By Keen Zhang

The romantic comedy If You Are the One directed by Chinese blockbuster filmmaker Feng Xiaogang has passed the 300 million yuan mark at the box office, the studio announced at a banquet in Beijing last night.

Director Feng Xiaogang and cast members of If You Are the One celebrate at a banquet held in Beijing, January 6, 2009. [China.org.cn]

If You Are the One has so far made 302 million yuan (US$44.21 million) across China. The film is the second highest grossing film of 2008 and the second highest in Chinese cinema history, second only to John Woo's Red Cliff Part I, which was released in early 2008 and made 312 million yuan (US$45.68 million). Red Cliff Part II hits the screens nationwide today.

Huayi Brothers studio held a celebration banquet last night to announce If You Are the One's staggering earnings, made in just 19 days thanks to the Christmas and New Year's Day film season. Feng sang the theme song of the film to delighted supporters, who expect the film to sink Red Cliff Part I's record in the coming days.

Director Feng Xiaogang holds up a banner on which the precise number of the box office result (so far) of If You Are the One was written.  [China.org.cn]

With If You Are the One's success, Feng Xiaogang became the first Chinese director to make over one billion yuan (1.032 billion precisely) at Chinese box offices, from all his films combined.

The medium-budget film, which cost only 45 million yuan (US$6.58 million) in production and 15 million yuan (US$2.19 million) in promotion, performed a Christmas miracle at the end of 2008. It seems likely to fulfill the prediction of China.org.cn columnist Pang Li who dubbed it "A film likely to have the last laugh".

The film's locations, China's Hangzhou, Japan's Hokkaido, have become top choices for Chinese tourists drawn by the many beautiful landscape shots in the film.

The next project for Feng, he revealed at the banquet last night, will be an adaptation of a true story about the devastating Tangshan earthquake of July 28, 1976, which killed 240,000 people. Feng said he was moved and excited after reading the script.

(China.org.cn January 7, 2008)