Nanfang Daily has a description of several shots from the documentary CAUSE, recording the making of HERO. A ten-minute documentary, a mini version of CAUSE, will be very likely attached to HERO when it is released in China this December.

Location: Shanghai

Zhang Yimou had his first telephone conversation with Jet Li, while on his way to the première of the ballet version of his Raise the Red Lanterns. He told Li, "there is a big problem with Chinese wuxia movies - (there are) basically just fight, kill and revenge. I think, should we raise it to the level of moral courage and prestige?"

Location: Dangjin Mountain, Dunhuang, Gansu

You always see Zhang Yimou working on something, cinematography, art department, makeup, actor's moves... He was telling the extras how to play the soldiers from two thousand years ago, and he even went to pick the horses going to be used in the production...

Every time when cinematographer Christopher Doyle had a little bit too much to drink, he started to sing and twist. One day Zhang Yimou told him he wanted the camera to shake like that and showed him how. Since then Doyle started to "dance" around on the set while carrying the camera on his shoulder.

One month after the shooting started on August 11, 2001, everyone was talking about "9.11". Zhang Yimou decided to raise the theme of the film to the level of "world peace". At her birthday party, Maggie Cheung wished "world peace and being happy everyday."

Location: The (Diversiform-Leaved) Poplar Forest, The Inner Mongolia

The second action director Ching Siu-Tung arrived after the first action director Tung Wai left after clashing with Zhang Yimou. Over ten years ago, Zhang Yimou played an army officer who saved the First Emperor's life from a group of assassins in THE TERRA-COTTA WARRIOR directed by Ching Siu-Tung; ten years after, Zhang was directing HERO with a story of assassinating the king of Qin, later the First Emperor, with Ching Siu-Tung as the action director.

Between takes, Zhang Yimou was having a chat with Maggie Cheung while sit on a tree trunk; he and Christopher Doyle were jesting to show Zhang Ziyi how to walk; and Doyle was still twisting around.

When shooting one fight scene, Zhang Ziyi's blade accidentally hit the back of Maggie Cheung's left hand. She carried Cheung's hand and did not know what to do. When other people rushed to Maggie Cheung, she quietly walked away with tears.

The golden leaves used during the the filming were bought from local farmers at 80 Yuans per sack. Zhang Yimou discovered the color of some leaves was not what he want, he started to shout to the one in charge, "who's responsible for this? You're responsible for it and you must exam the goods first!" Once a take was done, he started to pick up leaves from the ground with other workers.

Ching Siu-Tung disappeared after a big fight with a crewmember, because the preparation of a fight scene did not meet Ching's requirement. Zhang Yimou showed up with a tortured face, "Will you just remove a bit weight from my shoulder? I have told you, whatever the action direct asked for, you just try you best to do it." After supper, Ching and the crewmember had a big hug.

Location: Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan Province

Over and over, Leung Chiu-Wai carried a sword, jumped of a platform and landed on a mat. It was an accident waiting to happen and finally his ankle got twisted.. Zhang Yimou started to worry but did not want anyone to know. He quietly sit on the ground then slowly walked toward Leung and started talking with him. Next day, Leung's angle was surprisingly healed. After finished the shot, Leung sighed, "(I'm) too old (for this)."

The sound recordist Tao Jing needed a sound for Jet Li's foot skimming through the water. To get the sound, he and assistant placed one mic just above the lake surface and another mic, covered with a condom, in the water.

Location: Hengdian Film & TV City, Zhejiang

Zhang Yimou, carrying a set of spear and shield, walked on the big square while bended his knees. He was showing the extras how to play their roles.

Costume designer Emi Wada is a palm-reader. She has read palm for director Akira Kurosawa several times when worked with him in RAN and YUME. Between takes, she read palm for Zhang Yimou and told him his career and wealth were all very good. Zhang smiled, "these are all true. Tell me something I don't know - a girlfriend or something like it."

Early morning, Leung Chiu-Wai and Maggie Cheung arrived on bicycles. They turned down some crewmembers offer for help and carried their bicycles and started to climbed the steps.

Last day of the shooting. Maggie Cheung and Leung Chiu-Wai had finished their scenes two days before, but they did not leave. Maggie Cheung came wearing a pair of sunglass because she knew she would cry that day. Director of CAUSE Gan Lu and her colleagues spent two nights to edit out a 10-minute documentary called 10 DAYS and showed it to everyone. People were cheering for whoever shown up on the screen, Zhang Yimou were taking pictures for others, they were saying goodbye to each other with tear in their eyes...

The screenwriter of HERO Li Feng, has spoken to Nanfang Daily. Here are some the highlights concerning HERO:

Reporter: I heard quite often you have to rewrite the script and there are many people involved in the writing process. How did you deal with it?

Li Feng: (If a draft is) scraped, I just start it all over again, to make the movie better and better.

Reporter: I heard you have written dozens of drafts to Zhang Yimou.

Li Feng: Not that many.

Reporter: I heard the subject of HERO has changed several times and in the end it has been upgraded to the level of world peace.

Li Feng: Not really. The subject hasn't changed much since the beginning. (But) in the detail, don't count on my word. You will know once you go see the movie.

Wang Bin, the Literature Planner of HERO (in charging the screenwriting), was just interviewed by Nanfang Daily. Wang Bin has been working with Zhang Yimou for more than a decade. Here are some the highlights of the interview:

Birth of HERO

"HERO was born about four or five years ago. ... (At that time) Jackie Chan wanted to work with Zhang Yimou and the screenwriter (of HERO) and I wrote a story. Then Jackie Chan found out (the story) was not his type and gave up. The story is about assassinating The First Emperor, a story fabricated by us (i.e. not based on any historical record). When we (decided to) try it again years later, Ang Lee has already started to work on CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON. (At the time) we were looking for subjects and running out of ideas several times. We wanted to adapt a novel (just like all Zhang Yimou's previous works except OPERATION COUGAR). ... But (each wuxia novel) has a set and the set is filled with plots and surprises, but no thought, and you can hardly find the trace of any thought. More seriously, once you enter the set, you will lose yourself and be swallowed by the novel. Then we decided to give up and write our own..."

"I remember it was a winter night, about 10 o'clock, very windy and cold. Three of us were sitting in a soya-milk restaurant. Suddenly, Zhang Yimou came out an idea. He said, "I have always moved by General Fan Yuji's action in the story of Jing Ke assassinating the King of Qin  He sacrificed himself to let his friend to fulfill a mission. I have always felt touch by the silent self-sacrifice. (Fan Yuji is a general of the kingdom Qin exiled to the kingdom of Zhao. According to some historians, he committed suicide in order to let Jing Ke use his head as a gift to the King of Qin to gain the king's trust and be able to approach the king. The assassination failed and Jing Ke was killed by the King at the scene. This has hinted that in the movie HERO, someone will sacrifice himself to let No Name (Jet Li) gain the trust of the King of Qin). Shouldn't we have such thing - a tacit understanding between friends. Once looking at each other's eyes, without saying anything, they will know what to do."

"At that time his (Zhang Yimou's) demand was very high - no love story. But Li Feng and I felt it was quite impossible, because (even) a wuxia movie needs it. ... After several discussions, we (Li Feng and I) finally came up an idea we liked, and the idea was later approved by Zhang Yimou. We wrote several different outlines and chose one of them. Then Li Feng started to work on the script. During the period, I maintained contact with Zhang Yimou, who were working on the pro-production of HAPPY TIMES. By the time HAPPY TIMES was under production, the first draft has done."

What Zhang Yimou Wanted For HERO

"He wanted the characters to have personalities and seldom speak. In fact, he himself is such kind of person. You see him talks a lot, but he is a very quite and introvert ... Once the script was out, the main theme (of HERO) was done. Of cause, it still got some problems. Zhang Yimou still thought the story is not quite unique, so once again we (sit down and) talked. But this time, it was basically his one-man' show. (We) talked many more times and basically every time we were just listening to him (on how to make the story better), and then adding up some of our own thoughts. The story we have now is largely written based on what he said. We wrote and rewrote several times, and finally got the story done. The entire process, honestly to say, was a very painful experience. (Again and again) we were finding agreement, making (plots), scraping (what we dislike) and rebuilt (plots). Just the outline of the script, we had wrote over ten drafts."

HERO the Movie

"I haven't seen (the movie), just a few shots. But I think it will be very vigorous and will be something filled with men's courage. May be it will re-unleash the heroic spirit from RED SORGHUM (Zhang Yimou's directing début). For sure, it will be more mature than RED SORGHUM, because it has been so many years (since RED SORGHUM). It will have more "inner power" than RED SORGHUM."

The one says Zhang Yimou can't make wuxia movie doesn't know him very well. He definitely has the spirit of xia (hard to translate. Has the some meanings of heroic, chivalrous, etc.). HERO was a commercial film made by the way Zhang Yimou has always followed. But what differ from other commercial films is that it has an opinion about today's world. If there are too many revenge stories in the traditional wuxia films, in this one we want to answer the questions of what is hero, and what kind of feelings and vision should a hero have."

Photo: Nanfang Daily

Tomorrow: Interview of Screenwriter Li Feng

An anonymous reader, claiming he is working for the project referred in below, has sent me this massage:

Gordon Liu will be coming to NYC to shoot a feature. The premise will be something like MASTER KILLER meets EVIL DEAD. Roberto Lopez (of Once Upon A Time In China and America and action director of Blazin') will direct. Marcos Antonio Miranda (director of Blazin' and BigPun: Still Not A Player documentary) will co-produce. Stuntworks will be handling the action/stunts.

Gordon Liu, just finished playing Pei Mei in Quentin Tarantino's KILL BILL, is an veteran Hong Kong martial art actor. To bad, the anonymous reader did not tell us what role Gordon Liu will play and whether he will be the action director.

Taiwanese paper Da Cheng Bao has telephone-interviewed Stanley Tong, who is currently scouting locations in China's northwestern province Shaanxi for his version of HUA MULAN. A large scale set will be built to blend into the wild scenery of the province. He said the production plan would be reveal as early as next month. Then we will know whether Lucy Liu and The Rock's names are on the list or not.

About a new movie he has planned with Jackie Chan, Stanley Tong said if he could not finish his HUA MULAN by early next year, the Jackie Chan flick would have to be postponed. However, he wants to explore the possibility of making the two movies simultaneously and will go back to Hong Kong to talk with Jackie Chan in the matter. During there last conversation, Jackie Chan has told Stanley Tong one more time that he wanted to play a pure drama but Stanley Tong told the Taiwanese paper, "it is too weird if we are not making actions." Jackie Chan is probably the busiest man on earth. Projects with him as the leading man and currently in preproduction include: AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, TITANIUM RAIN, and BELLBOY; projects in talk include: RUSH HOUR 3/4, the third installment of the SHANGHAI franchise (SHANGHAI DAWN ?), NOSEBLEED, the Stanley Tong's project...; and movies are waiting to be released includes THE TUXEDO, SHANGHAI KNIGHTS, and HIGHBINDERS.

According to Hong Kong's Oriental Daily, Shaw Brothers has decided to remake a series of its classics, including ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN and 36 WARRIORS OF SHAOLIN (?). As the first step of Shaw Brothers' resurrecting the old-school martial art movies, DRUNKEN MONEY, directed by Lau Kar-Leung and staring Wu Jing, is currently under post-production.

Entertainment Weekly has another on-location report: click here

IMDB has the following report:

Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino insisted that only one set of musicians would do for the soundtrack of his upcoming martial arts flick Kill Bill - rappers the Wu-tang Clan. The acclaimed director believes the Staten Island, New York-based rappers are among the best suited for the project, so he called a meeting with the collective's mastermind and producer Rza to perfect his ideas. Tarantino says, "The Wu-Tang Clan, their whole thing is kung fu. I had Rza over to hang out. We watched kung fu movies in my screening room and came up with ideas." The rapper, who produced the critically acclaimed score for Jim Jarmusch's 2000 neo-samurai film Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai, was happy to help a fellow kung fu connoisseur. Rza explains, "We started talking about kung fu, and every movie I named, Quentin knew what it was and what was going on in it. I was like, 'Wow, I kinda met my match.'" While Rza will produce, Tarantino has asked Metallica's Lars Ulrich to help compose the score.

Thanks to The Quentin Tarantino Archives

Aintitcool.com just posted the first known review of HERO (work-in-progress). The author, only known as "Bob", claims he has attended the research screening of HERO held by Miramax in New York City yesterday.

According to Hong Kong's Oriental Daily, director Stanley Tong (RUMBLE IN THE BRONX, FIRST STRIKE) has flown to L.A. to ask Lucy Liu play Hua Mulan and The Rock play the Hun general. He said it was just a proposal and there were other candidates for these two roles. The script, written in English, has completed and shooting will start in the Northeast China (Manchuria) this December.

According to Yahoo! Movies, the release date of Jackie Chan's AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS has been set as November 21, 2003.

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS Page by Yahoo! Movies

Thanks to Cass

Someone has sent me this message which indicating Miramax will host a secret screening of HERO in New York City Monday night. Does this mean Miramax is exploring the possibility of releasing the movie in North America this fall?

Hello. I have no idea where you're located, but in NYC Monday night at 7:30pm, Miramax is going to be holding a research screening of "HERO". A highly reliable source at a national theatre circuit has passed this information to me.

Just thought you may want to know incase you or someone you know is in NYC tomorrow night.

Thanks to gi0rgi0

Here is a new picture with Jet Li and Donnie Yen from posted on a Japanese site. Origin of this picture is unknown.

In the picture, No Name (Jet Li) holding a sword and Silver Spear Long Sky (Donnie Yen) holding a long silver-color spear, stand facing each other. An old man is sitting in the back and playing a qin, an ancient music instrument. This picture has somewhat proved the speculation that No Name and Silver Spear Long Sky were taught by the same master (the old man?).

Thanks to Thomas

Photo: うしおわーるど

According to Hong Kong media, Hugh Grant, cast to play Fogg in AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, wants the script altered based on his idea. As the result, Jackie Chan will collect US$1 million delaying fee each month.

About no shooting it in China, Ching Pao reports, Jackie Chan wanted to shoot it in China but the American producer(s) had bad memory of being fooled in China and had planned to shoot the Chinese scenes in Thailand.

A German company has asked Jackie Chan to shoot a movie in 14 days with US$ 20 million pay plus bonus. He said, "so easy to make money, that's crazy!" He has asked the company to rewrite the script then will decide whether to take it or not.

Shooting of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS will begin next January but according to Jackie Chan, the part in which his character and Fogg's traveling in China will not be shot in China. At the première of THE TUXEDO, Jackie Chan told Hong Kong's The Sun, "the Mainland Chinese company jacked up the price when they saw it was a foreign production. Producers of this film were fooled and they canceled the shooting in Beijing or Shanghai. Really not a good thing." Hong Kong's Ching Pao reports the 80 DAYS will stay in Thailand for three months and hire more than three hundreds local workers. Probably all Asian scenes, including the Chinese scenes, will be shot entirely in Thailand. This means quality of this film will be discounted because whenever the Hollywood makes Chinese scenes outside China, something will go wrong. Jackie Chan admitted he will collect at least US$ 25 million from the project, including bonus.

Jackie Chan and Jennifer Love Hewitt went on US TV to promote The Tuxedo: click here

Tons of THE TUXEDO première photos: A B

China's Information Times reports Filmko Pictures has new thought of the cast of SWORD OF THE THIRD MASTER. They want Aaron Kwok to play The Third Master and Ekin Cheng to play his rival Yan Thirteen, both were from THE STORM RIDERS. Several stars like Leslie Cheung and Zhang Ziyi were previously attached to the project. With Tsui Hark's producing and directing from Yi Dung-Sing, played The Third Master from the original SWORD OF THE THIRD MASTER, the project will start rolling next May with the budget of HK$ 30 - 40 millions (US$ 3.85 - 5.13). Filmko is always tries to make a sequel of THE STORM RIDERS but Aaron Kwok has said he was not interest in.

Disney is persuading Yuen Wo-Ping to helm a remake of its classic SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS with a twist of Chinese martial arts. According to Variety, "the "Snow" update is set in the 1890s and follows a woman who returns home to Hong Kong to attend her father's funeral after 20 years abroad. She discovers that her stepmother is plotting against her and escapes to mainland China, where she seeks solace (There is about a thousand kilometers between Hong Kong and the Shaolin Monastery / Temple) with seven Shao Lin (Shaolin) monks who, in turn, come to believe the woman holds the fate of the world in her hands and protect her (Buddhist discipline forbids such contact between monks and any woman."

Report by Variety

Report by Reuters

A new photo has shown up on the site of Thang Nguyen. We can see Jet Li dressed in red sitting in probably the King's study. The sitting style is popular in China until approximately a thousand years ago.

Click here

Review: TOGETHER (Positive, No Spoilers) by Kirk Honeycutt
 

Several pictures taken in Pasadena, including the exterior of a hospital.

Click here

Thanks to The Quentin Tarantino Archives

Winners of the 25th One Hundred Flowers Awards have been announced yesterday at the Golden Rooster and One Hundred Flower Film Festival. They were chosen by readers of Popular Films Magazine. Nominations of the 11th Golden Rooster Awards, with winner chosen by a jury, are also announced.

Time magazine Asia edition just featured an article on KILL BILL's production in Beijing with five pictures taken on the set (Click here). Meanwhile, Harry Knowles, with his inside knowledge, has told us what we are looking at on these pictures and has added two more of his own (Click here).

Thanks to The Quentin Tarantino Archives

DreamWorks SKG Fansite just posted an article on making of THE TUXEDO (Click here)

The same site also posted several new production stills: click here

Last, but not least: the official site has been updated with brand new features. Click here.

In his article (Click here), Harry Knowles from AICN said, "He (Zhang Jinzhan - one of the First Assistant Directors) commanded 30,000 extras on HERO". We know they borrowed around 1,000 soldiers from the Para-military Police in Dunhuang and number of extras in Hengdian Film and TV City is also around 1,000. There is a war scene shot somewhere in the Inner Mongolia without appearance of any main characters. Harry, do you mean there are 30,000 extras in that scene or you just made up the number?

According to Yangcheng Evening News, Beijing Youth, and Beijing's Star Daily, A documentary called YUAN QI (CAUSE) is near complete. Made by Gan Lu, a young woman filmmaker only in her early twenties, it is the only documentary covering the entire production of HERO. A 90-minutes short version will finished first and a 15-episodes series will follow. Each episode is 25-minutes long and has one unique subject, Wind, Horse, Wild, Qin, Water, Stratagem, Bright, Snow, Sword, Moon, Color, Martial, Music, Harmony and Shadow (?). Gan Lu said Zhang Yimou started to prepare for HERO before CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON caught its world-wide fame and the documentary can prove it. She said so far all the news about HERO are incomplete and even inaccurate. She said, "HERO is a great film, and the documentary CAUSE will let the world know why it is great."

Many inside stories are only told in this documentary: Tan Dun composed the background music for scenes with Qin soldiers after he played "chopsticks music" with Zhang Yimou at the dinning table. While filming in Dunhuang's Dangjin Mountain, everyday each crewmember had to carry more than twenty pounds of equipments to climb more than two hours. Heavy wind continuously sending sands into their eyes, mouths, noses and ears. But Maggie Cheung and Zhang Ziyi still had to say their lines and eat free dirt. The golden leaves used in the fight scene with Maggie Cheung and Zhang Ziyi were in fact purchased from local residents' own yards at about 60 Yuans (US$ 7) a sack, because the local environmental protection regulation forbids picking leaves directly from the trees (diversiform-leaved poplar).

Photo: Information Times

Chen Daoming, played the King in HERO, has shared a few inside stories with Information Times. He said, "The King of Qin is a highly skilled martial artist. He has a "King of Qin Sword", excels in swordplay, and he always wins. Therefore he lives. Leung Chiu-Wai is not so lucky. His character died. But the king still cannot surpass Jet Li's character. He is the top master and (Jet Li) is a real martial art movie star." However, there is no historical record to prove the real king, later the First Emperor of China, Ying Zheng, is a martial artist.

Chen said the five main characters, played by Jet Li, Leung Chiu-Wai, Maggie Cheung, Zhang Ziyi and him, have basically equal amount of scenes. An early report suggests the King is only a very minor character.

Chen Daoming has been an actor for twenty years and HERO is his first martial art film. According to Beijing's Star Daily, action director Ching Siu-Tung designed many very difficult moves for him and he has to learn how to fight from scratch. In one scene, Chen Daoming and the camera were put on a fast rotated platform, and the "king" had to enjoy the dizzy treatment over and over again.

Photo: Information Times

According to Beijing Morning Post, the North American distribution rights of Chen Kaige's newest film TOGETHER (HE NI ZAI YI QI) have been brought by MGM for $US 1.5 million.

Just had its world-wide première at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, TOGETHER is a film about ordinary people's live in modern day China. Born in an ordinary working class family, young boy Xiao Chun (Tang) has developed violin talent. To search for the best violin teacher, his father (Liu) takes him to Beijing. While lives in the big city, Xiao Chun formed a very unusual bounded with Li Li, a nightclub girl living next door. Inspired by a true story, this is the first movie made by Chen Kaige and his wife Chen Hong, who is also the female lead.

TOGETHER (HE NI ZAI YI QI) Special

Production Stills

Photo: Beijing Morning Post

According to Beijing's Information Times, Chinese Film Bureau has granted Michelle Yeoh's Mulan project the right of using the title HUA MULAN. After winning the Best Co-production category of this year's Huabiao Awards, the only awards from Chinese government, Michelle Yeoh, her boyfriend Thomas Chung and director Peter Pau are busying on preproduction of this historical drama with the budget of about $US 30 million. Also according to Information Times, Michelle Yeoh is in negotiation to buy a used US$2,500 worth costume from a TV series HU MULAN. She is planning to wear the costume to make a teaser poster. The costume is a set of hand-sewed armor made of thick and heavy leathers. This month, Thomas Chung will go to the US to deal with the North American release of THE TOUCH.

Southcn.com and Chengdu Daily reports two scenes previously dropped from the script of HIGHBINDERS will be shot next month in Hong Kong. There is no action involved in these scenes and one of them is about Jackie Chan and Lee Evans cooking in a kitchen. During the production ended six month ago, Jackie Chan, director Gordon Chan and action director Sammo Hung deleted the scenes to save money. However, SONY Pictures, the world-wide distributor of the movie (except Asia and France), thought these scenes were very important and has refused to accept it. The film's production studio, Hong Kong's Emperor Media Group, has decided to spend about US$ 2 million and three weeks to make the senses.