Proposed Movie Projects for 2013
Above: Tony Leung and Zhou Xun invited to film “Lin Huiyin”.
At the recent Beijing International Film Festival exhibition, new proposed film projects for 2013 were revealed. Known to be a distributor of horror films, Heng Ye Film Company decided to venture into other genres. Announced projects include a biopic of China’s first female architect, Lin Huiyin (林徽因), in which Chinese director Chen Kaige (陈凯歌) and Zhou Xun (周迅) and Tony Leung (梁朝伟) have been invited to participate.
For years, Heng Ye focused on the horror genre, with films such as Midnight Taxi <午夜出租车> as well as Blood Stained Shoes <绣花鞋> which were released last year. According to Heng Ye’s spokesperson, the market for horror films is dwindling and the company seeks to expand the variety of their films, “Even though the market for films has risen, the box office results for horror films are declining. Though we are looking into the other genres, we will continue to film sophisticated horror films.”
Surprisingly, one of the films which will be made is the sequel to The Allure of Tears <倾城之泪>. Despite the star-studded cast of Gigi Leung (梁詠琪) and Richie Jen (任賢齊), the film suffered at the box office. The Allure of Tears performed poorly in 2011 because the tearjerker was released during the Lunar New Year period while competing with The Flowers of War <金陵十三釵>, Flying Swords of Dragon Gate <龙门飞甲> and Dear Enemy <亲密敌人>. However, Heng Ye is confident that the sequel, entitled Sky City <倾城之泪3天空之城> will fare better. Sky City will feature a different director, storyline, and cast.
Below are the movie line-ups for 2013:
Lin Huiyin <林徽因>
Genre: Biopic, Romance
Director: Chen Kaige (unconfirmed)
Screenwriter: Qian Haiyi (钱海毅)
Cast: Zhou Xun (周迅), Tony Leung (梁朝伟), Huang Lei (黄磊), Mark Chao (unconfirmed)
Snyopsis: The film will focus on the life of the first female architect in China, Lin Huiyin, who had studied in the University of Pennsylvania and Yale University. Upon her return to China, Lin designed a railroad station and monuments at Tiananmen Square.
No 81 <朝内81号> in 3D
Genre: Thriller
Director: Yip Wai Man (叶伟民)
Producer/Screenwriter: Manfred Wong (王文雋)
Cast: Francis Ng (吴镇宇), Monica Mok (莫小棋), Ruby Lin (林心如), Amanda Qin (秦海璐)
Synopsis: Story spans two lifetimes, in which 3 brothers from a well-to-do family and their love entanglement with some prostitutes.
Art of War – Showdown <智战——巅峰对决>
Genre: Business War
Cast: Chen Daoming (陈道明), Sean Lau (刘青云), Daniel Wu (吴彦祖, Xu Jinglei (徐静蕾) [ unconfirmed]
Synopsis: The story will revolve around the 2008 financial crisis
Budget: 80 million RMB
At the Same Table <同桌>
Genre: Romance
Director: Hou Jiran (侯季然)
Cast: Kwai Lun Mei (桂纶镁), Amber Kuo (郭采洁), Eddie Peng (彭于晏)
Budget: 18 million RMB
Filming will begin in September this year and is scheduled to be finish after 40 days
Sky City <倾城之泪3天空之城>
Genre: Romance
Director: August Chang (八月长安)
Cast: Ethan Ruan (阮经天), Vic Chou (周渝民), Bai Baihe (白百何) [unconfirmed]
Budget: 26 million RMB
Filming will begin in September and end November
Superstar <天王巨星>
Genre: Teen, Inspirational
Director: Andy Chin (钱永强) [unconfirmed]
Cast: May Day (五月天), Jam Hsiao (萧敬腾), Sky Wu (伍思凯) [unconfirmed]
Budget: 25 million RMB
Filming begins November
World is in My Hands <世界任我行>
Genre: Comedy
Cast: Odie (欧弟), Guo Tao (郭涛), Shen Yang (小沈阳), Huang Xiaolei (黄小蕾) [unconfirmed]
Synopsis: Two idiots and three jerks’ humorous encounters.
Source: 21CN.com
This article is written by Karen for JayneStars.com.
Image caption: “Heh….I know Terminator hates me. But I bet Terminator doesnt go home to Carina Lau every night *smirk*”
>At the Same Table
>Cast: Kwai Lun Mei (桂纶镁), Amber Kuo (郭采洁), Eddie Peng (彭于晏)
Kwai Lun-Mei AND Amber Kuo?
My body is ready.
“Lin Huiyin” looks to be an interesting project, as it will likely feature some scenes to be filmed in the USA due to Lin’s early education here. Although another collaboration between Zhou Xun and Tony Leung?
Wonder if Huang Lei is reprising his tv role of Xu Zhimo in the movie?
The last collaboration I watched of Zhou Xun with Huang Lei was that tv biopic of poet Xu Zhimo with Zhou Xun as one his love interests.
They have good chemistry and enjoy working together. It just depends on the script.
Chen Kaige. I don’t know, never heard of him. He’s probably just some dude who makes red films…hope he won’t screw this up. (Heh…heh). No, seriously though, I think Kaige’s got the cred for the production companies to give him a nice budget and with his direction the script won’t turn into another “Silent War”.
No, Chen Kaige is not a dude who only made ‘red film’. It’s one of the more prominent 5th generation directors which also include Zhang Yimou.
Check out his film resume here. He filmed quite a wide variety of genre.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chen_Kaige
It was a joke. I mentioned Kaige in my “Leslie Cheung” piece as he was the director of “Farewell my Concubine” and “Temptress Moon”.
nothing about Five Demon Traps ): guess it’s not happening