“Home Coming” is coming home to a theater near you!
Another nationalistic box-office hit in China, the film“Home Coming” has its global release set for late October. Upon its domestic theater release on Saturday, Oct. 1, the film smashed China’s weekend box office with earnings of $60 million USD ($426 million yuan), a number that has since climbed to $117 million USD. The film quickly became a trending topic across Chinese social media sites following its theater debut, and has garnered overwhelming positive and emotional responses from Chinese audiences.
With such a solid domestic performance, China’s latest patriotic blockbuster is now set for a limited North American release on Oct. 21 by Beijing-based distributor CMC Pictures— followed by the U.K., Ireland, New Zealand and Australia on Oct. 27. and Hong Kong, Singapore, Pakistan, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Macau on Oct. 28.
Produced by Frank Guo (the filmmaker behind China’s biggest sci-fi blockbuster of all time, “The Wandering Earth”) and directed by Rao Xiaozhi, the film stars major Chinese actors such as Karry Wang, Yi Zhang and Yin Tao. “Home Coming” is set in the fictional Numia Republic in the year 2011, but is largely based upon real historical events inspired by China’s overseas citizen protection response during the 2011 Libya crisis. During this time, the Chinese embassy reportedly evacuated more than 30,000 Chinese nationals in 12 days over land, sea, and air.
The film follows the story of two veteran Chinese diplomats, Zong Dawei (Zhang) and Cheng Lang (Wang), who assist in the evacuation of overseas Chinese nationals when war breaks out in North Africa. Right when they think their mission has been completed, however, new information comes to light and the pair must return to save a group of 125 compatriots who are still left behind.
Don’t forget to mark down Oct. 21 on your calendar, and be sure to check showtimes at your local theater to catch a screening of “Home Coming”!
