News Archives
December 2006
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News Archives |
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December 2006 |
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December 31, 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The year of 2006 is about to be over and the time to tell you my list of best Chinese language movies released in the year. Most people of world have never seen most of movies I am about to say. Also, the ranking does not means one is absolutely better than the others. Here we go:
1. Curse of the Golden Flower
An emperor runs his family like a clock. He orders his wide, whom he never loved, to take one dose of medicine for each hour she is awake, even though she is not ill. His favorite son, the crown prince, the only child he had with his deceased ex-wife, seems only interested in having an affair with his stepmother and a court maid. The middle prince, who loves his mother more than his father, is the best candidate for inheriting the empire. The emperor knows that. He would pass the job to his second son, but not before killing his mother, who is planning something very big. Zhang Yimou carefully tells us a story of how a family, already rots from the inside, collapses in just one night. What more can we ask for if Chow Yun-Fat and Gong Li are on the screen together and Zhang Yimou turns the best from his brain into a vision wonder, which could suffocate your mind?
2. Crazy Stone
A precious stone is discovered in a toilet of a practically bankrupted craft factory. The factory's security chief, who is very upset about not becoming a cop, is assigned to guard the stone, which will be auctioned to save the factory, the only source of income for many people. Three thieves, who have never made much out of their crimes, see the stone as their chance of getting rich for real. A greedy real estate developer, who would like to collect the factory, hires a professional thief to steal the stone. 30 year old Ning Hao wrote and directed this probably most entertaining comedy ever comes out of China. This extravaganza is a real surprise, a movie fan made for other movie fans. Sure people may find it similar to a Guy Ritchie movie. But it is so enjoyable - so what? Nobody would think about that one day a movie can expose so many social problems in today's China in such a hilarious way. Millions of ordinary Chinese have enjoyed the movie. Even the premier ordered a private screen to get to know the misery of the bottom of the working class.
3. Exiled
Four hitmen arrive in Macao to meet the fifth man now quietly lives with wife. It turns out five of them once worked together in another job years ago in Hong Kong. Now they get together and each one has a mind of his own. Director Johnnie To is the man, maybe in only man (besides John Woo), who is capable of telling interesting stories about criminals, really really cool criminals and Exiled is really safe to be considered as another success story in Johnnie To's career. This one will probably never reach your local theaters. When you are searching it either in a DVD store or a web vendor, remember: make sure you get the Hong Kong version. The mainland Chinese version is really a shame.
4. Still Life
In a city is gradually flooded after the gigantic Three Georges Dam is built, a man arrives to look for his ex-"wife" he "purchased" and their 16 year old daughter and a woman arrives to look for his husband who has not contacted her for two years. The man finally meets his ex-wife and they decide to get married again and the woman asks for a devoice after realizing his husband is now living with another woman. Still Life surprisingly joined the competition of this year's Venice International Film Festival when the festival had already begun and several days later surprisingly captured the Golden Lion. A dam is being built and a town built over two thousand years ago disappears under water. Millions of people lose their homes and move to their new homes far away. Countless people are making a few hundred a month by turning their town into rubbles and a few others make millions by building a new town at high ground. Many great ironies could be found in this movie, if you could stand the slow drama.
5. Jasmine Women
In the 1930's Mo dreams about becoming a movie star and becomes the mistress of a studio manager. But an unplanned daughter makes ends her dream. In the 1950s, Li has a caring husband and an adopted daughter but Li's mind is slowly losing control. In the 1980s, Hua is pregnant but her husband decides to leave her for another woman. Cinematographer Hou Yong made his second directorial work. This is not an epic story about how China changes in the 20th Century but a small drama about four generations of women in an ordinary Shanghai family. Zhang Ziyi and Joan Chen, two great actresses, really make the movie work.
6. Courthouse on the Horseback
A judge, who almost reaches the age of retirement, a secretary, who is about to lose her job because of a newly introduced regulation, a young man, who just graduated from a law school. They travels to remote mountain villages to solve civil disputes. In the end, the young man runs away with his bride, the secretary finally retires and the judge continues the journey alone. Director Liu Jie makes a rare look at the life of the minority people living in remote mountains of southwestern China with this quiet and touching little drama shot in documentary style.
7. Little Red Flowers
A kindergarten in the 1960s Beijing, a young boy shows up and making himself fitting in is probably the biggest challenge he has ever faced. Director Zhang Yuan presented us an innocent story about the world of the kindergarteners, based on the semi-biographical novel by Beijing writer Wang Shuo. This is not a movie for kids, but rather something for the grownup to relive their childhood.
8. After This Our Exile
A gambling addicted father is the real trouble for his family of three. Mother decides to leave but the son wants to stay with his father, who has never recovered from his problems and turns his son to thief. After being silent for 17 years, Hong Kong New Wave director Patrick Tam makes a triumph return with his truly sad story, which is inspired by a true story Tam discovered in the 1990s.
9. Confession of Pain
A senior cop's father-in-law is brutally murdered and all evidences point to two jobless men. But his wife believes in something else and to get into the bottom of the truth, she hires a private detective, some once working for the senior cop. Andrew Lau and Alan Mak tell a story of gradually unfolding the unspeakable sad stories of two men, which in some sense, surpassed what they achieved with the Infernal Affairs trilogy.
10. Dog Bite Dog
A Cambodian young cold-blooded killer comes to Hong Kong to kill a local judge's wife and a redneck cop is in charge of solving the case. Two men clash and their struggle turns into a brutal game raw killing. Director Soi CHEANG makes sure this movie extremely violent while keeping the gory scenes as realistic as possible. This is not a movie everyone would enjoy but is definitely something some people will talk about years later.
The runner-up:
2 Become 1,
(Beijing New Picture Film Co., Focus Films, Milkyway Images, Xstream Pictures, Poly Hua Yi, China Film Group, Vision Films, Ar Port, Inc.) |
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GOING HOME Coming (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) | |||
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December 30, 2006 | |||
Written and helmed by Zhang Yang, the director of Sunflower, Quitting, Shower and Spicy Love Soup, Air (as stated in IMDB), Getting Home (according to the poster) or Falling Leaves Returning to the Root (the literal title) is a real story inspired black comedy about a farmer who tries to bring home the body of his friend, who died far from his village. Without a penny in his pocket, he cannot afford to ship his friend home in the normal way. He meets many interesting people along road. On a bus, he tries to protect everyone from being robbed. He wins the robbers' respect but is kicked off the bus because bus passengers discover there is a dead man on bus. Some steals his money and he dresses his dead friend as a homeless to beg for money. He attends someone's funeral to get a free meal. A hooker is asked by him to give his decomposing dead friend a makeover. A landslide blocks his way and he did his best to help the villagers and becomes a local hero. When he finally reach the end his the journey, he finds out his dead friend's village has already been flooded to make a reservoir.Stills
Related Stories: Trailer: Zhang Yang's Black Comedy AIR (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) November 11, 2006 |
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Jackie Chan Needs Protégés for his Ten Projects (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) | |||
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December 28, 2006 | |||
Jackie Chan has an ambitious plan – recruiting one or several protégés in China to make ten movies in the next few years, according to Sina.com. Among the ten untitled movies, two of them will be directed by Jackie Chan and three of them will be released by August 8, 2008, the day the Beijing Olympic begins. Backed by Jackie Chan’s JCE China, Hong Kong's EMP, China Film Group, Beijing Forbidden City Film Co. and Beijing TV station, a TV contest will be held next week in China to search for the protégé or protégés. Jackie Chan said the right candidates must be young and good at martial-art. He will announce the project at a press conference tomorrow in Beijing. |
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THE DEPARTED Barred from Chinese Screens (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) | ||||
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December 27, 2006 | ||||
The Chinese press reports Martin Scorsese’ The Departed has been prohibited from being shown in mainland Chinese cinemas. An unidentified person told the press that the Chinese Film Bureau asked Warner Brothers to cut several dialogues involving some arm deal, some “sensitive subject” and several indecent words. Martin Scorsese refused and Warner Brothers backed his decision. The Departed is based on hit thriller Infernal Affairs, produced by Hong Kong’s Media Asia several years ago. As part of the remake deal, Media Asia acquired the distribution rights in Asia, including the mainland China. Media Asia submitted the movie to the Chinese Film Bureau for censorship review two months ago and hoped to collect at least US$6 million in China. However, the authority’s decide has not stopped ordinary Chinese from getting access to the movie. Various bootlegged copies have been available online shortly after it was release last fall and DVDs containing a Russian-originated print have hit the streets in China last month. Despite the Chinese government’s effort on cracking down piracy, the public’s strong interest in foreign movies of all sorts has helped keeping the pirating industry strong in the country of over one billion consumers. |
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PROTÉGÉ Stills - Daniel Wu as the Protégé (Sina.com) | ||||
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December 26, 2006 | ||||
Related Stories: PROTÉGÉ Stuffs (...) December 10, 2006 PROTÉGÉ Teaser Posters (Sina.com.cn) November 20, 2006
PROTÉGÉ Teaser Trailer
(Film Unlimited)
October
20, 2006
PROTÉGÉ Production Photos
(Oriental Daily / The Hong Kong Sun)
PROTÉGÉ Press Conference Photos from
Hong Kong
(Sina.com.cn / OriSun.com)
PROTÉGÉ Plot Summary
(MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) Andy Lau as a Drug Lord in PROTÉGÉ (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) July 12, 2006Andy Lau Gets PROTÉGÉ Heads to BOARDING GATE (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) June 18, 2006Peter Chan Talks Future Projects - PROTÉGÉ BLOOD BROTHER Remake and More of THE EYE Series (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) April 13, 2006 |
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Celestial Pictures to Remake Shaw Bros. FIVE DEADLY VENOMS and FLYING GUILLOTINE (...) |
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December 25, 2006 | |||||||
Hong Kong-based Celestial Pictures recently announced that two projects to remake Five Deadly Venoms ( Wu Du) and Flying Guillotine (Xue Di Zi), produced by Shaw Brothers in the 1970s. Directed by The original Five Deadly Venoms is about a young protégé being ordered by his dying master to eliminate the evil ones among five of his previous protégés, known as the Five Deadly Venoms. Each of the Five Deadly Venoms has a lethal skill learned from a toxic animal. The young protégé has to identify and team up with the good one in order to defeat the other four. The story of the remake will be set in present days and the beautiful but lethal Spider Girl will join the all-male clan, replacing one of the original male characters. It will be written and directed by Kirk Wong (The Big Hit, Jackie Chan’s Crime Story). According to a previous report, Andy Lau may have been onboard as a financier and the cast may include Edison Chen, Maggie Q and Lau himself. Shooting would begin right after the Chinese New Year next spring.The original Flying Guillotine, directed Ho Meng-Hua, tells a fictional story of a young fighter rise against a killing team, which is frequently ordered by the evil emperor to eliminate people who may threaten the emperor. Members of the killing team use Flying Guillotines, capable of decapitating anyone from far distance. It will be written by Su Chao-Pin (Silk, Double Vision) and directed by Teddy Chen (Jackie Chan’s The Accidental Spy). Emi Wada (House of Flying Daggers, Hero, Ran) will be responsible for the costume. A separate report claims Chang Chen and Zhou Xun are being considered to play the male and female leads.
Celestial Pictures has restored and released many Shaw Brothers movie on DVD and these two remaking projects have been claimed by the studio as the first step to make a series of Shaw Brothers classics.
The original press article by Celestial Pictures.
Andy Lau to Remake Chang Cheh's Classic WU DU (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) October 9, 2006 |
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Hou Hsiao-hsien Will Shoot His First Martial-Art Project Next August? (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
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December 24, 2006 | |||
According to the Taiwanese press, Taiwan director Hou Hsiao-hsien is getting ready to shoot his first martial-art project Nie Yin Niang August next year. Hou announced the project about four years ago, and Shu Qi has committed to play the lead ever since. Based on a short story written in Tang Dynasty (618 - 907), the story is about the a woman assassin called Nie Yin Niang, who can transform herself to other creatures. According to the source, this movie will feature lavish costume and sets, which may push the production cost over US$10 millions. Mainland Chinese writer A Cheng ( The Go Master, Springtime in a Small Town, The King of Chess, King of the Children) has completed the first draft of the script. Since 1980, Hou Hsiao-hsien has made almost twenty movies and most of them are about the life of ordinary people in Taiwan. Shu Qi starred in Hou's Millennium Mambo and Three Times. Ballon Rouge, Hou's latest and first project outside of Asia, about a French boy and his babysitter's adventure with a red balloon, is currently in post-production.
Related Story: Hou Hsiao-hsien Is Ready To Have A Taste Of Wuxia (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) May 30, 2002 |
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December 23, 2006 | |||||||
Ang Lee shot a scene at a cinema in Shanghai last week.
(Left) Tang Wei as Wang Jiazhi. (Mid) Director Ang Lee. (Right) A poster of Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion, release in 1941. The story of Suspicion is about a woman who thinks her husband may be planning to kill her and the story of Lust, Caution is about a young woman seducing a puppet government official and sending him into an assassination trap.
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PROTÉGÉ Stills (Sina.com) | |||||||||
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December 22, 2006 | |||||||||
Opium poppy flowers turn to unripe seed pods, the seed pods produce white milk-like juice, the juice is turned to dark-color raw opium, raw opium is boiled, baked and fermented to produce brown-color cooked opium, cooked opium is converted to heroin base, heroin base is purified to produce heroin of various forms, the heroin is then smuggled to much of the world and finally sold to millions of addicts to be absorbed by their bodies. There is the complete life-cycle of opium based drugs director Yee Tung-Shing and producer Peter Chan intend to exhibit in Protégé. Yee spent three years to gather information, from addicts to people in the industry, before he finally decided to make it earlier this year.
Daniel Wu plays Ah Lik, who has been the protégé and named successor of drug lord Brother Gwan (Andy Lau) for eight years. Gwan, who controls the entire heroin market of Hong Kong, has never told Ah Lik where the drug was manufactured and stored and has never let him meet other members of the ring. Until one day, Gwan decides to retire and begins telling Ah Lik everything he needs to know. Director Yee Tung-Shing is now in Chiang Mai of northern Thailand shooting a scene of Gwan introducing Ah Lik to a local drug cartel。
Director Yee Tung-Shing tries to fully reveal the chilling reality of drugs to warn people about the dangerousness of drugs. He said, “taking soft drugs is popular among today’s young people and most dangerously, one out ten persons, who are exposed to soft drugs, will probably go into the extreme and sink into the world of drugs.”
The stories of Protégé will be told in a format similar to that of Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic. Andy Lau, Daniel Wu, Louis Koo, Anita Yuen and Zhang Jingchu portray five characters each plays a role in the world of drugs. Both director Yee Tung-Shing and producer Peter Chan have claimed Protégé would be a movie with no stars but actors. It will be released in Hong Kong, the mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore by mid-February.
Related Stories: PROTÉGÉ Stuffs (...) December 10, 2006 PROTÉGÉ Teaser Posters (Sina.com.cn) November 20, 2006
PROTÉGÉ Teaser Trailer
(Film Unlimited)
October
20, 2006
PROTÉGÉ Production Photos
(Oriental Daily / The Hong Kong Sun)
PROTÉGÉ Press Conference Photos from
Hong Kong
(Sina.com.cn / OriSun.com)
PROTÉGÉ Plot Summary
(MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) Andy Lau as a Drug Lord in PROTÉGÉ (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) July 12, 2006Andy Lau Gets PROTÉGÉ Heads to BOARDING GATE (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) June 18, 2006Peter Chan Talks Future Projects - PROTÉGÉ BLOOD BROTHER Remake and More of THE EYE Series (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) April 13, 2006 |
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Opening This Week: December 16 - 22 (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
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December 22, 2006 |
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A senior cop's father-in-law is brutally murdered and all evidences point to two jobless men. But his wife believes in something else and hires a private detective, some once working for the senior cop...
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Review: CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
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December 21, 2006 |
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With a cast of the best Chinese actors, a crew of the best from the trade and 45 million American dollars, director has made sure every frame people see on the big screen deserves every penny they paid at the box-office counter. Curse of the Golden Flower, Zhang Yimou’s the third multi-multi million dollar historical drama, is a lavish feast of colors, gold especially, and a emotional drama about how a rotten royal family collapses in just one night.
Bare this in mind, it is not fair to thumb down the film just because the production design is overwhelming and it is not fair to disappoint just because martial-art is not as big as in Zhang’s Hero and House of Flying Daggers, and it is also not fair to dismiss the drama as a Shakespearean-like soap just because the reviewer fails to catch the deeper layer of the story.
The story took place in an autumn during China’s Tang Dynasty during a period called “Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms” (907 – 1125); or it doesn’t matter, because it is based on Lei Yü (Thunderstorm), a play Cao Yü written in early 1930s and was about a story took place in early 1930s China.
Emperor Ping, played by the amazing Chow Yun-Fat, is a quiet but menacing ruler, who is never tolerant anyone or anything of his empire fails to run like a clock according to the rule he set. His gigantic palace compound is lavishly decorated with gold and precious stones. He orders everyone from his family, including himself to wear chokingly lavish golden robes everyday. But just like what Zhang Yimou said in one of his interviews, “Gold and jade on the outside, rot and decay on the inside”, the imperial family is in the final stage of cancer and each member is either twisted or corrupted.
The emperor’s wife, Empress Phoenix, played by the gorgeously gorgeous Gong Li, has been ill for many year, at least that’s what has been claimed by the emperor, who seems more interested in being a pharmacist than a ruler. For decades, the emperor is forcing his wife to drink one dose of medicine each hour, even those he hates it. There has never been love or anything remotely similar to love in between them. She was the princess of the King of Liang and married Ping purely for political purpose. Phoenix is have a secret affair with Prince Wan (Liu Ye), the Crown Prince and the emperor’s first born, who has felt sick about his relationship with his stepmom and turned his attention to a cute court maid Jiang Chan (Li Man), daughter of the imperial doctor (Ni Dahong). Wan is the emperor’s favorite son, maybe because his mother was dead when he was very young. Wan has no interest of the throne and the emperor knows the one right for the job is actually Prince Jie (played by super-diva Jay Chou), the mid-son of the imperial family, who loves his birth mother Phoenix and hates everything the emperor has done. The emperor has his plan – he would pass the power to his second son, but before doing so, he would kill his mother first. But of cause, the Empress has her own plan. This only cover about the first half hour of the movie, just in case you think the story is complicated enough. There are more to come – who is the imperial doctor’s wife (Chen Jin) and why does she work for the empress, why phoenix keeps making embroidered chrysanthemum despite her deteriorating health, and what the youngest Prince Cheng (Qin Junjie) have in mind? You need to see the movie to get the answers.
Chow Yun-Fat is badder than ever in the film and having been in the business for three decades, he is on the top of his career, even better than what he did in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. His trip to the Hollywood is regretfully a failure. Neither Replacement Killer nor Bulletproof Monk offers him any role more than cheap reproduction of roles he played in John Woo’s classics. I don’t really expect anything from Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End. What he plays is deemed to be something one-dimension stereotypical.
We have waited more than a decade to see Gong Li working again with Zhang Yimou. The waiting is worth every second of her screen time. At the age of 41, she is dead on portraying a desperate housewife crashed bit by bit by her sick-minded husband. Her performance in Memoirs of the Geisha is good but restricted, her part in Miami Vice is nothing more than a joke, and what about Lady Murasaki in Hannibal Rising? No I don’t think so.
Curse of the Golden Flower is only the second movie for Jay Chou stars in but and he has proved he could act other than singing. Liu Ye must be the favorite man for playing some with a weak mind. He was wasted in The Promise last year, but his time, he did his part just right. Chen Jin and Ni Dahong, as skilled actors, and Li Man and Qin Junjie, as new to the industry, played all made their small parts memorable.
The set, I just have to say something about the set. The palaces you will see in the movie, may look so unreal, but are actually part of a near full-scale replica of Beijing’s The Forbidden City, built in Hengdian World Studios. The palace interior was built inside Beijing Film Studios. The imperial post was built in the bottom of a place called “Heavenly Pit” near Chongqing city. Contrary to what he did for Hero, designer Huo Tingxiao made the set lavishly suffocating.
Zhang Yimou has push game of color into a new level and the cinematography Zhao Xiaoding’s (House of Flying Daggers, Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles) made these colors alive. Costumer Yee Chung-Man (Perhaps Love, Comrades: Almost a Love Story) perfectly transferred Zhang Yimou’s idea of “golden armor” (as in the original Chinese title) to the real thing. Ching Siu-Tung returned as the action director. The fight sequences are no longer in slow-motion and seem lasting forever. They are short, quick and effective.
Curse of the Golden Flower is like a scaled-up remake of Zhang Yimou’s Raise the Red Lantern. You should always remind yourself, while watching it – don’t just simply blown away by the colors, the actions and the overly exposed women’s chest (women did dressed like that at that time), otherwise you will miss many layers of the nicely written and carefully told story.
- MP
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CONFESSION OF PAIN Review (movieXclusive.com) | |||||||
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December 20, 2006 | |||||||
CONFESSION OF PAIN Stuffs (Sina.com.cn) December 13, 2006 CONFESSION OF PAIN Videos (Sina.com.cn) December 5, 2006 CONFESSION OF PAIN Stills (Sina.com.cn.) November 23, 2006 Another CONFESSION OF PAIN Trailer (Sina.com.cn.) November 22, 2006 CONFESSION OF PAIN Stuffs (...) November 16, 2006 CONFESSION OF PAIN Stills (Sina.com.cn.) November 23, 2006 Another CONFESSION OF PAIN Trailer (Sina.com.cn.) November 22, 2006
CONFESSION OF PAIN Stuffs
(...) November 16, 2006
CONFESSION OF PAIN Character
Posters
(Sina.com.cn) October
25, 2006
CONFESSION OF PAIN Teaser Trailer
(Sina.com.cn)
October 24, 2006
CONFESSION OF PAIN Stills - 2
(...)
October 21, 2006
CONFESSION OF PAIN Stills
(...)
October 16, 2006
More Winter Scenes for CONFESSION OF
PAIN
(The Hong Kong
Sun)
Takeshi Kaneshiro and Shu Qi Did More
Winter Scenes for CONFESSION OF PAIN
(...)
CONFESSION OF PAIN Production Photos
from Hong Kong Streets
(OriSun.com)
CONFESSION OF PAIN Official Plot
Description
(Media Asia)
CONFESSION OF PAIN / THE WOUNDED
CITY's New Plot
(MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
Takeshi Kaneshiro in THE WOUNDED
CITY / CONFESSION OF PAIN
(...)
THE WOUNDED CITY Becomes CONFESSION
OF PAIN in English
(MovieXclusive.com)
THE WOUNDED CITY Is BEHIND THE SIN
(MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) July
2, 2006
THE WOUNDED CITY in Production
(MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) June
29, 2006
Leung Chiu-Wai to Reunite with
INFERNAL AFFAIRS Directors in THE WOUNDED CITY
(MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
June 16, 2006 |
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December 19, 2006 |
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According to The Hollywood Report, Warner Bros. and producer Bob Yari are clashing over the final cut of The Painted Veil. Reportedly, as a film jointly produced by a China-based company (Warner Film HG Corp.), the Chinese film censors are demanding many cuts, which has alliteratively delayed the delivery of the finished print. However, the Chinese media report the film will be released firstly in Beijing, Shanghai, New York and Los Angeles this weekend. There is no mention of any delay of print delivery.
Click here for The Hollywood Reporter article. (Thanks to "Mary".) Chat with Edward Norton (by AICN).
Related stories: THE PAINTED VEIL Trailer in QuickTime HD (Apple.com) November 23, 2006
THE PAINTED VEIL Chinese Poster
(Sina.com.cn) November 15, 2006
Stills: THE PAINTED VEIL
(Sina.com.cn) November 14, 2006 THE PAINTED VEIL Release Dates (...) August 30, 2006 THE PAINTED VEIL Posters (Sina.com) June 11, 2006THE PAINTED VEIL Set Photo: Naomi Watts (Sina.com) October 29, 2005 Clip: Edward Norton Talks about THE PAINTED VEIL (Sina.com) October 9, 2005 Stills: THE PAINTED VEIL (Sina.com) October 1, 2005 Wong Chau-Sang Joints THE PAINTED VEIL Remake and Jiang Wen's THE SUN RISES AGAIN (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) August 13, 2005 THE PAINTED VEIL Remake Will Go into Production this Month in Beijing (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) August 3, 2005 |
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December 19, 2006 |
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Moriarty of AICN, John Li of movieXclusive.com and J-Skell all love this film. There reviews cannot be found at RottenTomatoes..
Review by Moriarty of Aintitcool.com. Review by John Li of movieXclusive.com. (Thanks to Ethan Teo.)
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CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER's First Weekend Revenue: US$12.3 millions (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
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December 18, 2006 |
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96 million yuans (US$12.3 millions), that was how much the Chinese paid in the past weekend to see Zhang Yimou's latest mega-budget historical epic, Curse of the Golden Flower, according to Beijing New Picture Film Co., which co-produced the film. This unbelievably high number more than doubles the old record (US$6.04 millions), set by Hero, Zhang's first mega budget historical drama, released four years ago. Zhang Weiping, president of Beijing New Picture Film Co., said many people went to see the movie because of good words of mouth. He is predicting another good performance during the second weekend because many theaters in China will run overnight screenings at the Christmas Eve. The movie is already shown on most screens in the country and number of such screens is on the rise. But it is still hard to tell weather the revenue from the domestic box-office will cover the US$45 millions spent on making it. Starting next week, the film will be released in the rest of Asia and North America.
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December 17, 2006 |
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Shooting of Children of Huang Shi has ended in China's northwestern Gansu Province and has restarted in eastern Zhejiang Province. Inspired by a true story, Children of Huang Shi tells a young British journalist George Hogg's (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) story in China during WWII. He is captured by the Japanese army, which just launched the full scale invasion against China. He is rescued by Jack Chen (Chow Yun-Fat), an officer of the communist-led New 4th Army, and is asked to escort 60 war orphans to safety. Michelle Yeoh plays Madam Wang, an aristocratic widow, who is helping Hogg. On the way to safety, Hogg falls in love with a young Australian nurse Lee (Radha Mitchell). After traveling almost a thousand miles through uninhabited mountains and desert, they finally arrive the deep end of Gansu Province.
Video (Sina.com):
Michelle Yeoh Web Theathre is running a continuous and comprehensive coverage of the project. Check it out.
More Pictures from THE CHILDREN OF HUANG SHI
(Sina.com.cn / TungStar)
November 29, 2006
A Few Singapore Kids for THE BITTER
SEA (MonkeyPeaches
Exclusive) August 1, 2005
Brendan Fraser to Rescue CHILDREN OF
GUANGXI in the War-Torn China
(MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
June 19, 2005
Brendan Fraser Reveals More Details
of CHILDREN OF GUANGXI
(MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
June 21, 2005 |
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Zhang Yimou's GOLDEN FLOWER Is CURSED TO Break A Money Record (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
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December 16, 2006 |
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The flower might be cursed, but the movie is not, at least not in China. According to Beijing New Picture Film Co., which co-produced Zhang Yimou's latest mega budget historical epic Curse of the Golden Flower, the film collected over 15 million yuans (US$1.92 millions) at the opening night (Thursday) in China, a new record of the country. The number would be much higher if the release on Thursday were not "limited." The movie is now shown on most screens in China, from as early as eight in the morning to as late as twelve in the evening. However, the first night revenue only recovered a very small percentage of the US$45 millions spent on making it.
More about Curse of the Golden Flower
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Opening This Week: December 9 - 15 (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
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December 15, 2006 |
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Story of an imperial family rots from within, a man looks for the woman he once lived with and a woman looks the man she no longer love...
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December 14, 2006 |
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Yesterday is the 69th anniversary of the fall of Nanking/Nanjing, then capital of China and the beginning of a weeks long massacre carried out by the Japanese force, which took the life of hundreds thousands of civilians and prisons of war. A ceremony was hold outside the city to mark the beginning of the set construction for The Rape of Nanking, based on the same title book by late author Iris Chang..The near US$40 million project is jointly produced by China's Jiangsu Cultural Industry Group and US-based Viridian Entertainment, with partial funding from the UK. The film will focus on how a group of foreign nationals helped protecting thousands of civilians during the massacre. The script is written by William J. MacDonald (Rome the TV series), who also serves as one of the project’s producers. The project is helmed by Simon West (Con Air, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, When a Stranger Calls). The cast list has not been finalized but the producers have hope Clint Eastwood, Meryl Streep, Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi to sign on. The set, which will occupy an area equal to about 7 and a half football fields, will include replicated buildings of the Nanjing City from the 1930s, including a city gate, a harbor, an embassy district, a women's school, residential houses and several major intersections. Shooting will start in spring next year and wrap by July. The release is aimed at December 2007.
Chinese director Lu Chuan (Kekexili: The Mountain Patrol, The Missing Gun), works as a consultant of The Rape of Nanking, is also planning his own Nanjing Massacre project, titled Nanjing! Nanjing!, which is also in serious pre-production. It is budgeted to cost about US$26 millions, which will be shared by China Film Group Corp., Beijing-based Stellar MegaMedia and Hong Kong-based Emperor Motion Pictures. The story will follow a Chinese soldier and a Japanese soldier’s stories during the massacre. A set, occupying an area equal to almost 28 football fields, will be constructed in Sichuan Province, near 800 miles west of Nanjing. Shooting is scheduled to begin next Spring and the release is also planned for December.
The third project, titled The Diary, is pushed by Hong Kong director Stanley Tong (The Myth, First Strike, Rumble in Bronx.). The story will begin in 1937, when Japan launched the full scale invasion against China and will end by 1946, the year dozens of Japanese war criminals were trialed in Tokyo. The investment, almost US$40 millions, will come from China, the US, Germany and Japan. Shooting is set to start by next March.
Photos: The Rape of Nanking.Nanjing! Nanjing : A conceptual painting Lu Chuan directing a test shot: A B
RAPE OF NANKING Adaptation Reassumed (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) August 15, 2006Stanley Tong Wants to Tell His Nanjing Massacre Story with THE DIARY (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) May 21, 2006Hollywood to Tell a Rape of Story (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) April 1, 2006 |
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December 13, 2006 |
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CONFESSION OF PAIN Videos (Sina.com.cn) December 5, 2006 CONFESSION OF PAIN Stills (Sina.com.cn.) November 23, 2006 Another CONFESSION OF PAIN Trailer (Sina.com.cn.) November 22, 2006 CONFESSION OF PAIN Stuffs (...) November 16, 2006 CONFESSION OF PAIN Stills (Sina.com.cn.) November 23, 2006 Another CONFESSION OF PAIN Trailer (Sina.com.cn.) November 22, 2006
CONFESSION OF PAIN Stuffs
(...) November 16, 2006
CONFESSION OF PAIN Character
Posters
(Sina.com.cn)
October
25, 2006
CONFESSION OF PAIN Teaser Trailer
(Sina.com.cn)
October 24, 2006
CONFESSION OF PAIN Stills - 2
(...)
October 21, 2006
CONFESSION OF PAIN Stills
(...)
October 16, 2006
More Winter Scenes for CONFESSION OF
PAIN
(The Hong Kong
Sun)
Takeshi Kaneshiro and Shu Qi Did More
Winter Scenes for CONFESSION OF PAIN
(...)
CONFESSION OF PAIN Production Photos
from Hong Kong Streets
(OriSun.com)
CONFESSION OF PAIN Official Plot
Description
(Media Asia)
CONFESSION OF PAIN / THE WOUNDED
CITY's New Plot
(MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
Takeshi Kaneshiro in THE WOUNDED
CITY / CONFESSION OF PAIN
(...)
THE WOUNDED CITY Becomes CONFESSION
OF PAIN in English
(MovieXclusive.com)
THE WOUNDED CITY Is BEHIND THE SIN
(MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) July
2, 2006
THE WOUNDED CITY in Production
(MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) June
29, 2006
Leung Chiu-Wai to Reunite with
INFERNAL AFFAIRS Directors in THE WOUNDED CITY
(MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
June 16, 2006 |
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December 12, 2006 |
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December 11, 2006 |
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December 10, 2006 |
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username: protege password: gethigh
(Thanks to Kaiju Shakedown for the trailer and thanks to "mary" for pointting it out; and thanks to Twitch for the vertical poster.)
Related Stories: PROTÉGÉ Teaser Posters (Sina.com.cn) November 20, 2006
PROTÉGÉ Teaser Trailer
(Film Unlimited)
October
20, 2006
PROTÉGÉ Production Photos
(Oriental Daily / The Hong Kong Sun)
PROTÉGÉ Press Conference Photos from
Hong Kong
(Sina.com.cn / OriSun.com)
PROTÉGÉ Plot Summary
(MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) Andy Lau as a Drug Lord in PROTÉGÉ (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) July 12, 2006Andy Lau Gets PROTÉGÉ Heads to BOARDING GATE (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) June 18, 2006Peter Chan Talks Future Projects - PROTÉGÉ BLOOD BROTHER Remake and More of THE EYE Series (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) April 13, 2006 |
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December 9, 2006 |
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December 8, 2006 |
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A guy learns the secret of gambling from a follow inmate and in exchange, he agrees to assist the inmate on the table once they are out…
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December 7, 2006 |
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December 6, 2006 |
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Ci Ma is inspired by a
true event: On July 26, 1870 (Qing Dynasty of China), Ma Xinyi, the
Governor of Liangjiang (referring to the provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui and
Jiangxi) was assassinated on the way back home. The assassin Zhang
Wenxiang did not run and was captured immediately. Dowager Empress Cixi
sent several top officials to handle the case. Over a year after, the
government announced Zhang collaborated with pirates and plotted the
assassination alone and sent Zhang to death. But the public never
believed what the government claimed and multiple rumors suggested that
Ma, Zhang and a third man were once sworn brothers served in the
government force to crack down the Taiping Rebellion (1853 - 1864). Ma
murdered the third man and forced the third man’s wife married him. Then
Zhang assassinated Ma to revenge his dead brother. It has never been
clear whether these rumors were true. There is no solid evidence to
prove that the third brother ever existed and even his name varies from
rumor to rumor.
Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro for Peter Chan's Ci Ma Remake (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) September 28, 2006Peter Chan Talks Future Projects - PROTÉGÉ, BLOOD BROTHER Remake and More of THE EYE Series (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) April 13, 2006 |
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December 5, 2006 |
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Theme song music video - "Secret" by Ayumi Hamasaki
Related Stories: CONFESSION OF PAIN Stills (Sina.com.cn.) November 23, 2006 Another CONFESSION OF PAIN Trailer (Sina.com.cn.) November 22, 2006 CONFESSION OF PAIN Stuffs (...) November 16, 2006 CONFESSION OF PAIN Character Posters (Sina.com.cn) October 25, 2006 CONFESSION OF PAIN Teaser Trailer (Sina.com.cn) October 24, 2006 CONFESSION OF PAIN Stills - 2 (...) October 21, 2006
CONFESSION OF PAIN Stills
(...)
October 16, 2006
More Winter Scenes for CONFESSION OF
PAIN
(The Hong Kong
Sun)
Takeshi Kaneshiro and Shu Qi Did More
Winter Scenes for CONFESSION OF PAIN
(...)
CONFESSION OF PAIN Production Photos
from Hong Kong Streets
(OriSun.com)
CONFESSION OF PAIN Official Plot
Description
(Media Asia)
CONFESSION OF PAIN / THE WOUNDED
CITY's New Plot
(MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
Takeshi Kaneshiro in THE WOUNDED
CITY / CONFESSION OF PAIN
(...)
THE WOUNDED CITY Becomes CONFESSION
OF PAIN in English
(MovieXclusive.com)
THE WOUNDED CITY Is BEHIND THE SIN
(MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) July
2, 2006
THE WOUNDED CITY in Production
(MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) June
29, 2006
Leung Chiu-Wai to Reunite with
INFERNAL AFFAIRS Directors in THE WOUNDED CITY
(MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
June 16, 2006 |
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Teaser Trailer for Chinese Made Horror Flick THE DOOR (Sina.com.cn) |
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December 5, 2006 |
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Related Stories: September 14, 2006Li Shaohong Wrapped up THE DOOR (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) July 8, 2006Li Shaohong to Build a Thrilling GATE or DOOR (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) March 4, 2006 |
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From the Press Conference for Peter Chan's CI MA (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
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December 4, 2006 |
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The major cast and crew of the Ci Ma met the press for the first time this afternoon in Beijing. The conference was attended by director Peter Chan, three leads Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro, and heads of three major financiers, Han Sanping of China Film Group Corp., John Chong of Media Asia and Andrew Morgan of Morgan & Chan Films. Action director Ching Siu-Tung and the female lead did not show up. The organizer screened a teaser trailer with a slideshow of a series of painting, war scenes and head shots of the three leads. Director Peter Chan admitted that he got the idea of making a movie about bond among men after he saw John Woo's A Better Tomorrow. He would not call his project a remake of Chang Cheh's Ci Ma, there were over ten versions of the assassination of Governor Ma Xinyi, which would be featured in the movie, and his version was different from that of Chang Cheh's. Jet Li said Peter Chan persuaded him to join the project by telling him this was an anti-war movie rather than a wushu movie, which Li had decided he would no longer do. Andy Lau said he would like to try all three roles with some help from CG technology. Takeshi Kaneshiro said the shooting had only begun for a few days and the location was so remote that they had to spent five to six hours on the road each time. This US$40 million project are jointly produced by China Film Group Corp., Hong Kong-based Media Asia Films, Hong Kong-based Morgan & Chan Films Ltd., Beijing Poly-Bona Film Publishing Co., Beijing-based Jinyingma Movie & TV Culture Co. Ltd., Beijing-based Chengtian Entertainment International Holdings Ltd. and also Beijing-based Stellar MegaMedia Group.
Follow-up: the unconfirmed English title of Ci Ma is “The Blood Brothers” which is one of various English titles of the original Ci Ma. However, the English title picked for “Gate to Heaven”, a remake of John Woo’s Bullet in the Head, is “Blood Brothers.” Don’t be confused!
(Thanks to Jet Liang for contributing to this story.)
A video recorded at the press conference. (Sina.com)
Snapshots from the press conference: A B
Related Stories: Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro for Peter Chan's Ci Ma Remake (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) September 28, 2006 Peter Chan Talks Future Projects - PROTÉGÉ, BLOOD BROTHER Remake and More of THE EYE Series (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) April 13, 2006 |
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THE GREAT MOVIE: TENS OF BILLIONS - A Chinese Version of SCARY MOVIE (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
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December 3, 2006 |
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Da Dian Ying Zhi Shu Bai Yi (literal title: The Great Movie: Tens of Billions) is set for a theatrical release in China later this month. First of its kind in China, the movie is spoofing over 20 movies recently popular in China - House of Flying Daggers, Kung Fu Hustle, Infernal Affairs, In the Mood for Love, 2046, The Matrix, Daisy, Ringu, Brokeback Mountain.. The cast includes Hong Kong veteran Eric Tsang, Yao Chen from popular Chinese sitcom comedy series My Own Swordsman, Huang Bo from hit comedy Crazy Stone and TV actress Jiao Yang. The movie is written by Ning Caishen (My Own Swordsman) and directed by Agan.
Trailers: Short Version (2:07) Long Version (13:09)
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Director Tsai Ming-Liang's List for His New Project (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
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December 2, 2006 |
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Taiwan-based festival regular, director Tsai Ming-Liang, a has briefly talked to a local reporter about the choice for his new project titled Face (literal). The list includes Maggie Cheung, whose role is Salome, Lee Kang-Sheng, who has starred in many films by Tsai, and veteran French star Jean-Pierre Léaud, who cameoed in Tsai's What Time Is It There? He did not say anything about the story but said the French government had granted him the privilege to shoot the movie inside the Louvre. Tsai also side Maggie Cheung would commit to this project without reading the script first. Shooting is expected to begin by the end of next year, with US$4.6 million. |
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Peter Chan Starts Remaking Ci Ma in Beijing (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
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December 1, 2006 |
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According to the Chinese press, the production of the remake of Chang Cheh’s Shaw Bros. kung-fu classic Ci Ma has already begun at somewhere outside of Beijing City. Story of the original Ci Ma (aka. Blood Brothers / Chinese Vengeance / Dynasty of Blood / Kung Fu Invaders), released in 1973, was based on novels inspired by a true event. It starts with three bandits, sworn brothers, Zhang Wenxiang, Huang Zong and Ma Xinyi joining the government force to suppress the Taiping Rebellion (1853 - 1864) and later becoming highly decorated. While being promoted to a governor, Ma murders Huang and takes Huang's beautiful wife with him. Zhang swears to revenge his dead brother and plans to assassinate Ma, against all odds. The original Chinese title, Ci Ma, literally means "The Assassination of Ma."
In the remake, Jet Li is playing Ma, the governor, Andy Lau is playing Huang, the one murdered by Ma, and Takeshi Kaneshiro is playing Zhang, the third brother plans to assassinate Ma. A press conference will be held next Monday in Beijing to announce who is playing Huang’s wife (A rumor says she is Xu Jinglei). Shooting will take place in suburban Beijing, Yi County of Hebei Province, Hengdian World Studios of Zhejiang Province and Shanghai. Hong Kong-based director and producer Peter Chan starts working in the late 1980s. His directorial titles include musical love-triangle story Perhaps Love, horror flick Three (segment "Going Home") and love story Comrades: Almost a Love Story). His is also attached to produce the Hollywood remake of Hong Kong horror film The Eye.
Director Peter Chan intends to do the remake somewhat differently from what Chang Cheh did for the original. The history backdrop will be emphasized, more screen time will be spent on the character buildup, and Huang’s wife will be a bigger role in the remake. This US$30 million project is a collaboration among China Film Group Corp., Hong Kong’s Media Asia Films, Morgan & Chan Films Ltd. and Beijing Poly-Bona Film Publishing Co. Filming will last about three months and a theatrical release will likely come by the end of 2007.
(Thanks to "Jet Liang" for contributing to this story.)
Related: Takeshi Kaneshiro grows beard for his role. Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro for Peter Chan's Ci Ma Remake (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) September 28, 2006 Peter Chan Talks Future Projects - PROTÉGÉ, BLOOD BROTHER Remake and More of THE EYE Series (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) April 13, 2006 |
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Opening This Week: November 25 - December 1 (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
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December 1, 2006 |
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A love story without a happy ending, a little boy without a good dad and a video game character without a
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