‘Bleeding Steel’ among most-awaited movies
BLEEDING Steel starring Jackie Chan lead the list of mostawaited China-made movies of the year.
Leo Zhang directed the scifi action movie, with Jackie portraying an agent protecting a witness in a conspiracy.
The film has an international cast and crew, including Callan Mulvey ( Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice), and a part of it was shot in Australia, where Jackie has an extraordinary fight on the roof of the Sydney Opera House.
It was the most expensive Chinese film ever shot in Australia.
The movie follows a hardened Special Forces agent (Jackie) who has to protect a young woman after she witnesses a “sinister conspiracy”, and he develops a connection with her like they have met before’.
Last year, despite huge expectations, he box office in China failed to excite.
But filmmakers are hoping this year shall see the unfolding of a slew of blockbusters.
To date, Stephen Chow’s Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back has had mixed fortunes. In China, it has not been as huge as predicted, although in overseas markets, it had excelled.
During the previous Lunar New Year period, Chow’s film The Mermaid had grossed3.39 billion yuan ( US$ 517.3 million).
Also eagerly-awaited this year is Wu Kong, a film adaptation of the “no.1 Internet novel” Wu Kong Biography, written by Zeng Yu. It is an alternative and postmodern narrative of the stories of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King from the ancient Chinese fantasy classic “Journey to the West.” It is directed by Derek Kwok, who co- directed Stephen Chow’s Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons in 2013, and starring Hong Kong actor Shawn Yue and Taiwan actor Eddie Peng.
It is to begin screening on July 13.
A fter receiving accolades in many festivals for his film I’m Not Madame Bovary, director Feng Xiaogang will take the helm of a new project Fang Hua with a budget of more than 120 million yuan. It tells the life and love story of young people in a military art troupe during the 1970s-1980s, as the era goes through drastic changes.
The film will debut in China on Oct 1.
The Summer is Gone, written and directed by Dalei Zhang as his directorial debut, is a Chinese semi- autobiographical drama film that surprisingly won Best Feature Film and Best New Performer at the 2016 Golden Horse Awards. It follows a nostalgic story of a 12- year- old boy ( played by Kong Weiyi) living in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 1994 when many State- owned enterprises were transitioning to private companies, affecting his father’s job and their lives. With this film, director Zhang Dalei turned his own memories of his father and family into lyrical prose poetry, and the child star Kong Weiyi’s performance has stunned all in the film industry. Its release date is Mar 24. A Rain Cloud in the Sky is a commercial film of crime genre, directed by China’s major arthouse director Lou Ye who has previously made and won awards for films such as Mystery, Suzhou River and Blind Massage. It is an extraordinary career move for his fans and the film production will have unique qualities. Formerly known as “Hell Lovers” starring Jing Boran and Ma Sichun, the film has also attracting attention since it will be the first comeback feature film for the controversial Hong Kong star Edison Chen, who was involved in a widely publicised sex scandal when sexually explicit nude photographs of him with other female celebrities, including Cecilia Cheung and Gillian Chung, were posted online. Chen had since quit his showbiz career up until now.
The film is set for release this year, with no date set as yet.
The Great Escape is an arthouse war epic drama directed by China’s most esteemed art house director Ann Hui, starring Zhou Xun, Eddie Peng, Jiang Wenli and Wallace Huo. Set in the 1940s, it tells the story of a legendary woman Fang Gu ( Zhou Xun), who is one of the key figures during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. It will also portray the fight and struggle for freedom and independence by youths of the resistance groups.
Though Ann Hui’s last epic The Golden Era flopped at box offices, it won Best Film and Best Director awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards. The Great Escape will surely be a great contender for various film awards and festivals if Hui hasn’t lost her grip of her own artistry.
Duckweed is the second directorial work from writer-turned-director Han Han and stars Deng Chao, Eddie Peng and Zhao Liying. Han made his name in writing, but later seemed to have more passion for race- car driving. When his 2014 directorial debut Continent grossed 628.8 million yuan, he established his status as a filmmaker. Duckweed tells the hilarious and heart-warming story of a relationship between two generations in a small township