Fan Bingbing confirmed for comeback with thriller ‘355’
LOS ANGELES: It’s been confirmed that scandal-tainted actress Fan Bingbing shall be making a comeback with the Hollywood thriller 355.
Director Simon Kinberg has confirmed in an interview that Fan is still contracted to the film. She shall be starring alongside award-winning actresses Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, and Lupita Nyong’o.
Added Simon: “They are not only interested, but promised to star in this movie.”
The espionage movie has entered the final script revision stage and is expected to begin production this year. Currently casting male actors, the film is scheduled for a 2020 premiere.
Led by an all female main cast, 355 is the female version of the spy film 007.
To globalise its appeal, five actresses of different nationalities were specifically selected to star in it.
However, it was previously rumoured that the film company was worried that the Fan tax evasion scandal would negatively affect the movie.
They actually wanted to replace her.
Now that the director has confirmed she will be in the movie, her bankability as an actress has been reaffirmed.
But it is not known how Fan could actually appear in a movie
They are not only interested, but promised to star in this movie. Simon Kinberg, director
when she is currently banned from showbiz in China.
Kinberg could apparently be alluding to the fact that the movie would not be released in mainland China.
During last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Fan had told newsmen that she had been cast for the movie.
When she was fined nearly 600 million yuan ( RM365 million) for tax evasion, news reports speculated that she would be replaced by Zhang Ziyi.
Currently, Fan is managing a beauty salon in Beijing’s bustling business district of Guomao.
Her least expensive package on offer costs 50,000 yuan (about RM31,000).
The film 355 is based on an idea that Chastain came up with, and the movie has drawn comparisons to Mission: Impossible and Charlie’s Angels.