aaron kwok

From L to R: William Feng, Xiao Shen Yang, Gong Li, Him Law and Aaron Kwok

Late author Wu Cheng’en’s 16th century novel, “Journey To The West”, continually makes for great source material for those interested in seeing what great lengths they can take to accommodate possible film prospects. Terence Cheung knows this, having already seen major results with this year’s long-awaited fantasy adaptation, The Monkey King with action star Donnie Yen back in January.

Now, as per earlier plans to expand on the film’s success with the prospects of turning it into a franchise, principal photography is already underway in Wuxi, China for The Monkey King 2 from Filmko Entertainment. Actor Aaron Kwok who portrayed the Bull Demon King in the first film has inherited the title role in the new movie, which will be centered on Curse Of The Golden Flower leading lady, actress Gong Li‘s portrayal of The White Skeleton Demon. Actor William Feng is also starring as the holy monk, Tang Sanzang who begins his westward journey to retrieve the Buddhist scrolls. Playing his disciples are actor Xiao Shen Yang as the pig, Zhu Bajie, and actor Him Law as the sand monk, Sha Wujing, the latter who had a smaller role in the first film as young god, Muzha.

Co-producer Michael Wehrhahn, representing Global Star Productions for the first film’s expected release next year, was on hand to share some gems publicly about the sequel last month while attending the Urban Action Showcase & Expo. “It’s going to be a little bit more developed…” he said in part. “…I’m estimating that we’ll probably have it wrapped up within the next two years.” Indeed, as the production is currently slated for a five-month period as of late November with plans to release the film in time for the Lunar New Year celebration on February 8, 2016. Obviously it’s still a bit of wait, although it is much shorter compared to its predecessor which took close to four years following Yen’s attachment, although this should be more of a cakewalk by now with a teaser possibly arriving around late Fall, give or take a few weeks.

In the meantime, Global Star Productions is on track to deliver a North American version of The Monkey King by February next year while Cheung‘s recently completed effort with the upcoming Tony Jaa/Wu Jing headliner, SPL 2: A Time For Consequences is readying a 2015 release as well.

Stay tuned for more info. In the meantime, check out some behind-the-scenes photos of our cast undergoing hours of make-up, officially unveiled by Filmko in the gallery below, courtesy of MTime.

H/T: JayneStars

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