2018 Box Office Hit “Dying to Survive” Coming to North America

Dying to Survive, director Wen Muye’s surprise 2018 box office hit, has just scored a North America release date, Mtime is reporting. The film has drawn comparisons to Dallas Buyers Club for its portrayal of social problems surrounding access to medication for life-threatening illness, and government regulations exacerbating this issue:

China’s “Dallas Buyers Club” Spotlights an Ongoing Country-Wide Issue

The film pulled in 453 million USD during its theatrical run in China last summer, and is now gearing up to add on to that pile when it opens in select North American theaters next week. Mtime‘s report is short on details about how widely the film will be distributed, but theater chain AMC lists the film on its website with an August 9 release date, so presumably you’ll be able to find it at some of their 661 locations across the US starting next Friday. (Chinese real estate/entertainment behemoth Wanda Group is AMC’s majority shareholder, incidentally.)

Here’s the trailer:

And here’s a quick primer on China’s emerging generation of fresh filmmaking talent, including Wen Muye and Ning Hao, Dying to Survive‘s influential and prolific co-producer:

Meet the New Wave of Chinese Filmmakers