shu qi

Hou's THE ASSASSIN Lands At Well Go USA

You know a film must be a huge deal when it’s up for the Palme d’Or, the highest award at the Cannes Film Festival. Events are set to kick-off this Wednesday as pre-sales are already underway as they have been for a flourishing number of titles, specifically Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien‘s long-awaited wuxia drama production, The Assassin. Well Go USA has reportedly nabbed the U.S. rights to the film which still awaits a release with actress Shu Qi starring based on work from the short story compilation, The Extensive Records Of The Taiping Era. Chang Chen and Ethan Ruan also join the cast and hopefully this all means we’ll finally see some footage go public whether before or after the film’s May 21 premiere. SYNOPSIS: 9th century China. 10-year old general’s daughter Nie Yinniang is abducted by a nun who initiates her into the martial arts, transforming her into an […]

Check Out Five New Stills For Hou's Cannes Entry, THE ASSASSIN!

Lee B. Golden III

Things are almost in full swing with just a few more weeks to go before Taiwanese director Hou Hsien-Hsiao‘s latest, The Assassin, premieres at Cannes. The film has since quite a long journey from start to finish spanning decades from its earlier conception up until now, and thankfully we’ve arrived to some visuals that are a lot nicer on the eyes than the patience has been on our collective sensibilities. The folks over at The Film Stage kindly presented a batch of FIVE new stills from the film as of this week with actress Shu Qi among those front and center, which still awaits its respective releases throughout Asia. Feel free to glance at them below and wait for more info as it follows. SYNOPSIS: 9th century China. 10-year old general’s daughter Nie Yinniang is abducted by a nun who initiates her into the martial arts, transforming her into an […]

Hou's THE ASSASSIN Makes The Rounds With A New Poster!

Lee B. Golden III

It’s been a long, long journey for the The Puppetmaster and Goodbye South, Goodbye helmer, Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsien-Hsiao whose latest martial arts debut with the $14 million dollar action romance epic, The Assassin, initially saw cameras rolling as early as 2010 and 2012 before being plagued by a series of unfortunate stops and starts. Those who are familiar with the DNA of Hou’s work might empathize just a little bit as it was new ground for the director who talked about his experience back in 2014 when he officially wrapped production, and needless to say, the wait is just a little bit closer to being over with the virility of the latest poster for the film which you can take a look at below, courtesy of international sales agent, Wild Bunch. SYNOPSIS: 9th century China. 10-year old general’s daughter Nie Yinniang is abducted by a nun who initiates her […]

Vicky Zhao Joins Shu Qi And Tsui Hark For JOURNEY TO THE WEST Sequel

Lee B. Golden III

Nowadays, actress Vicky Zhao‘s career prominence has seen some great influence in recent years between directing and staking a near 10% ownership claim in Alibaba Pictures with her husband. I can’t really speak fully on what that means for this particular report, although bearing this in mind it seems fitting that she seizes the opportunity to return to the screen in some capacity. On that note, it just so happens that Alibaba Pictures is producing director Tsui Hark‘s Journey To The West sequel following up Stephen Chow’s initial installment in 2013. And, according to Jaynestars, it just so happens that the production is bringing Zhao on board for a role, essentially reuniting the actress with Chow who directed the first film following their previous work together just fourteen years ago on the kung fu sports comedy epic, Shaolin Soccer. The film also brings Zhao together with fellow So Close star, […]

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Shu Qi, Tsui Hark Set For JOURNEY TO THE WEST 2 In 2017

Lee B. Golden III

Director Hou Hsiao Hsien’s period action thriller, The Assassin, is still in limbo as far as most of us may know following its announced completion last year, but fans of actress Shu Qi will be delighted to learn more following reports of her likely return to the set with Stephen Chow soon enough. And by this notion, it will very much be a sequel to the 2013 smash hit, Journey To The West: Conquering The Demons. The first film, written by Derek Kwok, became a record-breaking box office success which saw actor Wen Zhang as Tang Sanzang, a Buddhist protecting a village from three demons with the help of mystical huntress, played by Qi. Jaynestars reports that the actress will be re-joined with Zhang along with Huang Bo‘s reprisal as The Monkey King, as so inspired by Wu Cheng’en’s classic story, for which Chow and The Taking Of Tiger Mountain […]

JOURNEY TO THE WEST: CONQUERING THE DEMONS Is Getting An English-language Remake

Lee B. Golden III

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 […]

Updates On FENG SHEN BANG Concept Art And Production

Lee B. Golden III

Following an earlier report on Friday stemming from several tweets and conceptual art samples, Chinese media forwarded new reports of the new film, now known as Feng Shen Bang. News of the film grew traction earlier on with at least two photos of concept art illustrating actor Jet Li and actress Shu Qi in their respective roles. Those updates now have some newly revealed concept images with reports that Ip Man 1 and 2 helmer Wilson Yip will instead be co-directing the film with Koan Hui in what appears to be the latest move toward fashionable big-budgeted 3D blockbuster productions, notably falling in line with the latest success stories, Stephen Chow’s Journey To The West: Conquering The Demons, and this year’s Donnie Yen smash hit, The Monkey King. Based on the 16th century novel Feng Shen Yan Yi (a.k.a. The Investiture Of The Gods) by Xu Zhonglin, Feng Shen Bang […]

Concept Art For Wilson Yip's FENGSHEN YANYI Film Appears Online

Lee B. Golden III

Action legend Jet Li has seen his fair share of career highs and lows; His most recent coming as the result of his current condition in the form of hyperthyroidism which forced the actor to step back from his normal physical routine, a move that also reportedly took a toll on his ability to stay in shape. As a result, while the 50 year old actor’s career has given him plenty of space to relax and breath as he moves up in age, the future seemed a bit foggy as to whether or not fans would ever see Li do another action film, or more films at all. Last year, it was reported that the actor stated to the press that he wouldn’t necessarily be making films for money anymore. In essence, it basically sums up the notion that he would pick certain projects — that was a while before […]

THE ASSASSIN Wraps Principal Photography

Lee B. Golden III

Actress Shu Qi (The Transporter, Journey To The West: Conquering The Demons) is set to star in a new film from director Hou Hsiao Hsien titled The Assassin, also known as The Hidden Heroine, which has reportedly officially wrapped principal photography this week. The news comes with the film having been well over a few decades in the making as Hou initially planned the film back in the late 1980’s with screenwriter Chu Tien-Wen, followed by kicking off its hectic fifteen month schedule with locations set in China, Taiwan and Japan. Based on a short story from a compilation known as “The Extensive Records Of The Taiping Era” (a.k.a. Tàipíng Guǎngjì), Hou‘s new film is set in the Tang Dynasty and centers around Qi‘s portrayal of young girl named Nie Yin Niang who is kidnapped by a Taoist nun who trains her to become an assassin, assigned to take out […]