Taiwan singer Jay Chou (R) is stunned when renowned Taiwan pop star Jackey Wu dresses as the Emperor during the debut of the film "Curse of the Golden Flower" in Beijing, Dec. 14, 2006.

Taiwan singer Jay Chou (C) waves to his fans during the debut of the film "Curse of the Golden Flower" in Beijing, Dec. 14, 2006.   Dec. 15 - The latest blockbuster from Chinese director Zhang Yimou, "The Curse of the Golden Flower", starring Gong Li and Chow Yun-Fat, opens nationwide in China on Thursday following mixed reviews.

 

The historical martial arts epic, with a reported budget of 45 million dollars, is the latest in a series of similar movies by Zhang following "Hero" and "House of the Flying Daggers".

 

Both were box office successes in China and around the world.

 

The new film tells the story of an imperial family which is slowly falling into decline, with battle scenes largely fought out between the sons of the emperor and empress played by Chow and Gong respectively.

 

"Curse does dazzle the eye, but its story plays like a bad soap opera," said Kirk Honeycutt of the Hollywood Reporter.

 

"This emperor's family is so treacherous as to make Hamlet seem like a fairly well-adjusted member of an easy-going household."

 

Other reviewers praised the new film as the best of Zhang's three martial arts epics, citing the director's lavish use of colors and his cynical theme of rot in high places of power.

 

Sony Pictures is expected to distribute the film in North America and around the world, but details are still to be worked out, Chinese press reports said.

 

The film had a brief exclusive one week run in Beijing in September so that it could qualify in the Best Foreign Language Film category at next year's Academy Awards.