On February 4, the animated film "Journey to the West: The True and False Monkey King" was officially announced and released a preview poster. This time the Journey to the West movie will tell the story of Sun Wukong who follows his master and apprentice to learn scriptures and has a fierce battle with a six-eared macaque when passing by the Shenshu Ridge.

Poster of the animated movie "Journey to the West: The True and False Monkey King"

Judging from other information disclosed on the poster, the film is produced by Shanghai Ruyi Film and Television Production Co., Ltd., produced and supervised by Ke Liming, with Chen Zhixi as the chief producer, directed by Zhao Ji and Zhang Ke, and starring Liu Xiaolingtong and Ma Dehua ( motion capture).

In recent years, the theme of "Journey to the West" has never stopped being used in movie theaters. The chapters of "The True and False Monkey King" are familiar to everyone, but they are rarely put on the screen. The words "starring Liu Xiaolingtong and Ma Dehua" make this movie The film is full of connections between moments and emotional memories.

After the poster was released, Liu Xiaolingtong quickly forwarded it on Weibo, saying, "I am very happy to be associated with the Monkey King in this special way! See you in the future!"

Ma Dehua also forwarded it on Weibo and said, "I look forward to meeting my senior brother again in the Monkey King story."

In fact, Liuxiaolingtong has a long-standing wish to "renew the relationship with the monkey". This "Journey to the West: The Real and Fake Monkey King" has also gone through many ups and downs. And as an audience, the various news about this subject that I have heard over the years also has a hint of "real and fake Monkey King".

It can be learned from public information that as early as 2015, Liu Xiaolingtong stated that he would participate in the Chinese-foreign co-production of the Journey to the West movie "Dare to Ask Where is the Road". At that time, he said in an interview with the media that he would cooperate with the Hollywood team in the United States to create a 3D version of the "Journey to the West" movie. According to the original concept, the film was expected to be released during the Spring Festival of 2016, the Year of the Monkey.

By the end of 2019, Liu Xiaolingtong mentioned the preparations for the movie through Weibo and posted a still. While he lamented the rapid advancement of new technologies, he also specially thanked Ruyi Pictures, director Han Yan and their team for re-building a bridge to realize his dream.

The producer in the poster at that time was now Ruyi Pictures, and the director was Han Yan, who had launched a new challenge in visual effects technology after filming "Animal World". From the 2020 "The Monkey King" group announcement poster posted online, you can also see the label "Previously known as: "I Dare to Ask Where is the Way"", which shows that it was born out of the previous Sino-US co-production. Filming. But later, Han Yan’s creative focus shifted to themes that care about life.

Last year, when the movie "Warm" produced by Ruyi Pictures and produced by Chen Zhixi was released in the summer, Liu Xiaolingtong posted on Weibo to call it, and Chen Zhixi also interacted in the comment area and said, "Thank you, Teacher Liu, even more Looking forward to our real and fake Monkey King.”

Three years later, the "Monkey King" that has been waiting for six years old and fans for many years finally has new news. The director has been replaced by the director who has directed "White Snake: Origin" and "New God List: Nezha". Zhao Ji from "Rebirth" and "New God List: Yang Jian". The performance of the director's previous works in animation special effects can be described as "explosive", with both the charm of oriental aesthetics and the coolness of modern innovation. It is expected that the scenes presented in the form of animation will not disappoint the audience.

Through technology, facial recognition scans were performed on the images of Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie played by Liu Xiaolingtong and Teacher Ma. In the movie, we will see the familiar expressions of Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie and other characters with CG special effects produced through motion capture, using contemporary technology to enhance emotions. Memories can be considered a sincere selling point. The rest depends on whether this familiar, Zen-like and controversial story can be given a new interpretation if it is filmed today.

Ruyi Pictures has produced many excellent film and television works, such as dramas such as "Nirvana in Fire", "All Quiet in Peking", "Mi Yue", "To Our Fading Youth", and movies such as "Send You a Little Red" "Flower", "Hello, Li Huanying", "Walking Alone on the Moon", etc. Now, Ruyi seems to be interested in making efforts in the field of animation. It has cooperated with Light Chaser Animation to participate in the production and is responsible for the main promotion of "White Snake: The Floating Life", which has been scheduled for Chinese Valentine's Day this year.

"White Snake: The Floating Life" poster

The IP "Journey to the West", as a hot topic in film and television adaptations, has actually been "rolled" very much in recent years. On the one hand, the audience sees similar themes emerging one after another, on the other hand, many projects with the same theme are also going through bumps and difficulties. In addition to this version of "Journey to the West: The Real and Fake Monkey King", there is also an animation of the same name produced by Hengdian and Mili that has also experienced ups and downs.

"Journey to the West: The True and False Monkey King" poster

At the 24th National Film Promotion Conference last year, China Film recommended the animated film "Journey to the West: The True and False Monkey King" produced by Hengdian and released relevant stills and plot. As early as 2016, MiLi Pictures The Toronto Film Festival also announced its future animated film list, including "The Monkey King: Monkey King" in 2018. In 2021, MiLi Pictures released the trailer of "The Monkey King" and defined it as its own Return to the big screen. The current release date of the film on Douban page is 2024.

In addition, Hong Kong director Cheng Po-sui, who has presented three films during the Spring Festival, "Journey to the West: Havoc in Heaven", "Journey to the West: Three Fighting Bone Demons" and "Journey to the West: The Kingdom of Daughters", also has plans to bring the story of the six-eared macaque to the big screen. . The film was registered in 2018, but the Douban page has directly marked the film's time in 2030.