China’s Damai Entertainment Sets International Release For $223M Surprise Hit ‘Dear You’

Damai Entertainment, the Chinese film company previously known as Alibaba Pictures, has revealed the international rollout plans for surprise $223M hit Dear You, starting with Hong Kong and other Chinese-speaking territories later this month.

The relatively small drama, released on April 30, has surprised the local industry by becoming the second-highest grossing film of the year, overtaking blockbusters like Yuen Woo-ping’s Blades Of The Guardians and Zhang Yimou’s Scare Out and trailing only Pegasus 3, which grossed $653M over Lunar New Year. The film also has a 9.2 rating on Douban.

Damai confirmed today that Dear You will be released on June 18 in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei. It will then be rolled out to territories including the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK and France. Damai is handling international sales and said it has received strong interest from distribution partners in North America, Europe and Southeast Asia.

Directed by Lan Hongchun, the film was made in the Chaoshan (Teochew) dialect, rather than standard Mandarin Chinese, making its success even more unprecedented. The story revolves around a grandson who travels to Thailand to find his supposedly rich grandfather, whom his grandmother has been hoping to be reunited with for decades, only to discover that a stranger has been sending money and letters.

Lan said he hopes the film will “convey the overseas remittance culture and the emotional core of the Chinese spirit of loyalty and righteousness embodied in the film to a global audience.”

“A letter may be short, but the sentiment is deep; rivers and seas can be crossed,” Lan continued.

Damai produced the film with Shenzhen Golden Ant Film & Media Co, Rongde Holdings Group and Shenzhen Lichun Film, in association with Guangzhou Mengmengda Network Technology, Changsha Lemon Light Culture Media and Shenzhen Yuguang Film.