Wong Jing's new comedy to be screened on National Day holiday

Poster of The Golden Monk [Photo provided to China Daily]

Hong Kong director Wong Jing's latest movie, The Golden Monk, will hit Chinese mainland theaters on Sept 30, making it the only comedy among the new releases in the profitable National Day holiday.

So far, nine domestic movies have confirmed to premiere during the weeklong holiday. Other powerful rivals include Feng Xiaogang's dancers-themed Youth and Xu Jizhou's crime thriller The Liquidator.

Wong invited another Hong Kong filmmaker Cheung Siu-hung to co-direct The Golden Monk.

Set in early 12th century, the tale narrates a Buddhist monk's alliance with a monster hunter and a warrior to annihilate a dragon demon and its evil followers.

The high-budget movie has spent 200 million yuan ($30 million) to build spectacular sets, such as the ancient Hangzhou city (then capital of Southern Song Dynasty), a heavenly palace, the dragon's nest and a carnival village.

It has more than 1,000 special-effect scenes to feature monsters and demons, such as a one-eye giant, a human-eating frog and a snake monster.

Actor Zheng Kai and actress Zhang Yuqi lead star the movie, which also casts Hong Kong actor-host Wong Cho-lam, Chinese mainland actresses Zhen Qi and Wang Xinyao.