Word around the martial arts fandom this week is the commencement of pre-production for Thanh Soi, an origin tale based on Veronica Ngo’s latest action thriller hit, Hai Phoung, (a.k.a. Furie).
The new film – to be likely titled Furies for markets outside Vietnam – will see Ngo shepherding the pic under her Studio68 banner. She will direct from a script by Aaron Toronto who penned Ngo’s 2016 fantasy adaptation, Tam Cam: The Untold Story, casting actress and model Dong Anh Quynh for the title role previously played by third-degree blackbelt, actress Hoa Tran opposite Ngo in the 2019 inaugural thriller.
That film saw the two go toe-to-toe with Ngo in the role of Hai Phoung, an ex-gangster whose daughter’s kidnapping jettisons her into a rip-roaring mission through her former criminal network in the big city, tearing through streets and hordes of villains until catching up with the infamous criminal ringleader, Thanh Soi, in a climactic final battle aboard a speeding train.
The new film, centering on a much younger Thanh Soi through Quynh’s performance, will take place in 1990s Saigon and focus on the character’s transformative and omnious evolution into the antagonistic title character she evidently becomes. Furthermore, just as he was for the first film, action director Samuel Kefi Abrikh will be on hand for the film’s fight action, according to Vietnamese news outlets cited by City On Fire and MAAC.
Ngo, who is also lining up superhero pic, Vinaman, took to social media this week to highlight the production with teaser images and behind-the-scenes videos, some of which you can check out here. The banner above and the lead image both come courtesy of Quynh’s own Facebook page.
