Nicholas Tse set to ‘Cook Up a Storm’ during Spring Festival

HONG KONG: After rising to fame through the three seasons of his food show Chef Nic, Hong Kong actor Nicholas Tse is now heading to the big screen, where he will join South Korean actor Jung Yong-Hwa and Chinese actor Ge You for the film ' Cook Up a Storm'. At a press conference on Monday, the film's producers announced that the film will release on Jan 28, the first day of the seven- day Spring Festival holidays. This sets the film up to compete with nine other Chinese films releasing on that same day, including Jackie Ch a n's 'Kung Fu Yoga' and Stephen Chow's 'Journey to the West : Conquering the Demons 2'.

'Cook Up a Storm' focuses on the competition between a littleknown chef from a small local restaurant in Shunde, South China's Guangdong Province, and a three- star Michelin chef who studied overseas.

Meanwhile, Tse expected the film's theme and its release date to help the movie as food is a recurring theme during the Chinese New Year holiday, a weeklong celebration with lots family banquets.

He also said his experience in hosting the food program gave him another role in the film's production: He had to design dishes for the movie's characters, including foreign chefs from Italy and Indian.

But he clarified that the movie had no link with the programme. “It's a brand-new story,” he said.

Ge, who did not show up at the event to mark the trailer's release, said via a video that this was first time in his 30year career he was starring in a movie tailored for the Spring Festival holiday.

He hoped that the food as well as the story would resonate with Chinese audiences during the holiday.

The cast also includes actresses Tang Yan and Bai Bing.