A Chinese romance film, “Run for Love,” prominently features Route 66 as one of its settings, reported China Daily.
“Run for Love,” which will be released in Chinese theaters on Feb. 14 (not a coincidence), features five love stories filmed by five directors. Love stories also take place in Norway, Japan, Turkey and Saipan.
The Route 66 segment of “Run for Love” was directed by Zhang Meng and stars Wang Qianyuan and Wu Mochou on an apparent road trip in a convertible.
Another film with a similar premise, “Cities in Love,” was released last year and grossed more than $50 million in China alone.
China Daily reported:
The romance segment featuring Wang and Wu highlights scenes alongside the famous Route 66, which also has been presented in the Oscar-winning drama Forrest Gump and the hit song (Get Your Kicks on) Route 66.
Wang says it’s his first time to shoot a tale depicting the Chinese’ journey in a foreign country and feels most of the scenes along the highway are fresh.
“It’s somewhat like a fable. In the journey of every human, people will pass different locations and finally arrive at the ending,” he said at a recent event in Beijing.
Perusing clips of the film online, I spotted the road in front of the Midpoint Cafe in Adrian, Texas (top photo); Odell Station in Odell, Illinois; the Gemini Giant in Wilmington, Illinois (below); the Arizona-New Mexico border; and the Grand Canyon.
If the film proves popular, it may spark a wave of Chinese tourists to see the real Route 66. China Daily noted China is the world’s second-largest movie market, and everyone on Route 66 knows what happened after the Disney-Pixar animated film “Cars” came out in 2006.
There’s no word whether “Run for Love” will be released in the United States, but I doubt it — unless it gets some sort of massive, Oscar-worthy buzz.
But business owners a year from now shouldn’t be surprised to see Chinese tourists who are traveling Route 66 because of the film.
(Screen captures of “Run for Love” scenes from the trailers)
How exciting! The world truly loves Route 66. I am always amazed at how many of my acquaintances in the US are unfamiliar with the most iconic highway ever. It reminds me of living in St. Louis, Missouri where hundreds of thousands of tourists visited the Arch yet many St. Louisa’s had never been to the top! Let’s all get the “buzz” going and keep the road humming.