Film starring fallen Fan axed

Director: ‘Air Strike’ release cancelled over actress’ tax evasion case

BEIJING:

The director of Air Strike, featuring Chinese actress Fan Bingbing (pic), says the film’s release has been cancelled in the wake of her disappearance and conviction on tax evasion charges.

The World War II thriller, which also stars Bruce Willis and Adrien Brody, was to have been released on Oct 26.

However, director Xiao Feng posted on his Weibo miniblog yesterday that it was “time to let go” after eight years of work on the film.

Chinese tax authorities this month ordered Fan and companies she represents to pay taxes and penalties amounting to US$130mil (RM539mil), ending speculation over the fate of one of the country’s highest-profile entertainers three months after she disappeared from public view.

State media said Fan evaded taxes by using two separate contracts for her work on Air Strike.

Fan has starred in dozens of movies and TV series in China and is best known internationally for her role as Blink in 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, a cameo in the Chinese version of Iron Man 3, and for star turns on the red carpet at Cannes as recently as May.

Before her disappearance, she had been booked to star alongside Penelope Cruz in the Hollywood film 355.

Fan posted an apology on her official Weibo account saying that she accepted the tax authorities’ decision and would “try my best to overcome all difficulties and raise funds to pay back taxes and fines”.

“I am unworthy of the trust of the society and let down the fans who love me,” she wrote in her first update of her Weibo.com microblog since June 2.

Fan’s disappearance coincided with a crackdown by Chinese authorities on high salaries for actors that can eat up much of the cost of a production.

In June, regulators capped star pay at 40% of a TV show’s entire production budget and 70% of the total paid to all the actors in a film.