Soi Cheang will direct Kowloon Walled City, an adaptation of the popular 2010 cult manhwa, “City Of Darkness”, from creators Andy Seto and “Yuyi”.
As Screen‘s own Liz Shackleton reports that actors Max Zhang (The Brink), Louis Koo (Paradox) and Richie Jen (Bodies At Rest) will star in the film which is “set in the 1980s inside Hong Kong’s infamous walled city, which was demolished in 1993”; According to 88Bar‘s Jason Li in a 2018 review of the property, the initial story “…chronicles the fall and rise of prominent gangster and martial artist 陳洛軍 (“Lok”) as he goes into hiding in the Kowloon Walled City after a bitter fight with his former boss.”
Wilson Yip (Ip Man franchise, Flashpoint SPL, Dragon Tiger Gate) is producing the film next to Media Asia’s John Chong, who was hands-on during last week’s virtual EFM, with Kowloon Walled City as one of multiple titles under the sales banner (another being Cheang’s gritty crime thriller, Limbo).
Interestingly enough, a seperate, pre-existing incarnation of Kowloon Walled City was set in the 1970s with no manhwa context and would’ve been realized under Donnie Yen’s Super Hero Films banner eight years ago from director Derek Kwok, with Cheang directing another title under the label, The Master, neither of which came to pass…
Fascinating.
Production details remain pending on Cheang’s Kowloon Walled City while more details arise from last week’s market and future trade events going forward.
