According to Beijing Times, producer of HERO Zhang Weijing, said filming of Zhang Yimou's next martial-art film, originally scheduled for next month, had been pushed back for at least two months due to the SARS factor. He said Zhang Ziyi was definitely in but no one else, including Andy Lau, had signed up. Zhang Yimou and his writing team are still working on the script. According to another paper, Shenyang Today, the budget of this untitled project will at lease match the level of HERO, which is US$31 million. He said several Hollywood studios had contact them for distributing the film in North American and other regions. Angered by MiramAxe's doing-nothing strategy for handling HERO, he has positively ruled out MiramAxe as the potential distributor.

Photos: http://www.sina.com.cn

According to a visitor to The Superhero Hype! Boards, someone called Howard Stern show, claiming he had seen the finished film, which was "nothing like what were seeing now" and was "INFREAKINGCREDIBLE". Click here for what else he has said.

Related Articles:

You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Ang Lee (Empire Online)

The "Hulk" of the Story is.. (Moviehole)

More... (Superhero Hype!)

According to Variety, here is the story of Jet Li's LABOR DAY:

An ambitious assistant DA gets the career-making job of prosecuting the son of an elusive crime lord. When the DA's pregnant wife is taken hostage by the crime lord, the prosecutor asks for help from his wife's ex-boyfriend, a Chinese gangster (Li). This is risky not only because the DA's new ally is on the wrong side of the law, but also because the gangster still loves the wife and thinks that saving her life might help win her back.

I say: it's just sound so familiar.

Related article: Jet Li Starring in Schwentke's Labor Day (Coming Soon!)

Jiefang Daily reports both names are kept as the project's working titles for now. Stephen Chow just finished his six-day trip to Shanghai. According to the paper, Stephen Chow visited several locations in Shanghai, including the Shanghai Film Studio backlot in the town of Chedun, which has hosted many film and TV productions including PURPLE BUTTERFLY, MO LI HUA KAI (JASMINES BLOOM) and MiramAxe production THE GREAT RAID. City scenes of the old Shanghai has been recreated on the backlot, which will be used to double Hong Kong from the 1950's. While in Shanghai, Stephen Chow also met Sammo Hung, the film's action director. Stephen Chow's assistant Tin Kai-man, told the paper the film will be "absolutely different from SHAOLIN SOCCER" but he refused to say any further. Tin played Iron Jacket in SHAOLIN SOCCER and will take another small role this time. Chinese director Feng Xiaogang (BIG SHOT'S FUNERAL), who worked together in an iced tea commercial, may take one or more than one cameos in the film. Zhao Wei, Mui the steamed bun cook from SHAOLIN SOCCER may also return, but not as the female lead and Stephen Chow has yet decide who should be the female lead. Stephen Chow will fly back to Shanghai next week.

Set in the 1950's Hong Kong and a few other places in the mainland China, Stephen Chow is playing some nobody who is dreaming about becoming a kung fu master. He travels around, meets many masters, and eventually becomes a master of his own.

MiramAxe has announced a wide released of a chopped and disfigured SHAOLIN SOCCER in North America on August 8, 2003, two years after the film's initial release in Asia.

SHAOLIN SOCCER, Miramax, and the Question of Subtitles

by Erich Kuersten, film and music critic

Thanks to Jason Powell

Wow, wow, wow, wow, and wow! I cannot believe what I just watched just now. This is one of many reasons why I avoid most movies from Hollywood.

John Book

Thanks to John Book

A photographer from Jiefang Daily, has grabbed a few snapshots on the set of SILVER HAWK. Story of the sequence is something like this: the bad girl (Li Bingbing) chased Silver Hawk (Michelle Yeoh) into an outdoor wedding party and later the inspector (Richie Jen) came to the scene.

According to Changjiang Daily, the film will be released in DVD and VCD as early as July, and theatrical  released has been aimed at September and October. In China, video distribution of a film is often handled by a separate company. Threatened by bootlegging, video released usually occur as early as only one week after being released in theaters. To fight piracy, TV productions are often released on video first and then  aired on TV later, a practice video producers have been trying to adopt for distributing movies. As the result of such cannibalization, tension between film industry and video industry has been growing. In January, bootlegged DVD and VCD of Chinese film HERO were released by one of its official video distributors, but were removed from the market by the authority. Financed by Columbia Pictures, Huayi Bros. Taihe and Xi'an Film Studios, WARRIORS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH was shot almost two years ago but the release date have been pushed back again and again.

According to Screen Daily, John McTiernan (BASIC, DIE HARD 3, THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, DIE HARD, PREDATOR) is set to helm MURDER IN CANTON*, a US$45 million action based on mystery novel series Judge Dee, by Dutch diplomat Robert Van Gulik. The project is pushed by Samuel and Victor Hadida's Davis Films, Peter Loehr's Ming Productions and Francoise DeDeu's D+ Productions, with backing from TF1. Hadida said "the basic story is a murder mystery but with adventure, fantasy, romance and martial arts." "Production is scheduled to start by the end of the year in New Zealand and China. The character of Judge Dee will be played by a Chinese actor with a Westerner as his sidekick."

The real "Judge Dee" (Chinese name: Di Renjie), lived in the 7th Century of China's Tang Dynasty. In nearly half centuries, he took various government positions, including president of the Supreme Court and Prime Minister. Di Renjie was known for his talent of solving cases and fighting corruptions. A novel about Di Renjie was written in the late 19th by an anonymous. Robert Van Gulik tried to translate the novel to Dutch (?) but later gave up and after WWII, he start writing his own novel - Judge Dee.

* "Canton" is the old way of translating the name of the city Guangzhou.

According to Hong Kong's Oriental Daily, Sammo Hung has been brought on board as the action director of KUNG FU, the upcoming comedy action by actor/director/screenwriter Steven Chow. Construction of the set of the 1950's Hong Kong will start next month in Shanghai. But he has yet found the female lead after months of searching.

More coverage:

A   B   C

Video:

The press conference

More Story: Zhang Ziyi appeared in TV commercial encouraging people to fight SARS

Aired on China's CCTV, it is one of 20 commercials featuring well-known figures from Chinese entertainment industry.

Here is the transcript (translation):

With a usual attitude, together, we will go through this unusually time. How to prevent SARS, it seems, we should wash our hands (more) frequently, keep the indoor air circulated, and don't forget wearing your surgical mask properly when going out. In this this usually time, besides paying more attention on personal hygiene, (one should) also be responsible for the health of other people. I believe protecting yourself means protecting others.

Keep Going, Chinese!

Sponsored by Mengniu Diary and the Commercial Department of CCTV

Watch the Commercial (Real Video / 33 seconds):      Stream (605 kb)      Download (zip file / 573 kb)

According to Hong Kong media, DRUNKEN MONKEY, the latest martial-art film by Shaw Brothers, had its premiere in Hong Kong yesterday. A May 1 theatrical released in the mainland China has been cancelled due to the SARS fear and instead, the movie has been released on DVD and VCD.

Leading man Wu Jing: A, B

More coverage on DRUNKEN MONKEY

According to Moviehole, "a test screening went down about as well as William Shatner's first LP" and "execs at Universal are turning green this week after a not so incredible screening of HULK." Apparently, Ang Lee "has turned in a melodramatic take on the comic book with an emphasis on drama - as in, really long and boring."

Drama is something Ang Lee has always been doing and he delivers what he has promised. Universal got the wrong people for the test screening.

"I would like to think that the fans, as loud and earnest as they can be, I hope they make up, like, 0.1 percent of the audience," Ang Lee told San Francisco Chronicle, "I wanted to embrace (the comic), but I also wanted to feel free to create my episode of the Hulk. If I got opinions from other places, I would be very distracted."

Related Articles:

"HULK" Sending Execs Green? (Moviehole.net)

Ang Lee's Transformation (San Francisco Chronicle)

The day before flying to Cannes, Zhang Ziyi had an telephone interview with Shenyang Today. She talked about the film, the director, her co-stars and herself...

Click here

According to Variety, 80 DAYS has been sold in more than 30 territories and "with Spain and Italy the only unsold major markets outside the U.S., foreign sales have kicked in more than 55% of the budget". With a budget of US$110 million, 80 DAYS is probably "the most expensive movie ever to be produced without a US distrib." The film is backed by Walden Media, controlled by Denver-based billionaire Philip Anschutz. In January, Paramount "broke off talks to serve as the partner on "Eighty Days" in the U.S. and a number of foreign territories". "Sources say the sticking points were budget and cast. Walden has a first-look deal with Disney, but "Eighty Days," which has been in development at the company for a few years, was never included in the deal." "Sources close to the pic say there's strong interest from U.S. majors, but studios have been waiting for footage."

Click here for the Variety article

Photos:

15 snapshots taken from the Berlin Set (JackieChanKids.com)

More shots from beach (Yahoo! News)

Pictures from the press conference in Cannes (Sina.com)

Great thanks to Marie M and Mary D

By far the most complete collection of stills extracted from the film.

Click here

Thanks to Scott Kelly

The following was based on plot descriptions from Cannes Film Festival official site, FilmFestivals.com and Sina.com.

1931. Shanghai. Japanese troops invaded the city and brings fear, violence and chaos to the people. Xin Xia, has changed her name to Ding Hui, is now a member of Purple Butterfly, a resistance group, and feels motional bounded with the group's leader Xie Ming (Feng Yuanzheng). Itami, now a Japanese secret agent, works on eliminating any threat to the Japanese occupation and reports directly to Yamamoto, the head of the Japanese secret service and a prime target of  Purple Butterfly.

An assassin, hired by Purple Butterfly to kill Yamamoto, has arrived by train and a member of Purple Butterfly is sent to get contact with the him but Situ (Liu Ye), sitting opposite to the real assassin on the train, was mistaken as the man they are looking for. Situ's strange reaction to the Purple Butterfly member brings tension to the air and violence erupts at the station. In the crossfire, Situ's fiancée Yiling (Li Bingbing) is shot dead by Ding Hui, who is trying to protect her comrade.

Situ escapes with the Purple Butterfly members but is still caught by Itami. Severely tortured by the Japanese, Situ reveals nothing to the Japanese. From a mole inside Purple Butterfly, Itami learns Situ is indeed a bystander and them set him free. But except Ding Hui, all Purple Butterfly members still believe Situ is the hired killer, now a traitor, and want to kill him too. Ding Hui and Itami bump into each other and their reunion is discovered by Situ. Without the assassin, Xie Ming realizes they have to complete the mission by themselves and Ding Hui becomes the key figure for both sides to win. Situ tries to seek revenge for the death of his fiancée, but confused by what happened, he is unable to figure out who should be his target.

12 pictures taken at Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin.

Click here

Thanks to Mark Singh

SILVER HAWK - Under Production In Shanghai

Chow Yun-Fat has officially agreed to take the leading role (General Li ?) of HUA MU LAN with Michelle Yeoh as the legendary Chinese heroine, producer Thomas Chung, who are promoting these three projects in Cannes, told Hong Kong newspapers. He will probably collect US$15 million for his appearance. The team also includes Peter Pau (director / cinematographer), Tim Yip (art director / costume designer) and Wang Hui-Ling (screenwriter), all involved in the production of CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON. The action director is Corey Yuen, who have been working with Jet Li for many years. Shooting may start in August.

The 56th Cannes Film Festival is set to start tomorrow and PURPLE BUTTERFLY , the only Chinese language film in competition for the Golden Palm, is getting ready for its world première on May 22nd. Director Lou Ye has already arrived in Cannes. Zhang Ziyi and co--star Liu Ye have book their plane tickets for May 21st. The film was scheduled to be released in China this month, but the date has been postponed. Directors of two other Chinese films, Wang Xiaoshuai (ALL TOMORROW'S PARTIES) and Yu Lik Wai (DRIFTERS) are already in Cannes promoting their films, which are out of competition. Liu, Wang and Yu belongs to the so-called "Sixth Generation Directors of China".

BLIND SHAFT by first time young Chinese director Li Yang took the top narrative feature Sunday at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. TOGETHER, by veteran Chinese director Chen Kaige, won the Audience Award for Best Feature, along with KEEPING TIME: THE LIFE, MUSIC & PHOTOGRAPHS OF MILT HINTON. Chen Kaige is also one of the five members of the Narrative Feature Jury. Other Chinese language films shown at the festival includes: CHICKEN POETS (China - mainland), CHINESE ODYSSEY 2002 (Hong Kong, China - mainland), THE EYE (Hong Kong, Thailand), and SHAOLIN SOCCER (Hong Kong).

Related Report: Chinese BLIND SHAFT Tops at Tribeca Fest (The Hollywood Reporter)

More information available at Tthe Official Site of Tribeca Film Festival

BLIND SHAFT / MANG JING

Directed by Li Yang, starring Li Yixiang, Wang Shuangbao, Wang Baoqiang.

Two men are living on killing people. Each time they recommended someone to be a miner, then kill their victim under cover of a mining accident to claim compensation from the mine owner as the victim's relatives. They feel completely senseless about human life, but when a young boy is about to become their next victim, one of the killers starts to feel uneasy. He struggled between pity and greed and lost his own life while trying to save the boy's life. Based on award winning novel Shen Mu (Sacred Wood) by Liu Qingbang, the film is the feature film début for director Li Yang.

Other Awards:

The Silver Berlin Bear for An Artistic Contribution (53rd Berlin International Film Festival - Feb. 2003)

Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best Actor (Wang Baoqiang), Audience Award for Best Feature

      (5th Dover Asian Film Festival, France - March 2003)

Best Cinematography (Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema - April 2003)

Silver Firebird for Young Cinema (Hong Kong International Film Festival - April 2003)

TOGETHER / HE NI ZAI YI QI

Directed by Chen Kaige, starring: Chen Hong, Tang Yun, Liu Peiqi, Wang Zhiwen, Cheng Qian, Chen Kaige.

Born in an ordinary working class family, young boy Xiao Chun (Tang Yun) has developed violin talent. To search for the best violin teacher, his father (Liu Peiqi) takes him to Beijing. While lives in the big city, Xiao Chun formed a very unusual bound with Li Li, a nightclub girl lives 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.

Other Awards:

Best Director, Best Actor (Liu Peiqi) (San Sebastian International Film Festival, Spain - Sep. 2002)

"Structure of the script is vast, the action scenes are in very large number, and design of everything is very new. This will definitely be a monumental breakthrough for big scenes," Hong Kong master action director Yuen Wo-Ping told Shenyang Today.

Yuen Wo-Ping said the sequels are harder to make than the first one. "There is a scene in which Neo is fighting with 100 duplicates of Agent Smith. Just for this scene, I had to come out 100 different moves." He indicated this scene is the breakthrough to the first MATRIX, "it's just like a foreigner (Keanu Reeves) fighting with 100 Arhats* of Shaolin Monastery." "The moves were choreographed completely based on the script and character of the actors. They look very nature."

"I communicated with Wachowski brothers very well", said Yuen Wo-Ping, "they gave me lots of freedom, but most of the time, I choreographed according to their demand."

"Keanu Reeves' skill has improved a lot. He worked hard and learned with his mind. I gave him a 85 out of 100. To be a top action star, Keanu Reeves is qualified." Yuen Wo-Ping even joked, "He can even fight Jet Li."

Yuen Wo-Ping said Carrie-Anne Moss was very hard to train, "each fight scene she got involved was very difficult (to do), because she is a girl and the fights have to look beautiful and perfect. But the twins are the most difficult to train, because they had so many fight scenes and used so many small-sized weapons.

"When (we are) making action movies in Asia, training is necessary for most actors, and even someone needs training, it would only last half to one month. But for actors from the west, training would last at least 4 to 5 months, because they were lacking basic training and had to start from scratch."

Yuen Wo-Ping said there was no difference between the early Hong Kong action films and today's CG enhanced action films, "the only difference is the genre. (Even though we) are doing special effects, I just blend the action into it. I think each action film should have something new, should have a new pressure (on me), and should have a new concept."

Yuen Wo-Ping said there were many factors contributed to the success of THE MATRIX, "the directors handle it well, the packaging is good, the action is great, and the genre is new."

He said his hobbies are just same as those of everyone else, "traveling, window shopping, reading novels, but I don't watch kung-fu movies."

* Buddha had 16 students called Arhats who were believed to have reached the stage of enlightenment. Later the number of Arhats was increased up to 500 in Chinese Buddhist believe. Here they are actually referring to 100 monks from Shaolin Monastery.

Many people get confused with PURPLE BUTTERFLY and MO LI HUA KAI (literal title: JASMINES BLOOM). Both films feature Zhang Ziyi as the lead and both films were set in the old Shanghai.

PURPLE BUTTERFLY

Synopsis: In the 1930's Shanghai, at dawn of the Japanese invasion, Ding Hui (Zhang Ziyi) is a member of Purple Butterfly, a secret organization aiming at eliminating Japanese influence in China. Her ex-lover Itami (Nakamura Tooru), a Japanese secret police assigned to track down Purple Butterfly, arrived in Shanghai...

Director: Lou Ye

Starring: Zhang Ziyi, Nakamura Tooru, Liu Ye, Feng Yuanzheng, Li Bingbing

Status: Completed. In competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

MO LI HUA KAI (JASMINES BLOOM)

Synopsis:: Stories of three women from an ordinary family in Shanghai - Mo in the 1930's, Li in the 1950's and Hua in the 1980's.

Director: Hou Yong

Starring: Zhang Ziyi, Chen Chong (Joan), Jiang Wen, Lu Yi, Liu Ye

Status: In production. Promotion scheduled during this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Photo: SponichiAnnex

According to Hong Kong's Oriental Daily, the production of DARK OCTOBER has been cancelled under pressure from relatives of some crewmembers. Shooting was planned to take place in Foshan of Guangdong Province, where those crewmembers were supposed to build the set of 1900's Hong Kong. DARK OCTOBER is a fictional story of seven anonymous heroes protecting Dr. Sun Yet-Sen, the founding father of modern China. Director Teddy Chan (THE ACCIDENTAL SPY, PURPLE STORM) is hoping to restart the project in the future. Meanwhile US$6.8 million prepare for the film has been distributed to four other smaller projects.

(Left) DARK OCTOBER poster

Photo: Oriental Daily

Related Story: Shi Yue Wei Cheng (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) September 4, 2001

According to Jiefang Daily, director Chen Yifei is willing to postpone the production of A BARBER'S MUSIC BOX (Chinese title: BARBER) until Leung Chiu-Wai is done with the INFERNAL AFFAIRS follow-ups and 2046. Leung Chiu-Wai has said he did not have any time for MUSIC BOX right now, even though he had talked to Chen Yifei. The production of MUSIC BOX, a story of a barber during WWII, has already been halted after Jiang Wen, the original male lead, walked away from the set five months ago. Also according to Chen Yifei, Taiwanese star Shu Qi (Hsu Chi) had basically agreed to be the new female lead of the film.

Leung Chiu-Wai (left) and Chen Yifei (right)

Photos: Sina.com, ChenYifei.com

Yesterday at a press conference in Hong Kong, Media Asia announced INFERNAL AFFAIRS prequel and sequel will be shot simultaneously and released sequentially this year. Budgeted at near HK$100 million (US$ 12.8 million), two films will still be directed by Lau Wai-Keung and Mak Siu-Fai and besides Leung Chiu-Wai, Andy Lau, Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang, Kelly Chen, Edison Chen and Shawn Yu from the original, Leon Lai, Lau Kar-ling, Francis Ng and Hu Jun and Yu Chiu have joined the cast.

The prequel, INFERNAL AFFAIRS 2, set in the 1990’s, tells how Officer Wong (Anthony Wong) and gang member Sam (Eric Tsang) made their ways to the top through undercover cop Chan Wing-Yan (Shawn Yu) and Lau Kin-Ming (Edison Chen), a mole inside the police force. In the meantime, both camps had to deal with the crime boss Ngai Wing-Hau  (Francis Ng).

The sequel, INFERNAL AFFAIRS 3 (Chinese title: END INFERNO), the story will focus on the struggle between Chan Wing-Yan (Leung Chiu-Wai), somehow cheated death, Lau Kin-Ming (Andy Lau), cut off the tie with Sam, and a higher-ranked police officer (Leon Lai). Psychiatrist Lee Sum-Yee (Kelly Chen) played a key role among them.

This time, Universal is kindly enough to mention Ang Lee's name:

Trailer: THE HULK (QuickTime)

Click here for previous HULK trailers

It is experimenting with the mind of the audience...

It is only possible to think straight again when the movie has ended...

The photographical design of HERO is of enormous proportions...

The photography radiates a cinematographic sense of dynamism and profundity...

Hero is a feast for both eyes and ears.

A regular Chinese narrative of a hero, which is worth shedding some tears for, really deserves a good deal of nominations.

by Anders Pugé

Click Here for a DVD review of INFERNAL AFFAIRS

by Anders Pugé

ZHOU EN LAI WAN LONG ZHI XING

(lit.: CHOU EN-LAI'S JOURNEY TO BANDUNG) - release in March

A docudrama set in the 1950's when China was shadowed under the Soviet and sealed off by the west. In 1955, Chinese premiere Chou En-Lai attended the Afro-Asian Summit held in Indonesian city Bandung. With excellent diplomacy and personal charm, Chou En-Lai pushed the summit to a turning-point for the the third world countries breaking away from the west and a great improvement of China's image in the world.

Directed by Wei Lian, Written by Chen Dunde, Starring Wang Tiecheng, Soulth Saladin, Pratap Sharma, Ali Abdullah. Produced by: Beijing Film Studio of China Film Group, The Movie Channel, Century Hero Films Investment Ltd.

CARACARA / THE LAST WITNESS (USA)

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (USA)

LOTR: THE TWO TOWERS (USA)

MAID IN MANHATTAN (USA)

WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS (USA)

WHY ME, SWEETIE?! (Hong Kong)

PTU

One night, one restaurant, one murder, three units of Hong Kong police, PTU, Organized Crime Unit and CID, and two gangs have to make a decision and come out a solution before dawn...

Directed by Johnnie To, Starring Simon Yam, Ruby Wong, Maggie Shiu, Lam Suet, Raymond Wong.

Distributed by Panasia Films Ltd.

Poster: A B      Stills from Hong Kong Films' Web

THE SKYWALK IS GONE

A girl wandered in front of the train station and spotted another woman, dragging a huge suitcase, trying to cross the street. Because the skywalk was gone...

Directed by Tsai Ming-Liang, Starring Lee Kang-Sheng

Produced by Homegreen Films Co.

Trailer (Windows Media Video): Hi-Res   Lo-Res

Photos: Shanghai Film Studio, Nanfang Daily, KingNet

Other Releases:

25TH HOUR (USA)

ANGER MANAGEMENT (USA)

BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE (USA)

BULLETPROOF MONK (USA)