Chinese adventure film "Schemes in Antiques" hits North American big screen

Poster of Chinese adventure film "Schemes in Antiques." (Photo credit: Well Go USA Entertainment)

Adapted from a novel of the same name by Chinese novelist Ma Boyong, the movie tells the story of a series of adventures of the main characters to find out the truth surrounding a Buddha head from the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese adventure film "Schemes in Antiques" opened Friday in a limited theatrical release in North America.

The film is being released by Well Go USA Entertainment with English subtitles in nearly 30 selected theaters in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Toronto, Vancouver and a few other cities across the United States and Canada.

Adapted from a novel of the same name by Chinese novelist Ma Boyong, the movie tells the story of a series of adventures of the main characters to find out the truth surrounding a Buddha head from the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Helmed by Hong Kong director Derek Kwok, the film stars Lei Jiayin, Li Xian, Xin Zhilei and Ge You.

"Schemes in Antiques" stayed atop the Chinese mainland box office chart for weeks after its release on Dec. 3. The action-packed archaeological heist adventure has raked in over 378 million yuan (around 59.29 million U.S. dollars) to date, according to the box office data compiled by Maoyan, a Chinese movie-ticketing and film data platform.

The film currently boasts a rating of 8.9 points out of 10 on the Maoyan platform.  ■