promoted thanks to its famous stars. In particular, the fighting and action segments in the movie were highly appreciated by viewers. However, according to page 163, the film's current revenue is only about 300 million yuan and is showing signs of a sharp decline. Experts predict the film will lose at least more than 100 million yuan (about 350 billion dong) after leaving theaters.
The failure of Kowloon City: The Siege continues Co Thien Lac's recent string of disappointing box office achievements. According to page 163, Hong Kong's “showbiz tycoon” at one time continuously released works that had less than expected sales and were criticized by many audiences. Movies like There's Always Love in the Quarantine Zone, True Three Kingdoms or Vicious Rebellion all lost heavily at the box office. Co Thien Lac's performance in this project was rated better than previous films but was still not strong enough to conquer audiences.
However, some opinions believe that the disappointing box office results of Kowloon City: Siege partly come from the project's lack of participation from mainland stars, leading to difficulty competing for performances. holiday screening. At the same time, Hong Kong movies in recent years no longer retain the same appeal to viewers as before.