journey to the west conquering the demons
AMC Martial Arts Drama Series, BADLANDS, Scores 'The Judge' Director
Tai Chi 0 helmer Stephen Fung’s recent departure from the upcoming remake of Kickboxer should provide plenty of time with fellow cohort Daniel Wu to executive produce their latest series endeavor tentatively titled Badlands for AMC. The two are joined by Oscar-nominated Stacey Sher and Michael Shamberg, and series creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar who were all announced for the project back in July, which while loosely based on late author Wu Cheng’en’s often film-translated late 16th century tale, “Journey To The West”, centers on a story of a great warrior and a young boy who trek across a dangerous land to find enlightenment.
That said, the series has now nabbed a director in the form of David Dobkin, best known for his work on the 2003 Jackie Chan headliner, Shanghai Knights, and this year’s buzzworthy court drama, The Judge. The series also has its first few young picks lining up the cast which so far includes 28 Weeks Later co-star Emily Beecham as “The Widow”, The Tudors co-star Sarah Bolger as “Jade”, and The Adventurer: The Curse Of The Midas Box co-star Oliver Stark as the warrior’s son, “Ryer”, all of which will be recurring roles for a series that is shaping up to present a spectacular story with a coming-of-age feel to it.
Sure, it’s early and we’re likely to learn there’s more in store for the series, but it is fun to speculate what the sub-plots will be under its references to classic Chinese folk lore. Other than that, Dobkin seems pretty stoked. “I am thrilled to be directing Badlands,” he said. “Aside from the amazing group of people I get to work with – everyone at AMC, plus Stacy and Michael, and Al and Miles for the second time – it’s a brilliant, visionary project that finally gives the fan-boy in me something to dig my teeth into.”
AMC Studios is producing the series with Entertainment One distributing the show globally.
Stick around.
H/T: Deadline
JOURNEY TO THE WEST: CONQUERING THE DEMONS Is Getting An English-language Remake
How long did anyone think it would be before directors Stephen Chow and Derek Kwok’s 2013 fantasy action comedy adventure, Journey To The West: Conquering The Demons would get an English-language remake? Because, well… that’s about to happen!
The inital film, one of a number of cinematc reworkings of classic Chinese folklore notably highlighting fabled legend Sun Wukong (a.k.a. The Monkey King) starred actress Shu Qi and actor Wen Zhang, and was released in China in February of last year, earning a total of well over $200 million at the box office throughout several Asian territories, beating several records previously set by director Wuershan’s 2012 fantasy thriller, Painted Skin: The Ressurrection and the Michael Bay’s 2011 blockbuster, Transformers: Dark Of The Moon. The new English-language iteration is now part of a newl diversified slate of film deals being announced this month between Oriental Dreamworks and three other Chinese companies for the production of five movies in total.
Production on the new remake will include the aid of producer Zhang Jizhong who also served as a producer on a recent TV show of the same name. Oriental Dreamworks states, “The classic adventure story will be transformed into an international action film integrating cutting-edge visual effects technology with an English-language script to bring China’s legendary hero to the world.”. ODW’s chief creative officer Joe Aguilar also added his thoughts on the new slate, saying, “With this new series of ventures supporting local producers, artists, actors and crew, Oriental DreamWorks will further its objective of creating entertainment in China for China and for export to the rest of the world, …”These three development deals represent leading local companies that we are proud to partner with.”.
The other four projects agreed to for Oriental Dreamworks include a three-film deal with Dreams Of Dragons Pictures for a “high concept comedy”, a contemporary high impact martial arts movie with “advanced choreography” and a currently untitled titled historical epic from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon scribe Wang Huiling, the author whose latest novel, The Crossing, was just attributed to an upcoming live-action epic drama directed by John Woo set for release this year. The slate also involves a seperate deal with producer and director Teng Hua for a Chinese folklore-inspired animated feature.
Oriental Dreamworks is the company behind the highly successful animated Kung Fu Panda franchise starring the voice of actor Jack Black, with the third installment heading to theaters on December 23, 2015.
For those interested, Journey To The West: Conquering The Demons is now available on DVD, Blu-Ray and VoD. Plans for a sequel are still yet unknown.
H/T: Variety