The movie “The Pig, the Snake, and the Pigeon,” starring Golden Horse Award winner Ethan Ruan, was released in mainland China on March 1st. As of the 3rd, the box office has already surpassed 150 million yuan, and on the 4th, it even topped the daily box office charts in various regions, becoming a dark horse in the mainland’s Spring Festival box office. After its release in mainland China, “The Pig, the Snake, and the Pigeon” sparked discussions, with many people curious about how it passed censorship. Some have pointed out three key factors.
“The Pig, the Snake, and the Pigeon” features many violent and thrilling action scenes. When released in Taiwan, it was rated as PG-15, and when streamed on the Netflix platform, it was set as 18+. However, because mainland Chinese films currently do not have a rating system, the key to its smooth passage through censorship, as speculated by netizens, is firstly that the story’s protagonist’s prototype doesn’t originate in mainland China. Secondly, the final outcome carries a positive concept, and finally, the story incorporates the idea of “anti-cult,” making it not particularly difficult to pass censorship.
Looking back at Taiwanese Mandarin films that have achieved box office miracles in mainland China, there are many notable examples. Among them, the highest-grossing film is the 2018 romantic film “More Than Blue,” starring Jasper Liu and Ivy Chen, which grossed an astonishing 957 million yuan at the time. The second-highest grossing film is “Our Times” from 2015, with a box office of 360 million yuan, and the third-highest is “When a Man Loves a Woman” from 2021, starring Jasper Liu and Puff Kuo, with a box office of 264 million yuan.
The fourth-highest grossing film is “Black & White: The Dawn of Justice” from 2014, with a box office of 202 million yuan, and the fifth-highest is “Love,” directed by Doze Niu in 2012, with a box office of 136 million yuan. The sixth-highest is “Soul Snatcher,” starring Chang Chen in 2021, with a box office of 111 million yuan. Ethan Ruan’s “The Pig, the Snake, and the Pigeon” has been released for 4 days, accumulating a box office of 160 million yuan, making it the fifth-highest grossing film of all time. The color change in the box office map from the 1st to the 4th indicates that the word of mouth for “The Pig, the Snake, and the Pigeon” is spreading, gradually impacting the northern regions from its initial success in the south, sweeping the box office. With numbers still accumulating, it is expected that the box office will exceed 498 million yuan.