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Many films have been made that drew their inspiration and aesthetics from video games, manga and anime, but few as successfully, as exciting and as exhilarating as “Escape from the 21st Century”. Li Yang‘s madcap sci-fi adventure is a visual feast boasting excellent visual effects despite its low budget, a convincing mix of live footage and 2D animation and a rousing spectacle that can only honor its many inspirations.

Escape from the 21st Century is available from Signature Entertainment

It is almost impossible to describe the story while doing justice to the film’s nonsensical sense of fun. On distant planet K in 1999, a trio of teenagers are exposed to a toxic chemical that gives them the ability to travel through time to the year 2019 and back… by simply sneezing. In the future, they inhabit the bodies of their future selves and are soon confronted by the challenges, surprises...

The China-produced live-action science fiction comedy feature, “Escape From The 21st Century”, directed by Yang Li, starring Ruoyun Zhang, Elane Zhong, Yang Song, Xiaoling Wu and Yanmanzi Zhu, wil be released February 24, 2025 as Video On Demand:

“…what if a sneeze could transport your 18-year-old soul into your 20-years-older self? What if, by chance, this led to saving the world?

“Three middle-aged individuals with the soul of 18-year-old high school students embark on a world-altering journey 20 years into the future, creating a bizarre adventure story…”

Click the images to enlarge…

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"They are losers. But still want to save the world." Signature Ent. in the UK has unveiled the official UK trailer for the Chinese sci-fi action adventure indie time travel comedy thriller called Escape from the 21st Century. This opened in China last year and played at TIFF & Fantastic Fest & Sitges - critics have been calling it "incredibly fun and a blast of raw energy" similar to Scott Pilgrim vs the World. The story follows three friends who discover they have the power to travel back & forth 20 years with a sneeze. But the future is not as good as they hoped, and they need to take on the responsibility of saving the world. It's a po-dunk indie made on a small budget, with ambitious ideas and funky vibes. Starring Ruoyun Zhang, Elane Zhong, Yang Song, Xiaoling Wu, Yanmanzi Zhu. From a review: "The film is simply too entertaining to be denied,...

Chinese sci-fi adventure Escape from the 21st Century is heading to Cineverse later this year, including the streaming service Fandor and eventually Midnight Pulp and Screambox.

A feature debut for director Yang Li, Escape from the 21st Century tells the story of three friends who gain the power to travel back and forth 20 years with a sneeze.

“Experiencing Escape from the 21st Century sparked vibrant echoes of Tsui Hark’s dynamism and Stephen Chow’s tonal mastery (major complement),” Cineverse Executive Director, Programming Eric Rowe hypes. “An exhilarating thrill ride of brazen creativity and unrelenting ingenuity, Escape delivers a dazzling fusion of genre thrills and comedic hijinks — Simply put, this film is propulsive, vibrant, and a hell of a lot of fun.”

ScreenDaily notes that the film made $15m at the China box office from an August 2024 release. It then went on an extensive festival run around the world, including Toronto,...

Three years after her debut film, the excellent “B for Busy”, director and screenwriter Shao Yihui is back with another Shanghai-set comedy about friendship and family. This time, however, Shao is much more ambitious in her desire to tackle themes rarely heard about in Chinese cinema, like divorce and co-parenting, domestic violence, patriarchy and gender stereotypes. Judging by its large success at the box office, the film has struck a chord with Chinese audiences.

“Her Story” is Wang Tiemei’s story. Wang (very convincingly played by Song Jia) is a single mother in her forties doing her best, if sometimes awkwardly, to raise her nine-year-old daughter. She must also deal with her ex-husband (the adorable Mark Chao), an affable if bumbling man who frequently visits them and does not seem ready to move on. She must also manage a younger would-be suitor (the equally adorable Zhang Yu), a new job...

Chinese sci-fi adventure Escape From The 21st Century has set key deals after a festival run around the world.

Amsterdam- and Beijing-based Fortissimo has sold Li Yang’s film to North America (Cineverse), UK-Ireland (Signature Entertainment), Germany (Atlas Film), Taiwan (Flash Forward Entertainment) and Spain (Youplanet).

Escape From The 21st Century tells the story of three friends who gain the power to travel back and forth 20 years with a sneeze. Zhang Ruoyun, Elane Zhong and Song Yang lead the cast, with the film produced by Hu Lizhou for Scity Films.

It is Li’s feature debut, after shorts including Lee’s Adventures and Bad Future.

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“Her Story,” a Mainland Chinese comedy-drama film told from a largely female perspective, is set for a release in major international territories later this month that are coordinated with its wide opening in China.

The film is directed by Shao Yihui, who previously made a mark with her 2021 picture “B For Busy.” Its fast-paced story focuses on two women – one a recently unemployed single mom, the other a new neighbor who is more troubled than she appears – who become friends. Together they face up to various relationship challenges, including an abusive ex-husband and new romantic possibilities.

The cast is headed by Song Jia, Elaine Zhong, Zhang Yu, Mark Chao, Ren Bin, Zeng Mumei, Zhang Chi and Zhou Yemang. Production is by Maxtimes Pictures.

Rights outside mainland China have been picked up by Tiger Pictures Entertainment, which will operate a split strategy of itself handling the picture’s release in some...

Dozens of celebs, including Zendaya and Alicia Vikander, stepped out for Louis Vuitton‘s show during Paris Fashion Week!

Creative director Nicolas Ghesquière presented his Women’s Spring-Summer 2025 collection during the show on Tuesday afternoon (October 1) in Paris, France.

Cate Blanchett, Ana de Armas, Jennifer Connelly, Cynthia Erivo, and Lisa were among the other celebs who attended the fashion show. We have photos from the red carpet and inside the event to share!

Head inside to see all of the celebs who stepped out for the fashion show…

Keep scrolling to see all of the celebs who attended the fashion show…

Cate Blanchett

Zendaya

Lisa

Ana de Armas

Hoyeon

Jennifer Connelly

Alicia Vikander

Cynthia Erivo

Chloe Moretz

Shay Mitchell

Jaden Smith

Jurnee Smollett

Haim

Stacy Martin

Justine Triet

Da’Vine Joy Randolph

Ava DuVernay

Sandra Huller

Urassaya Sperbund

Doona Bae

John Glacier

Ryan Destiny

Jasmine Jobson

Koki

Elaine Zhong

Liu Yifei...

Fortissimo Films has secured international rights to upcoming Chinese feature Escape From The 21st Century and will launch sales at Toronto in September.

The Amsterdam and Beijing-based sales company has landed rights to the action sci-fi feature ahead of its local release, which Chinese distributor Enlight Pictures today revealed is set for August 3.

The story follows three friends who discover they have the power to travel back and forth 20 years with a sneeze. However, the future is not as good as they hoped and need to take on the responsibility of saving the world.

Produced by Scity Films, it marks...

Movie stars Zhou Xun and Jelly Lin head the cast of “Imperfect Victim,” a new mainland Chinese drama series that focuses on workplace sexual harassment and leads to a rape trial.

Zhou plays a lawyer who steps in to represent the character played by Lin (“The Mermaid”), who alleges assault by her boss at work. He is portrayed by TV veteran Liu Yijun. The case becomes complicated and Zhou’s character is forced to question her own ethics.

The show is highly topical, given the slowly building #MeToo movement in China. This is being fuelled by numerous instances of sexual discrimination, sexual assault and outright violence towards women, many instances of which have gone viral on Chinese social media before being deleted by censors.

Zhou Xun in “Imperfect Victim.” Courtesy of iQiyi.

The first episode of “Imperfect Victim,” for instance, includes a section on the culture of heavy after-hours drinking...

Detective Conan: The Scarlet Bullet, the latest installment in the long-running Japanese anime franchise, topped the China box office on its opening weekend, grossing $17.1m in its first two days.

The film, which opened in China on April 17, is directed by Nagaoka Tomoka and produced by Tokyo-based Tms Entertainment, with Toho distributing in Japan. It also had a strong start in Japan, which together with its China opening, propelled it to become the highest-grossing film worldwide over the weekend. With the Tokyo Olympics already delayed by a year due to the pandemic, the topicality of the film’s plot may partly explain its success,...

"I was once told that beauty should never be shared." Shanghai Jingshu Pictures has released an official US trailer for the Chinese romantic drama titled Wild Grass, marking the feature directorial debut of director Xu Zhanxiong. The film is a love story and generational drama following the intersecting city lives of several young people in China during the 1990s. In the 1990s, the two girls and a boy who first entered the society tested the incredible destiny they experienced in the pursuit of a new life. In the flourishing 1990s, they rose up with the dream and they survived. Starring Ye Gao, Ma Sichun, Elane Zhong, Johnny Huang, and Sunny Wang. It wasn't expecting much from this, but it's ravishing trailer. I love the vibrant title cards, I love the dance sequences, the film looks passionate and intensely emotional. This might be a nice discovery. Here's the official US trailer...

The 2018 edition of the New York Asian Film Festival offered a very eclectic selection. Among the more commercial movies the Nyaff featured was the first Chinese movie made by Taiwanese director Kevin Ko: “Dude’s Manual”.

“Dude’s Manual” screened at the 17th New York Asian Film Festival

He Xiaoyan is finishing university. Because of an incident that happened at the beginning of his college-time, the young man earned the nickname ‘Air-Pump’. In other words, no girls want to be seen with this pervert and he doesn’t even dare to dream about losing his virginity. The problem is that the whole campus believes that Guan Xin, one of the most popular girls, is seeing the unlucky young man. The beautiful lady decides to take matters into her own hands and to make a couple out of Air-Pump and Li Shushu, other campus-beauty.

Parallelly to the trio story, we...