According to Sina, the film Decrypt directed by Chen Sicheng is set to premiere on August 3. Even before its release, the film has garnered an impressive pre-sale revenue of 100 million yuan, a promising figure for a project noted for its academic and artistic depth.
Sina also reports that Decrypt, starring Liu Haoran, has undergone pre-screenings to gauge audience reactions. The majority of viewers have praised the film’s content, aesthetics, visual effects, and performances. The site 163 remarked that the film “elevates Chinese cinema,” while Sina declared that “the film sets a refined example for the film industry.” The Paper lauded it by saying, “Finally, China has an outstanding biographical film,” and noted that veteran actor Chow Yun-fat was moved to tears while watching it.
Director Chen Sicheng has asserted that this is the best work of his career. The statistics site Maoyan predicts the film will achieve a total revenue of 1.24 billion yuan, with a quality score of 7.5 on Douban.
However, some opinions suggest that Chen Sicheng is attempting to emulate director Christopher Nolan but lacks his vision and talent. Some cinema managers believe that the film’s drawback is its length and that not all viewers are interested in this genre or can fully grasp the film’s intentions.
When the trailer was released, audiences were shocked to see school idol Liu Haoran transformed into a 70-year-old man. According to Sina, to portray the character Rong Jin Zhen, Liu Haoran lost 10 kilograms, shaved part of his hair and eyebrows, and exposed a bald head. Many viewers expressed that Liu Haoran seemed to have undergone a “metamorphosis” and that they could no longer recognize the “national first love Yu Huai” from years ago.
Set in the 1940s, the project features Liu Haoran as Rong Jin Zhen, a mathematical genius recruited into the secret Unit 701 due to his extraordinary talent in codebreaking. Besides Liu Haoran, the film also stars John Cusack, Daniel Wu, Chen Daoming, Fan Wei, and Du Fu Hong, who are renowned actors in both Chinese and global cinema. The film, directed and written by Chen Sicheng, is scheduled for release on August 3.
Liu Haoran, born in 1997, rose to fame across Asia in 2016 thanks to the television series With You. Additionally, Liu Haoran starred in the Detective Chinatown film series. He is the first actor born in the 1990s to have a total box office gross of 10 billion yuan.
