The poster of Cape No. 7 (Photo from CRIENGLISH.com)

Taiwan's box office hit, Cape No. 7, will play on the Chinese mainland, an official of the State Administration of Radio Film Television (SARFT) said on Monday.

"The movie had gone through the official examining procedures last week," said a SARFT official surnamed Zhou, who declined to give his full name. "The date for screening depends on the filmmaker's schedule," he added.

Cape No. 7, directed by 40-year-old Wei Te-sheng, was the second most nominated movie for the 2008 Golden Horse Awards, a much coveted Chinese-language film prize in Chinese cinema. It bagged nine nominations on October 30, including best director, best picture and best supporting actor. The award ceremony is set for December 6 in Taizhong.

The movie will also compete for an Oscar at the 81st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language film.

Cape No. 7 is about the romance between a Japanese teacher and a local Taiwan woman when the island was a Japanese colony in the 1940s.

With an investment of 50 million Taiwan New Dollars ($1.5 million), the movie became a hit after debuting on August 22 in Taiwan. By October, it raked in more than 400 million TWD, second only to Titanic in Taiwan's cinematic history.

The success of Cape No. 7 gives hope to other Chinese movies which have long struggled with Hollywood blockbusters for box offices.

The movie is also scheduled to screen in Hong Kong on November 20.

(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2008)