New crime thriller from "Sheep Without a Shepherd" director set for July release

BEIJING, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Sam Quah, who directed the 2019 hit film "Sheep Without a Shepherd," is set to again grace the Chinese mainland box office from July 4 this year, with his new suspense-packed project, "A Place Called Silence," set to feature in Chinese cinemas.

Starring Wang Chuanjun, Janine Chang, and Francis Ng, the highly-anticipated crime thriller delves into the topic of campus bullying, according to the film's official Weibo account on Friday. An intense poster advertising the film features five actors and actresses, all shrouded in bloody rain, hinting at untold secrets, tensions and suffering that beg to be revealed and unraveled.

Joining a slew of new titles across various genres, this new addition to the summer box office lineup is set to make the Chinese mainland's longest single screening slot even more appealing to audiences.

Crime thrillers claimed the top two places on last year's summer box office chart, with "No More Bets" and "Lost in the Stars" each raking in over 3.5 billion yuan (about 491.60 million U.S. dollars), accounting for 17 percent of the total earnings.

Released in mid-December 2019 and re-released in July 2020, "Sheep Without a Shepherd" grossed a total of 1.33 billion yuan in the Chinese mainland.