This Movie Already DETHRONED The Lion King at the Box Office!
167The Lion King's box office legs are already shaky in China because of a local title that is playing as direct competition, and already beating it at the box office. The film is called LOOKING UP. Both movies focus heavily on father-son relationships and are pitched towards multigenerational family viewers.
Co-directed by and starring Deng Chao (The Mermaid, Duckweed), Looking Up tells the story of a Chinese father (Deng) who deviates from China's standardized test-focused approach to education and parenting, and instead nurtures his son (played by Feng Ze’ang as a boy, and Bai Yu as an adult) and encourages him to chase his own dreams.
The film takes the present day as a framing device, in which the adult son, now an astronaut, loses contact while aboard his ship amidst the vastness of space. The film then proceeds in a series of flashbacks as the son thinks back about the wisdom and generosity of his dad.
"This is a film you should watch with your child," said one user of Chinese social media service Weibo in a widely shared post. "It offers encouragement and guidance about how we should approach education in the family."
"The film shows some of the problems with our educational system, and the importance of children's independence," wrote a user of Chinese movie reviews site Douban. "But it also teaches not to give up under pressure, or when facing difficulties — it's worth a lot of thought."
Andy reacts to the looking up trailer and once again offers his warning for giving THE LION KING all of your money opening weekend. What do you think? Does Looking Up look surprisingly good? Discuss in the comments below!