Wong Kar Wai’s 30-part television epic “Blossoms Shanghai” will stream on the Criterion Channel later this year, marking the U.S. debut of the auteur’s first-ever series. The North American release extends the global rollout of the project, which previously secured distribution via Mubi across Europe, Latin America, India and Turkey.
The series, adapted from Jin Yucheng’s award-winning 2013 novel, follows the rise of Ah Bao – described as the “Jay Gatsby of Shanghai” – as he navigates the city’s roaring 1990s economic boom. Blending sprawling character arcs with Wong’s signature visual elegance, the show clocked in at nearly 25 hours of screen time when it aired in China in late 2023.
“Blossoms Shanghai” premiered on Tencent Video and CCTV-8, where it became a major ratings and streaming success.
“I am thrilled to continue my long-standing relationship with Criterion with the North American debut of my first series,” Wong said in a statement. “The series captures the vitality of Shanghai’s roaring ’90s, revealing universal human truths about desire and destiny.”
Internationally, Mubi has acquired rights to the series in several key territories including France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Brazil and India. Dates for Mubi’s rollout have not yet been announced.
“Blossoms Shanghai” dominated the Magnolia Awards at the 2024 Shanghai Television Festival, picking up honors for best television series, actor (Hu Ge), cinematography, art direction and adapted screenplay.
The project reunites Wong with longtime collaborators including production designer William Chang and cinematographer Peter Pau. It is widely considered the concluding work in an informal Shanghai trilogy that also includes “In the Mood for Love” and “2046.” While those earlier films filtered the memory and mythology of Shanghai through displaced characters in 1960s Hong Kong and an imagined future, “Blossoms Shanghai” places the city itself at the center.
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