Kenji Wu loses S$6.5m after self-directed movie’s dismal box office takings

Taiwanese singer Kenji Wu released his self-directed movie, Crazy Little Things, to much fanfare late last year. The movie is based on Kenji’s song ‘Poems For You’, and stars the 39-year-old and Chinese actress Zhou Yi Ran.

Kenji first began preparing the script for the movie back in 2013, tweaking and rewriting it for over four years. In the process, the singer even moved to Beijing, China for a period of time in order to be able to come up with a good story.

However, he ran into a number of problems during the production process, starting with his insistence to cast Yi Ran, who was an amateur actress, as the female lead. As a result, a number of investors pulled out of the movie, causing Kenji to shoulder most of the production costs. In order to produce the film, he had to turn to his friends for loans as well.

When filming started, Kenji’s mother was then unexpectedly hospitalised due to liver fibrosis. As a result, the singer had to constantly shuttle between the filming location and the hospital where his mother was warded, and also put filming on hold for a period of time in order to spend more time with her. Unfortunately, she passed away in January 2018, before the movie was completed.

Crazy Little Things made its debut later that year in November. However, it failed to appeal to the public, only raking in NT$57 million (approximately S$2.52 million).

As a result, Kenji couldn’t help but to broadcast his regret on his social media accounts, writing, “A dream that took five years for me to realise, has caused me to lose everything. But, at the end of the day, I’m just a fool who wants to make a movie. This time round, I’ve lost, well and truly lost.”

Additionally, it has since been reported that Kenji intends to focus on his singing career from now on, and is currently in discussions to sign with a new record company.

Photos: PBE Media, Harmity Entertainment/Youtube

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