The poster of the disaster movie "Super Typhoon". [sina.com]

Accomplished film director Feng Xiaoning's latest disaster movie "Super Typhoon" has opened with unexpected box office takings of over ten million yuan during its first week, according to Beijing-based newspaper Star Daily.

"Super Typhoon" claims to be China's first disaster-themed, special-effects-driven blockbuster with an initial investment of around 50 million yuan. Fifty-percent of the film's scenes were created with the aid of special effects.

The disaster thriller is based on a real catastrophe caused by typhoon "Saomai", which hit southeast China's coastal city of Wenzhou on August 10th, 2006.

With an unprecedented breakthrough in the production of special effects in his "Super Typhoon", Feng Xiaoning has set a benchmark for Chinese movies. He set his sights on challenging Hollywood productions like "The Day after Tomorrow" once shooting began last October.

To achieve an ultra-real visual impact, Feng Xiaoning and his crew went through great pains chasing after storms during the typhoon season in southeast China's coastal regions and shooting natural ocean waves in freezing winter.

With these on the spot disaster scenes recorded on film, the director put them together with his digitally synthesized pictures in making his "Super Typhoon" thrilling, which many believe a novel way of film making rarely seen before in China.

This was not the first attempt at such a film for Feng Xiaoning. He began experimenting with special effects when making the historical TV play "The Beiyang Fleet" 20 years ago. And his 1990 movie "Vanish of Atmosphere" was his first foray into disaster themed films.

As the only commercial production from China to compete in the Tokyo Film Festival this month, "Super Typhoon" failed to win any title but it was highly recommended by the chairman of the jury panel and was given the thumbs-up by Japanese audiences.

(CRI October 31, 2008)