Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was first shown at the Cannes Film Festival (out of competition) on 18 May 2000 (Chow Yun-fat’s 45th birthday). It was released in Asia in the summer, and shown in the US in limited release in the fall before opening wider in January 2001.
Based on Wang Dulu’s novel of the same name (published around 1940), Ang Lee’s film adaptation (written by Wang Hui-ling, James Schamus, and Tsai Kuo Jung) was a commercial and critical success, earning more than $200 million worldwide (the highest-grossing foreign-language film produced overseas) and was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Costume Design, and Best Original Song.
The film received 4 Oscars: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography (Peter Pau), Best Original Score (Tan Dun), and Best Art Direction (Timmy Yip).
