The Foreigner's Melody

The Foreigner's Melody is a 2003 animated romance drama film directed by Andrew Chen and Morio Asaka and produced by Zhuang Chen, Yasuteru Iwase and Masao Morosawa. Set in the 1990s, the film chronicles a relationship between a Hong Kong boy and a Japanese girl after they're brought together by a tragic incident. Nicholas Tse and Qin Hailu voice the leads in the Cantonese version whilst Megumi Ogata and Hekiru Shiina voice them in the Japanese version. 
Originally a concept created by Madhouse, the project eventually gained the attention of STAR TV, who would co-finance the film through STAR TV Filmed Entertainment and Fortune Star Entertainment, in addition to Japanese companies Movic and Genco. The animation for the film was done by Madhouse. 
Japanese band SPEED performed the song Be My Love for the film's Japanese release, whilst Sammi Cheng performed Zhong Shen Mei Li for it's Hong Kong release. The film was released in Hong Kong by Fortune Star Entertainment on September 18, 2003 and in Japan by Movie-Eye Entertainment, Inc. on January 10, 2004. Critical reception was generally positive, with praise towards the animation quality, the direction and chemistry between the two leads. The film grossed a worldwide total of $90.6 million at the box office. 
== Plot ==
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== Release ==
The Foreigner's Melody had it's theatrical premiere in Hong Kong on September 18, 2003, with Fortune Star Entertainment handling the distribution. It was later released in Japan on January 10, 2004 by Movie-Eye Entertainment, Inc.
=== English releases ===
During the movie's production, STAR TV Filmed Entertainment, recognizing the growing popularity of anime in the West and the American successes of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Iron Monkey, saw potential for an international release, and so the company commissioned an English dub of the film to Omni Productions in Happy Valley, Hong Kong, for the sake of making export of the film to English speaking countries easier.
After The Foreigner's Melody became a hit in Hong Kong, Fortune Star would sell the American and international distribution rights to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer susbidiary United Artists, who opted to create their own English dub, due to them feeling the original dub was of poor quality. The dub was recorded at Studio E Productions in Los Angeles and featured Ben Feldman, Kirsten Dunst, Brad Pitt, Charlize Theron, Martin Short, Chazz Palminteri and Dylan McDermott as some of the voices. The MGM dub has a few editing differences from the original Cantonese or Japanese versions. These edits include three minutes being cut, additional music composed by Theodore Shapiro, and various changes to the script.
United Artists gave the film a wide release in the United States on November 26, 2004, followed by an international release the following year. It was rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America for "thematic elements and some violence/peril".
=== Home media ===
Fortune Star released the film on DVD in Hong Kong on March 10, 2004. This release contains various bonus features such as a behind-the-scenes featurette, cast interviews, storyboard to film comparisons, and the export dub alongside the Cantonese-language version. Movie-Eye Entertainment, Inc. released the film on DVD in Japan on September 15, 2004, with both the Japanese and Cantonese-language versions included in their release.
MGM Home Entertainment released the film on VHS and as a two-disc "Special Edition" DVD in the United States on March 15, 2005. The MGM DVD release also contains the Cantonese-language version on the second disc, with the English dub and bonus material relegated to the first disc. For the film's 20th anniversary in 2023, MVD Visual released the film on a "Collector's Edition" Blu-ray under license from MGM.
== Reception ==
=== Box office ===
The Foreigner's Melody opened in Hong Kong on September 18, 2003. On it's opening day, the film earned HK$1,384,584 and by the end of it's run, it made back a total of HK$44.56 million. Ultimately, this made the film the highest grossing animated film to have been domestically produced in Hong Kong, but the 12th highest grossing animated overall in the country. It was also the fifth highest grossing film of the 2000s domestically produced there, behind CJ7, Infernal Affairs, Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle. It's Japanese release also fared decently well, where it grossed ¥997 million (USD$6 million) in it's first month of release, and finished with ¥2,473,340 (USD$16 million) overall.
United Artists opened their English dub of The Foreigner's Melody in a wide release of 3,016 theaters in the United States on November 26, 2004. It was the company's first film to open in a wide release since Jeepers Creepers 2 in August 2003. On it's first day of release, it managed to displace The Incredibles by opening at number 2 behind National Treasure, with $10.6 million at the US box office. It went on to gross $22.4 million in it's opening weekend, placing at number 3 behind the aforementioned films. It eventually finished it's overall US theatrical run with $50.4 million at the box office. In total, The Foreigner's Melody had a worldwide gross of $90.6 million. Despite not reaching the same box office levels as other animated films released then, the film's performance outside of Hong Kong greatly exceeded Fortune Star and United Artists' exceptions, and the film went on to generate more than US$20 million in the United States home video market.
=== Critical response ===
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a 74% approval rating based on 214 reviews, and an average rating of 7/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "The Foreigner's Melody's story may not bring anything too new to some familiar conventions, but it's well-written cast and nice animation still prove it a worthwhile romance film in the end." On Metacritic, the film received a score of 68 out of 100 based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Category:Carl Andy Timeline
Category:Anime films
Category:2003
Category:2003 films
Category:2003 anime films
Category:Hong Kong
Category:Hong Kong films
Category:Madhouse
Category:Fortune Star
Category:United Artists
Category:United Artists films
Category:United Artists animated films