The 25th Shanghai International Film Festival opened on Friday with no shortage of glitz and glamor on the red carpet.

Among the top-name celebrities and filmmakers from China and abroad who graced the red carpet at the Shanghai Grand Theater were mainland filmmaker Chen Kaige, British actor Jason Statham, Chinese-American pop sensation Kris Phillips, Hong Kong actors Chow Yun-fat and Nicholas Tse, and mainland star Shen Teng.

The creators of "Meg 2: The Trench," "Salvation," "Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms," "Who's the Suspect" and "Moscow Mission" were also present, as was the international jury panel for the Golden Goblet Awards.

The first installment of the Chinese fantasy epic film trilogy, "Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms," will be released on July 20.

On the red carpet, Kris Phillips stated that all of the characters in the film have distinctive personalities, and the role he plays has several levels of emotion.

The sci-fi adventure film "Meg 2: The Trench," starring British actor Jason Statham and Chinese actor Wu Jing, will be released on August 4.

"It's exciting for me to work with Wu," Statham remarked. "Wu has a lot of interesting ideas. I try to keep up with him. I'm very humble and grateful."

Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-fat plays a habitual gambler looking for a means to connect with his autistic son in the film "Salvation."

Chow, who has been seen jogging on the Bund in Shanghai these days, said his character is considerably different from that of his representative work, "God of Gamblers."

Da Peng, a Chinese actor who stars in the cop film "Dust to Dust," remembers having to gain 15 kilograms and speak Cantonese to play the fugitive in the film.