# Crazy Stone
**Crazy Stone** (疯狂的石头) is a 2006 Chinese black-comedy caper film directed and co-written by Ning Hao, in which thieves and a factory security chief fight over a valuable piece of jade found in a failing [Chongqing](https://www.edgepedia.org/chongqing) crafts factory. Made for roughly 3 million yuan with no stars, it earned about 23 million yuan at the mainland box office and won Best Original Screenplay at the 43rd Golden Horse Awards, becoming one of the most discussed Chinese films of 2006.[1](https://ent.sina.com.cn/f/m/fkdst/) • [2](https://www.focusgroup.cc/en/major_company/shows_projects_details/27/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writers | Ning Hao, with screenwriters Zhang Cheng and Yue Xiaojun[3](https://www.biff.kr/eng/html/archive/arc_history_view.asp?kind=history&m_idx=11008&page=22&pyear=2006) |
| Cast | Guo Tao, Liu Hua, Teddy Lin (Lian Jin), Huang Bo, Xu Zheng[1](https://ent.sina.com.cn/f/m/fkdst/) |
| Release | 30 June 2006 in mainland China; 10 August 2006 in Hong Kong and Singapore[4](https://baike.sogou.com/v183546.htm) |
| Budget | About 3 million (reported as RMB, HKD, or US$500,000 depending on the source)[5](https://www.screendaily.com/china-stones-man-on-a-roll/4036206.article) • [6](https://news.sina.com.cn/c/2007-02-26/145212374085.shtml) |
| Mainland box office | First weekend near 2 million yuan; about 6.2 million in the second week; roughly 23 million yuan cumulative by the end of 2006, ninth among domestic films that year[7](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2006-07-16/10261160307.html) • [4](https://baike.sogou.com/v183546.htm) |
| Major award | Best Original Screenplay, 43rd Golden Horse Awards (2006)[2](https://www.focusgroup.cc/en/major_company/shows_projects_details/27/) |
| Production scheme | The only mainland project in Andy Lau's "Asia New Star Director" (FOCUS: First Cuts) program, produced by Focus Films[2](https://www.focusgroup.cc/en/major_company/shows_projects_details/27/) • [8](https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/Crazy_Stone?hl=en_US&id=E19C2C6D593D02E0MV) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
A nearly bankrupt arts-and-crafts factory in Chongqing discovers a valuable jade while demolishing its old workshop. The factory decides to exhibit the stone to raise money for unpaid wages, and security chief Bao Shihong (Guo Tao) is put in charge of guarding it. An international master thief, Mike (Teddy Lin), and a local three-man gang led by Dao Ge (Liu Hua) both scheme to steal it, while the factory owner's son and other small-time figures complicate matters. The film's plot turns on the real and fake jades being switched back and forth, and on a chain of coincidences in which each character's plan ruins someone else's.[4](https://baike.sogou.com/v183546.htm) • [3](https://www.biff.kr/eng/html/archive/arc_history_view.asp?kind=history&m_idx=11008&page=22&pyear=2006)
The Busan festival's program note describes the film as less interested in the mind games between thieves and guard than in satirizing a modern society bound by the meaningless division between the real and the fake, with the bad-is-punished-by-the-bad ending giving a glimpse of Ning Hao's wit.[3](https://www.biff.kr/eng/html/archive/arc_history_view.asp?kind=history&m_idx=11008&page=22&pyear=2006)
## Production
**Origins of the script.** Ning Hao wrote the story in 2000 as a screenwriting exercise while studying stills photography at the Beijing Film Academy, working through variations on a soldiers-and-thieves premise. The finished script grew out of roughly four months of group discussion with four screenwriters and three creative consultants, and went through 18 revisions; the day before shooting began, Ning was still asking collaborators whether the script was good enough, because many early readers had found the story unremarkable.[9](https://news.sina.com.cn/o/2006-07-04/09239366864s.shtml) • [6](https://news.sina.com.cn/c/2007-02-26/145212374085.shtml) The film's original title was *Zeizhongzei* (贼中贼, roughly "Thief Among Thieves").[10](https://finance.sina.com.cn/roll/20060729/20072775312.shtml)
**Financing and shoot.** In March 2005 the Hong Kong actor and producer [Andy Lau](https://www.edgepedia.org/andy-lau) launched the "Asia New Star Director" scheme to fund young Asian directors, and Ning was selected as one of its six directors, the only one from the mainland.[11](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/2006-07-13/15051156981.html) • [2](https://www.focusgroup.cc/en/major_company/shows_projects_details/27/) Ning took the film on a fixed-fee basis: the production budget was fixed at about 3 million yuan, the crew controlled its own spending, and any overage came out of the crew's own pocket, which is why Ning ended up putting his own director's fee into the production even though the film's later box office brought him no direct share.[11](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/2006-07-13/15051156981.html) Shooting took 46 days, with a crew of more than 40, many of them first-time film workers, and the whole project took about a year from start to finished post-production in April 2006.[6](https://news.sina.com.cn/c/2007-02-26/145212374085.shtml) • [11](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/2006-07-13/15051156981.html) The film was shot digitally on HD cameras.[8](https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/Crazy_Stone?hl=en_US&id=E19C2C6D593D02E0MV)
**Setting and language.** Principal locations were in Chongqing, including Luohan Temple, and the dialogue is deliberately multilingual: Chongqing and Sichuan dialects dominate, with Qingdao, Tangshan, and Beijing dialects assigned to specific characters and occasional [Cantonese](https://www.edgepedia.org/cantonese).[12](https://m.atmovies.com.tw/app2/film.cfm?action=filmdata&filmid=fccn50421581) The regional accents are part of the film's comedy and helped anchor it locally; Chengdu, where most characters speak a related dialect, opened the film early, on 28 June.[13](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2006-07-04/09371145403.html)
## Release and box office
The film premiered at the Shanghai International Film Festival in late June 2006 and opened nationwide on 30 June.[4](https://baike.sogou.com/v183546.htm) Warner China Film HG, the mainland distributor, had planned a 30-print release; after a strong May screening for exhibitors, the print run was raised to 100, adding about 560,000 yuan in release costs.[11](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/2006-07-13/15051156981.html) • [5](https://www.screendaily.com/china-stones-man-on-a-roll/4036206.article)
The box office climbed in steps. The first weekend brought in close to 2 million yuan, the second week about 6.2 million (roughly a threefold rise over the first week's total), and by late July the total had passed 15 million, making it the highest-grossing domestic film of the first half of 2006.[7](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2006-07-16/10261160307.html) • [14](https://news.sina.cn/sa/2006-08-04/detail-ikftssap2687001.d.html) Cumulative mainland totals are reported at about 23 million yuan by the end of 2006, ninth among domestic films that year.[4](https://baike.sogou.com/v183546.htm) Counting theatrical, television, home video, and internet rights, one year-end estimate put total revenue above 30 million yuan against an investment of 3 million Hong Kong dollars, a reported profit margin of 1,000 percent.[15](https://ent.sina.com.cn/s/2006-12-30/02101392312.html)
**Marketing without an ad budget.** With 3 million yuan there was no money for advertising, so the distributor relied on press and word-of-mouth screenings, inviting reporters to the Shanghai premiere where Andy Lau's presence drew some 200 media outlets; the distributors then encouraged viewers to post recommendations online.[7](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2006-07-16/10261160307.html) The release was slotted against the 2006 [FIFA World Cup](https://www.edgepedia.org/fifa-world-cup), a period most blockbusters avoided, targeting students on vacation.[7](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2006-07-16/10261160307.html) Ten days after release, a legitimate DVD was issued at the low price of 10 yuan, with a ticket-stub discount scheme, selling over 600,000 copies by early August.[7](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2006-07-16/10261160307.html) • [14](https://news.sina.cn/sa/2006-08-04/detail-ikftssap2687001.d.html)
## Reception and awards
The film won Best Original Screenplay at the 43rd Golden Horse Awards, with nominations for Best Feature Film, Best Director, and Best Film Editing.[2](https://www.focusgroup.cc/en/major_company/shows_projects_details/27/) At the 7th Chinese Film Media Awards it took Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor, and it was named one of the Ten Best Chinese Films at the 12th Hong Kong Golden Bauhinia Film Awards.[2](https://www.focusgroup.cc/en/major_company/shows_projects_details/27/) In 2007 it received three Huabiao Film Awards: Outstanding Digital Feature, Outstanding New Director, and Outstanding Technical Achievement.[16](https://www.lcsd.gov.hk/fp/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Brochure_Chinese-Film-Panorama-2022.pdf) On the festival circuit it was the closing film of the 11th Pusan International Film Festival, the first mainland Chinese film given that slot, and was selected at festivals in Hawaii, Tokyo, and [Thessaloniki](https://www.edgepedia.org/thessaloniki).[3](https://www.biff.kr/eng/html/archive/arc_history_view.asp?kind=history&m_idx=11008&page=22&pyear=2006) • [15](https://ent.sina.com.cn/s/2006-12-30/02101392312.html) • [2](https://www.focusgroup.cc/en/major_company/shows_projects_details/27/)
Critical response in China was largely enthusiastic. Reviewers praised its densely interlocking plot and its use of dialect humor; the Beijing critic Lao Huang wrote that the film's language was fully cinematic rather than literary, and that Chinese cinema needed more directors like Ning Hao.[4](https://baike.sogou.com/v183546.htm) Not all commentary was positive: some critics saw the film as heavily indebted to [Guy Ritchie](https://www.edgepedia.org/guy-ritchie)'s *Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels*, and one *Southern People Weekly* reviewer called it, in effect, a Chinese re-skin of Ritchie's plot and structure.[17](https://ent.sina.cn/review/media/2006-08-09/detail-iawzunex8213846.d.html?vt=4&wm=3049_0015) Ning Hao responded that borrowing was legitimate if audiences enjoyed the result.[7](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2006-07-16/10261160307.html)
## Influence
**A template for Chinese comedy.** Chinese film scholarship generally treats *Crazy Stone* as the film that introduced the multi-strand "network narrative," popular in 1990s European and American cinema, into mainland comedy, grafting it onto local material such as Chongqing's urban landscape, laid-off workers, and dialect humor.[18](https://dzb.whb.cn/images/2019-02/12/11/110212.pdf) Its commercial success demonstrated that small-budget comedies without stars could be profitable, and later low-budget hits such as *Crazy Racer* (2009), *Lost on Journey* (2010), and *Lost in Thailand* (2012) are routinely traced back to the market it opened.[19](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/page/2013-01/07/07/hwbwhwx107b.pdf) Academics have also read the film through black humor and neo-noir frameworks, describing the "Crazy Stone phenomenon" as a mass-cultural carnival that drew attention to Bakhtin's carnival theory and postmodern readings of Chinese mass culture.[20](https://tsla.ecnu.edu.cn/CN/Y2017/V37/I2/102)
**For the people involved.** The film made Ning Hao, previously a director of two unreleased-in-China features, one of the mainland's most prominent young directors, and it introduced the then-unknown Huang Bo, who became a major comic actor.[5](https://www.screendaily.com/china-stones-man-on-a-roll/4036206.article) • [21](https://pulseofcinema.com/en/film/crazy-stone/) Ning followed it with *Crazy Racer* (疯狂的赛车, 2009), made with a 20 million yuan budget from the same distributor.[15](https://ent.sina.com.cn/s/2006-12-30/02101392312.html)
## Notes on conflicting figures
Sources disagree on several basic numbers, and the differences are worth stating rather than smoothing over. The budget appears as 3 million RMB in most mainland reports, under 3 million Hong Kong dollars in one Focus-related account, and US$500,000 in *Screen Daily*.[6](https://news.sina.com.cn/c/2007-02-26/145212374085.shtml) • [22](https://www.focusgroup.cc/zh-hans/major_company/shows_projects_details/27/) • [5](https://www.screendaily.com/china-stones-man-on-a-roll/4036206.article) The running time is given as 98 minutes by mainland databases and 105 to 106 minutes by festival and Hong Kong catalogs.[1](https://ent.sina.com.cn/f/m/fkdst/) • [3](https://www.biff.kr/eng/html/archive/arc_history_view.asp?kind=history&m_idx=11008&page=22&pyear=2006) Final mainland box office is reported as about 23 million yuan for 2006 by Sogou Baike, while a year-end Beijing News feature put national ticket revenue near 30 million yuan across all channels and ranked the film sixth among domestic films for the year.[4](https://baike.sogou.com/v183546.htm) • [15](https://ent.sina.com.cn/s/2006-12-30/02101392312.html)
## References
1. [《疯狂的石头》专题, Sina Entertainment](https://ent.sina.com.cn/f/m/fkdst/)
2. [Crazy Stone, Focus Group Holdings Limited (Focus Films)](https://www.focusgroup.cc/en/major_company/shows_projects_details/27/)
3. [Crazy Stone, 11th Pusan International Film Festival archive, Busan International Film Festival](https://www.biff.kr/eng/html/archive/arc_history_view.asp?kind=history&m_idx=11008&page=22&pyear=2006)
4. [疯狂的石头, Sogou Baike](https://baike.sogou.com/v183546.htm)
5. [China – Stone's man on a roll, Screen Daily (2007)](https://www.screendaily.com/china-stones-man-on-a-roll/4036206.article)
6. [宁浩与《疯狂的石头》, CCTV《讲述》 via Sina News (2007)](https://news.sina.com.cn/c/2007-02-26/145212374085.shtml)
7. [《疯狂的石头》票房突破千万 勇夺国产片冠军, Chengdu Daily via Sina (2006)](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2006-07-16/10261160307.html)
8. [Crazy Stone, Google Play Movies listing](https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/Crazy_Stone?hl=en_US&id=E19C2C6D593D02E0MV)
9. [《疯狂的石头》昨在穗首映 宁浩：事业正处于上升期, Southern Daily via Sina (2006)](https://news.sina.com.cn/o/2006-07-04/09239366864s.shtml)
10. [石头为何"疯狂", 财经时报 via Sina (2006)](https://finance.sina.com.cn/roll/20060729/20072775312.shtml)
11. [《疯狂的石头》导演宁浩：穷得不只剩下电影, Southern Weekend via Sina (2006)](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/2006-07-13/15051156981.html)
12. [瘋狂的石頭 Crazy Stone, 開眼電影網 (Atmovies)](https://m.atmovies.com.tw/app2/film.cfm?action=filmdata&filmid=fccn50421581)
13. [上海不为"石头"疯狂 为票房再邀宁浩赴沪宣传, News Morning via Sina (2006)](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2006-07-04/09371145403.html)
14. [《疯狂的石头》导演宁浩专访, Bund Media via Sina (2006)](https://news.sina.cn/sa/2006-08-04/detail-ikftssap2687001.d.html)
15. [年度娱乐优等生-宁浩, The Beijing News via Sina (2006)](https://ent.sina.com.cn/s/2006-12-30/02101392312.html)
16. [瘋狂的石頭 Crazy Stone, Chinese Film Panorama 2022 brochure, LCSD (Hong Kong)](https://www.lcsd.gov.hk/fp/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Brochure_Chinese-Film-Panorama-2022.pdf)
17. [南方人物周刊：《疯狂的石头》与我们的周遭, Southern People Weekly via Sina (2006)](https://ent.sina.cn/review/media/2006-08-09/detail-iawzunex8213846.d.html?vt=4&wm=3049_0015)
18. [徐璐明、郭超，喜剧电影走势分析, 文汇报 (2019)](https://dzb.whb.cn/images/2019-02/12/11/110212.pdf)
19. [从《疯狂的石头》到《泰囧》：喜剧片的市场潜质, 人民日报海外版 (2013)](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/page/2013-01/07/07/hwbwhwx107b.pdf)
20. [徐海昕（Harry H. Kuoshu），新黑色电影《疯狂的石头》现象研究, 文艺理论研究 (2017)](https://tsla.ecnu.edu.cn/CN/Y2017/V37/I2/102)
21. [Crazy Stone (2006): Plot, Cast & Rating, Pulse of Cinema](https://pulseofcinema.com/en/film/crazy-stone/)
22. [疯狂的石头, Focus Group Holdings Limited (Chinese page)](https://www.focusgroup.cc/zh-hans/major_company/shows_projects_details/27/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Black comedy and satire films › Released 1998 to 2024*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license