China's Jia Ling may become female director with world's top-grossing film
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Hi, Mom is the maiden directorial project of comedienne-actress Jia Ling (above), who stars in the movie as a daughter saddened by her mother's accidental death.
PHOTO: HI, MOM/WEIBO
BEIJING • Chinese director Jia Ling, who recently made waves in China with her movie Hi, Mom, may soon surpass Wonder Woman (2017) director Patty Jenkins as the female film-maker with the highest-grossing film in the world.
Tear-jerker film Hi, Mom is the maiden directorial project of comedienne-actress Jia, 38, who stars in the movie as a daughter saddened by her mother's accidental death. The daughter finds herself transported back to 1981, where she meets her mother and tries to improve her fate using ideas from the future.
The comedy, which Jia described as a tribute to her real-life mother, who died about 20 years ago, has earned 5.25 billion yuan (S$1.09 billion) in China.
It is the top earner so far this year in the country and the second highest-grossing film at China's box office.
Wonder Woman, which starred Israeli actress Gal Gadot as the comic-book heroine, has grossed more than US$822 million (S$1.1 billion) worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film by a solo female director.
Hi, Mom is set for worldwide release soon, according to an announcement via the film's official social media account.
However, some Chinese netizens said it might not do as well overseas due to differences in language and culture.
"Hi, Mom is a typical Chinese family story and its comic elements are based mainly on the language, like some Chinese puns, so it might be difficult for foreign audiences to understand, which might limit its box-office overseas," film critic Xiao Fuqiu, who is based in Shanghai, told the Global Times on Monday.
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