# The Mermaid (美人鱼) (2016 film)
**The Mermaid** (美人鱼, also released as *Mei Ren Yu*) is a 2016 Chinese romantic comedy fantasy film directed, co-written, and produced by [Stephen Chow](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-chow), in which a mermaid is sent to assassinate the real estate developer whose land reclamation project threatens her species, and falls in love with him instead.[1](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt4701660/) Released in mainland China on February 8, 2016, the first day of the [Lunar New Year](https://www.edgepedia.org/lunar-new-year), it broke Chinese box office records within days and finished its 122-day run as the highest-grossing film in Chinese history at the time, with a mainland total of about 3.39 billion yuan.[2](https://media.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0829/c406899-28674557.html) • [3](https://news.hndaily.cn/html/2016-06/22/content_17_4.htm)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writer | Stephen Chow (周星驰), who also produced; co-directors credited include Chiu Kuo-wei, Lam Tze-chung, and Lu Zhengyu[2](https://media.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0829/c406899-28674557.html) • [4](https://singchi.org/modules/library/article.php?id=141&lang=english&p=1) |
| China release | February 8, 2016 (Lunar New Year's Day); ran 122 days to June 8, 2016[3](https://news.hndaily.cn/html/2016-06/22/content_17_4.htm) |
| Mainland gross | About 3.39 billion yuan (33.9亿元), then the Chinese all-time record[3](https://news.hndaily.cn/html/2016-06/22/content_17_4.htm) |
| Worldwide gross | $553,810,228 per Box Office Mojo; $554,545,943 per The Numbers[1](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt4701660/) • [5](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Mermaid-The-%282016-China%29) |
| Record milestones | Passed *Monster Hunt*'s 2.439 billion yuan on day 12; first Chinese film to pass 3 billion yuan, on day 19[6](https://yule.sohu.com/20160610/n453777383.shtml) |
| Lead cast | Deng Chao as Liu Xuan, Lin Yun (Jelly Lin) as the mermaid Shan, Zhang Yuqi as Ruolan, Show Lo as Brother Eight[7](https://www.chinesefilmcritics.com/film/2552-the-mermaid) |
| US release | Limited release February 19, 2016 by Sony Pictures; grossed about $3.2 million in the United States[5](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Mermaid-The-%282016-China%29) |
| Critical score | 95% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 40 reviews; 60% audience score[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mei_ren_yu) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and themes
The story follows [Liu Xuan](https://www.edgepedia.org/liu-xuan) (邓超), a wealthy property developer who buys a pristine coastal area called Green Gulf and plans land reclamation there. Because the gulf is a nature reserve where dolphins live, his team deploys powerful sonar to drive marine creatures away, threatening a family of mermaids who survive in a wrecked ship near the shore. The mermaids send Shan (林允), a young mermaid, to seduce and kill Liu Xuan; instead the two fall in love, and Liu Xuan ultimately abandons the reclamation project and donates his money to environmental causes.[2](https://media.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0829/c406899-28674557.html) • [9](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1434030)
**Environmental message.** Chow said in interviews that his aim was to "bring out an environmental message," and Chinese academic commentary treats the film as an environmental narrative: its opening sequences of smokestacks, deforestation, and polluted rivers establish the theme without a narrator, and the mermaids' suffering under sonar drives the plot.[2](https://media.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0829/c406899-28674557.html) A *The Paper* analysis noted that the film's massacre of mermaids evokes the dolphin hunts of the 2009 documentary *The Cove*, and that the mermaid grandmother's account of mermaids and humans sharing a common ancestor frames the story as one about humans and other species sharing the same origins.[9](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1434030) The British review in *The Guardian* likewise identified a sudden last-reel massacre framed to recall *The Cove* as the film's tonal turn from comedy to violence.[10](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/feb/19/the-mermaid-review-comedy-making-huge-splash-in-china-has-sting-in-tail)
The film combines Chow's signature slapstick, described by *The Guardian* as his usual "good-to-inspired sight gags," with this serious subject; the American release was rated R by the MPA "for some violence," and runs 94 minutes.[10](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/feb/19/the-mermaid-review-comedy-making-huge-splash-in-china-has-sting-in-tail) • [5](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Mermaid-The-%282016-China%29)
## Cast and production
[Deng Chao](https://www.edgepedia.org/deng-chao) plays Liu Xuan, a role that departs from the small-character protagonists of Chow's earlier films; [Lin Yun](https://www.edgepedia.org/lin-yun), a young actress without prior acting experience, was cast as Shan, with [Zhang Yuqi](https://www.edgepedia.org/zhang-yuqi) and Show Lo in the other principal roles.[7](https://www.chinesefilmcritics.com/film/2552-the-mermaid) • [11](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/page/2016-02/22/07/rmrbhwb2016022207.pdf) Tsui Hark appears as Uncle Rich and Kris Wu as Long Jianfei.[7](https://www.chinesefilmcritics.com/film/2552-the-mermaid)
The production was financed by a group of Chinese companies including China Film, Hehe Pictures, Enlight Pictures, and Shanghai New Culture Media Group, with The Star Overseas, Chow's company, among the producers; the reported production budget was $60,720,000.[5](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Mermaid-The-%282016-China%29) The film was shot in Mandarin, with a Cantonese-dubbed version also released.[5](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Mermaid-The-%282016-China%29) • [12](https://www.yesasia.com/global/%E7%BE%8E%E4%BA%BA%E9%B1%BC-2016-blu-ray-2d-3d-%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E7%89%88/1049932383-0-0-0-zh_CN/info.html)
## Box office records
The film opened on Lunar New Year's Day with a first-day gross of 280 million yuan, then the highest single day for a Chinese-language film, and took in about 1.8 billion yuan during the seven-day Spring Festival holiday.[3](https://news.hndaily.cn/html/2016-06/22/content_17_4.htm) On February 14, [Valentine's Day](https://www.edgepedia.org/valentines-day), its seventh day, it earned about 310 million yuan, a new single-day high.[3](https://news.hndaily.cn/html/2016-06/22/content_17_4.htm) Within the holiday it accounted for nearly 49% of the slot's total 3.014 billion yuan box office and 48% of its admissions, in a Spring Festival period that grew 65.8% year on year.[13](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1431604)
**Record run.** On February 19, its twelfth day, the film passed the 2.439 billion yuan total of *Monster Hunt* (捉妖记) to become the highest-grossing film in Chinese box office history, and on day 19 it became the first Chinese film to pass the 3 billion yuan mark.[6](https://yule.sohu.com/20160610/n453777383.shtml) • [14](https://media.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0220/c40606-28136260.html) The distributors extended the release key three months to June 8, 2016, a four-month theatrical run described as a record extension for a domestic film; the film ended with a mainland total of about 3.39 billion yuan, most of it earned in February and March.[15](https://nepaper.ccdy.cn/page/1/2016-03/14/6/201603146_pdf.PDF) • [3](https://news.hndaily.cn/html/2016-06/22/content_17_4.htm) It was the only film of 2016 to pass 3 billion yuan, in a year when total Chinese box office grew just 3.37% to 45.712 billion yuan.[16](https://www.chinanews.com/yl/2017/01-03/8111910.shtml)
Outside mainland China the film earned $526,848,189 in China per [Box Office Mojo](https://www.edgepedia.org/box-office-mojo)'s territory breakdown, with Hong Kong ($7.7 million), Malaysia ($7.0 million), and Vietnam ($4.4 million) the largest reported territories after China; in the United States, where [Sony Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/sony-pictures) released it in only 35 theaters on February 19, 2016, it grossed about $3.2 million, 0.6% of the worldwide total.[1](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt4701660/) • [5](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Mermaid-The-%282016-China%29) The two tracking services report slightly different worldwide totals, $553,810,228 (Box Office Mojo) and $554,545,943 (The Numbers).[1](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt4701660/) • [5](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Mermaid-The-%282016-China%29)
## Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 95% Tomatometer from 40 critics, with a critics' consensus that it "requires a willingness to embrace the strange, but backs up its wacky flights of fancy with a big-hearted fairy tale and a resonant message"; the audience Popcornmeter score is 60%.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mei_ren_yu) *The Guardian* called it a record-breaking comedy with strong sight gags but noted the tonal shift of the final massacre.[10](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/feb/19/the-mermaid-review-comedy-making-huge-splash-in-china-has-sting-in-tail) The *Los Angeles Times* review described it as "big-hearted fun" while noting that the English subtitles miss some jokes based on Chinese figures of speech.[17](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-mermaid-review-20160222-story.html)
Domestic audience polling reflected the film's standing in the 2016 Spring Festival slot: the China Film Art Research Center's satisfaction survey scored the holiday slate at 81.4, with *The Mermaid* among the top three films on the "thought content" index.[18](https://www.cfa.org.cn/cfa/ljwm/dt/2020102811530483667/index.html) On Douban the film scored 6.9, and Chinese commentary was divided between praise for its theme and criticism of its comedy.[19](https://pdf.dfcfw.com/pdf/H3_AP201707050694294907_01.pdf) Commentators at a 2016 China Film Association seminar argued that its success owed much to its "appropriateness" for the holiday audience: Chow's broad comic appeal, an environmentally positive theme, and imagination suited to family viewing.[20](https://www.chinawriter.com.cn/dianying/2016/2016-03-22/268062.html)
## Significance
The Mermaid was the first film in Chinese history to earn more than 3 billion yuan at the single-film box office, and it remained China's all-time box office champion until later films passed it.[6](https://yule.sohu.com/20160610/n453777383.shtml) • [16](https://www.chinanews.com/yl/2017/01-03/8111910.shtml) It also demonstrated the commercial weight of the Spring Festival holiday slot, contributing nearly half of a record 3.014 billion yuan holiday gross and helping make theatrical viewing a established Lunar New Year custom in China.[13](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1431604) • [20](https://www.chinawriter.com.cn/dianying/2016/2016-03-22/268062.html) Sony Pictures marketed the American home-video release as "China's biggest film of all time."
## References
1. [The Mermaid (2016), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt4701660/)
2. [电影《美人鱼》的环保叙事分析, 人民网/今传媒](https://media.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0829/c406899-28674557.html)
3. [《美人鱼》总票房定格 内地票房为33.9亿元, 海南日报](https://news.hndaily.cn/html/2016-06/22/content_17_4.htm)
4. [美人魚 film credits, 周星馳影迷會星樂園](https://singchi.org/modules/library/article.php?id=141&lang=english&p=1)
5. [The Mermaid (美人鱼) (2016), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Mermaid-The-%282016-China%29)
6. [《美人鱼》收官 最后两个月票房不足百万, 搜狐娱乐](https://yule.sohu.com/20160610/n453777383.shtml)
7. [美人鱼 The Mermaid (2016), Worldwide Chinese Film Critics Society](https://www.chinesefilmcritics.com/film/2552-the-mermaid)
8. [The Mermaid, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mei_ren_yu)
9. [新晋票房冠军《美人鱼》讲了一个什么样的环境故事？, 澎湃新闻](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1434030)
10. [The Mermaid review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/feb/19/the-mermaid-review-comedy-making-huge-splash-in-china-has-sting-in-tail)
11. [人民日报海外版, 2016-02-22](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/page/2016-02/22/07/rmrbhwb2016022207.pdf)
12. [美人鱼 (2016) Blu-ray (香港版), YesAsia](https://www.yesasia.com/global/%E7%BE%8E%E4%BA%BA%E9%B1%BC-2016-blu-ray-2d-3d-%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E7%89%88/1049932383-0-0-0-zh_CN/info.html)
13. [2016年春节档电影票房《美人鱼》夺冠, 澎湃新闻](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1431604)
14. [《美人鱼》累计票房破24.5亿 成中国影史票房冠军, 人民网](https://media.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0220/c40606-28136260.html)
15. [《美人鱼》密钥延期至6月8日, 中国电影报](https://nepaper.ccdy.cn/page/1/2016-03/14/6/201603146_pdf.PDF)
16. [2016年电影票房下滑 艺术片处境仍尴尬, 中新网](https://www.chinanews.com/yl/2017/01-03/8111910.shtml)
17. [Review: Stephen Chow's 'Mei Rén Yú' (The Mermaid) is big-hearted fun, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-mermaid-review-20160222-story.html)
18. [2016春节档30亿燃爆影市满意度81.4分, 中国电影家协会](https://www.cfa.org.cn/cfa/ljwm/dt/2020102811530483667/index.html)
19. [2015-2016年票房超14亿大片统计表, 财通证券研究报告](https://pdf.dfcfw.com/pdf/H3_AP201707050694294907_01.pdf)
20. [看电影渐成春节新民俗, 中国作家网/中国艺术报](https://www.chinawriter.com.cn/dianying/2016/2016-03-22/268062.html)
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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 › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2015 to 2016 › Titles K to Z*
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