Wukong
A 2017 fantasy action film directed by Guo Zanjian and starring Eddie Peng, adapted from Jin Hezai's web novel, depicting the young Wukong's struggle against destiny five centuries ago.
Wu Kong is a Chinese fantasy adventure action film released on July 13, 2017. Directed by Guo Zikjian and produced by Huang Jianxin, it is adapted from the best-selling web novel of the same name published by Jin Hezai in 2000. Eddie Peng stars as Sun Wukong, Ni Ni as Azi, Shawn Yue as Erlang Shen, Darren Lau as Marshal Tianpeng, and Zheng Shuang as Ayue. The story is set five hundred years before Sun Wukong's havoc in heaven: the spirited young Wukong and his comrade Erlang Shen both travel to the celestial paradise of Flower-Fruit Mountain to study the arts. There, they befriend companions such as Azi, Ayue, and Tianpeng, testing and betraying one another amidst the torrents of power, passion, and destiny, until they eventually drift toward their respective fates. With lines such as "I want this heaven to no longer blind my eyes; I want this earth to no longer bury my heart," the film evokes the youthful resonance of the original novel's fans, portraying Wukong as a tragic hero defying destiny. The visual effects were created by the South Korean company Macrograph, presenting a magnificent spectacle of the heavenly realm and immortal lands. With a box office of approximately 697 million yuan in mainland China, it was a standout Chinese fantasy film of 2017 and a representative work in the modern, youthful reimagining of the "Wukong" image.