'Man from Macau III' rolling the dice

A poster of the film The Man from Macau III [Photo provided to China Daily]

The two previous films of the series were well-received by mainland moviegoers. The first installment earned 524 million yuan ($79.40 million) in 2014, and the second astoundingly overtook Jackie Chan's Sino-US epic Dragon Blade to top the Spring Festival holiday charts last year by grossing 974 million yuan.

"The earlier figures give us confidence about the new film," Yu says. "We also believe the gambler played by Chow Yun-fat will remind fans of the influential God of Gamblers series."

Also directed by Wong, the smash hit God of Gamblers (1989) spawned a sequel and a prequel. The series that also stars Chow as the "gambling god", with his sweeping hairstyle, made him the epitome of cool for Chinese fans. The two franchises have some overlapping content.

But despite the accumulated reputation, Wong says The Man from Macau III will likely be The Man series finale.

"I've never been so stressed in my whole career ... the plots, characters and relationships will come to an end in the new movie," says Wong.

The Monkey King 2 and Mermaid, two other films by Hong Kong directors, will also compete for the holiday box office when released on Monday.