The Mermaid (Chinese: 美人鱼) is a 2016 romantic fantasy comedy film directed, co-written and produced by Stephen Chow, which stars Lin Yun, Deng Chao, Zhang Yuqi and Show Lo.

[8] The film tells the story of a playboy businessman (Deng Chao) who falls in love with a mermaid (Lin Yun) sent to assassinate him.

Playboy property tycoon Liu Xuan (Deng Chao) purchases the Green Gulf, a coastal wildlife reserve, for a land reclamation project, and uses sonar technology to get rid of the sea life in the area.

Unknown to him, the Green Gulf is the home of merpeople and the sonar (in addition to heavy pollution) has caused many of them to die or get sick.

The merfolk send Shan (Lin Yun), a beautiful young mermaid, who has been trained to walk on her fins and hide among humans, to seduce and kill Xuan.

Xuan, believing that Shan is an escort, calls her number in order to make Ruolan (Zhang Yuqi), his business partner (and ex-girlfriend), jealous.

As reported on Oriental Daily News, the then 18-year-old actress Lin Yun was selected by Chow and his casting team from over 120,000 participants due to her demure personality in a talent contest held in Shenzhen.

Reportedly, throughout the 13 casting-training period, Lin Yun caught the casting team's eyes for being calm and collected while other participants tried their hardest to steal the spotlight.

[19] The mass audition was from 31 July – 15 August 2014 when everyone could submit the CVs to the website for online votes and for the casting team to choose.

Before the filming, confirmed cast members include Deng Chao, Show Lo, Zhang Yuqi, and newcomer Lin Yun was from a talent contest held specifically for The Mermaid in Shenzhen.

To get the best result, Chow once let Deng Chao and Lin Yun eat 150 roasted chickens for shooting a scene.

[23] Filming wrapped up in Beijing on 2 February 2015,[22] and then went into post-production, adding visual effects by Ken Law and his Different Digital Design Ltd., as well as by MACROGRAPH，Ltd.

At a press conference in Beijing to promote The Mermaid, it was revealed that director Tsui Hark and actor Kris Wu would have cameo appearances in the film.

[26][27] Other notable cameos include actor Wen Zhang, who was in Chow's previous blockbuster Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, and the comedian duo Kong Lianshun and Bai Ke (White.

In its final 90-second trailer released on 31 January 2016, it showed the love story between Liu Xuan and Shan, the two main characters, as well as the killing and hunting of the mermaids.

An interesting twist and a historical link was seen in the second trailer, where there was a clue hinting at legendary Chinese mariner Zheng He's voyages in the 15th century.

Film score composer Raymond Wong (Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle, CJ7 and Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons) made the arrangement, while the music producer Patrick Tsang (who produced records for Faye Wong, Eason Chan and more) mixed it.

[32] Adam Cheng, Lin Yun, Stephen Chow and Karen Mok appeared at a press conference in Beijing on 18 January 2016, to release the promotional song "You Are the Best in the World" for the film.

The music video of "You Are the Best in the World" shows a duet by Adam Cheng and Karen Mok with Stephen Chow adding background vocals.

The deal would enable Chow and the film's producers to receive a huge chunk of advance income before box office grosses actually hit two billion yuan in China.

[34] Yang Wei, Chairwoman of Hehe Pictures, "admitted there was such deal but she would not reveal the exact number since the details were covered by a secrecy clause in the agreement.

Chow's last film Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, along with many other recent blockbuster comedies such as Breakup Buddies also used this kind of approach.

It is said "The model offers not only risk control, securing the production party's interests, but also gives distributors priority in financing blockbusters-to-be, as well as showing their confidence in the films' future box office performance.

[66][67] Taiwanese quota regulations at the time permitted only ten Chinese mainland films to be released in Taiwan in any given year.

The website's critical consensus reads, "The Mermaid requires a willingness to embrace the strange, but backs up its wacky flights of fancy with a big-hearted fairy tale and a resonant message.

[72] Glenn Kenny of The New York Times noted that The Mermaid is "no ordinary fantastical rom-com…encompassing as it does weaponized sea urchins, incredibly delicious roasted chickens, man-octopus self-mutilation and other comic oddities.

"[73] Bilge Ebiri of New York Magazine praised the film, saying that it's "amazing how distinctive and strange Mermaid manages to be, especially given the highly derivative concept - how personal it feels, amid all the absurdist, go-for-broke humor.

[9] James Marsh of Screen International said that actress Lin "brings a delightfully quirky demeanour to her literal fish-out-of-water" and "the occasionally hokey CGI only adds to the film’s oddball charm.

"[3] Zhang Rui of China.org.cn commented that "The film has a simple and strong message to deliver: Love can transcend race and other barriers.

"[77] Elizabeth Kerr of The Hollywood Reporter said that "the fantastical Mermaid delivers its message without a shred of subtlety (and is unapologetic about it) but with considerable charm, wit and darkness to make up for it.