''Asura'' zh} is a Chinese epic fantasy film based on

Buddhist mythology The Buddhist traditions have created and maintained a vast body of mythological literature. The central myth of Buddhism revolves around the purported events of the life of the Buddha. This is told in relatively realistic terms in the earlie ...

. It is the directorial debut of Peng Zhang. It was released on 13 July 2018 and was withdrawn on 15 July 2018. The film, which was reportedly costing RMB 750 million (US$113 million), was withdrawn from theaters after only three days of release. It was widely considered by the media for being used for

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

Synopsis

The story is set in

Asura Asuras () are a class of beings in Indian religions, and later Persian and Turkic mythology. They are described as power-seeking beings related to the more benevolent Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhist context, the wor ...

, the dimension of pure desire according to ancient Buddhist mythology. The mythical realm is threatened by a coup from a lower heavenly kingdom and the story follows from there.

Cast

Production

The film is directed by renowned Hollywood stunt coordinator Peng Zhang ('' The Twilight Saga'', ''

Ant-Man Ant-Man is the name of several superheroes appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby, his first appearance was in '' Tales to Astonish'' #27 (January 1962) as Dr. Henry ...

'') and produced by

Alibaba Pictures Alibaba Pictures Group Limited is a Chinese film company under the Alibaba Group. The film company was formerly ChinaVision Media, of which Alibaba Group bought a majority stake in late 2014. It subsequently was renamed from ChinaVision to Alibaba ...

. The film's screenplay is written by Zhenjian Yang ('' Painted Skin: The Resurrection''). Oscar winner Ngila Dickson (''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'' franchise) serves as the costume designer, while Martín Hernandez ('' The Revenant'', '' Birdman'') serves as the audio director. Charlie Iturriaga (''

Deadpool Deadpool is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld, the character first appeared in ''New Mutants'' #98 (December 1990). In his comic book appearances, Deadpool is ...

'', ''

Furious 7 ''Furious 7'' (also known as ''Fast & Furious 7'') is a 2015 action film directed by James Wan and written by Chris Morgan. It is the sequel to ''Fast & Furious 6'' (2013) and '' The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'' (2006) and the seventh i ...

'', ''

The Social Network ''The Social Network'' is a 2010 American biographical drama film directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, based on the 2009 book '' The Accidental Billionaires'' by Ben Mezrich. It portrays the founding of social networkin ...

'') is in charge of the visual effects.

Filming

''Asura'' is shot in seven locations across China, including Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the city of

Liupanshui Liupanshui ( zh, s=六盘水 , t=六盤水 , p=Liùpánshuǐ) is a city in western Guizhou province, People's Republic of China. The name Liupanshui combines the first character from the names of each of the city's three constituent counties: Liu ...

in Guizhou Province.

Reception

Box office

Asura earned a disappointing 49 million yuan ($7.3 million U.S.) in its opening weekend and was pulled from cinemas after a statement on social media; the statement gave no explanation for the move. However, a representative from Zhenjian Film, which is credited as lead producer, later told Chinese news site

Sina Sina may refer to: Relating to China * Chin (China), or Sina (), old Chinese form of the Sanskrit name Cina () ** Shina (word), or Sina (), archaic Japanese word for China ** Sinae, Latin name for China Places * Sina, Albania, or Sinë, a vi ...

: "This decision was made not only because of the bad box office. We plan to make some changes to the film and release it again." Despite these statements, the film has never been exhibited or marketed anywhere again.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 5671298, Asura 2018 films Chinese fantasy adventure films 2010s fantasy adventure films Alibaba Pictures films 2010s Mandarin-language films Films scored by Trevor Morris (musician) Films about Buddhism Asura