Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons
A 2013 fantasy comedy directed by Stephen Chow and Ding Keoi, starring Wen Zhang and Shu Qi, reimagining Tang Sanzang's spiritual quest to subdue demons.
Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons is a fantasy adventure comedy film co-directed by Stephen Chow and Gordon Chan, written and produced by Stephen Chow, which premiered in mainland China on February 10, 2013. Zhang Yimeng plays the young Tang Sanzang, Shu Qi stars as the demon hunter Miss Duan, Huang Bo portrays Sun Wukong, and Luo Zhixiang makes a cameo appearance as Zhu Bajie. The film reimagines the prehistory of the quest for scriptures: the young Chen Xuanzang uses the Three Hundred Nursery Rhymes as a magical treasure to battle demons such as water monsters and Zhu Ganglie in places like Jiang Village and Gao Family Manor, eventually awakening Sun Wukong, who had been imprisoned under the Five-Elements Mountain for five hundred years. Beneath its comedic exterior, the story weaves in Buddhist philosophical reflections on "small love and great love," marking the first directorial work by Stephen Chow in which he does not appear. The film's opening day box office reached 78 million yuan, breaking the record for Chinese cinema openings, and ultimately earned approximately 1.245 billion yuan, becoming the highest-grossing Chinese-language film of 2013. The movie is regarded as a turning point where Stephen Chow deeply fused his "mo lei tau" aesthetic with an exploration of Buddhist principles.