Emperor fights fires with Derek Kwok, Nicholas Tse


Smuggler


CAR takes US rights to Smuggler


BY LIZ SHACKLETON US-based Cinema Asia Releasing (CAR) has acquired North Ameri- can rights to Japanese cult hit Smuggler, which premiered in the Midnight Madness section of last year’s Toronto film festival. The film, directed by Katsuhito


Ishii (The Taste Of Tea), is based on a manga franchise of the same name created by Shohei Manabe. CAR’s recent acquisitions also


include Korean titles Bedevilled, which played in Cannes’ Critics Week in 2010; Iris, starring Lee Byung-hung, and Rotterdam 2009 Tiger Award winner Breathless. The distribution outfit has also acquired Thai mystery thriller Mindfulness And Murder, directed by UK-Thai film-maker Tom Waller. CAR was launched at Filmart


last year by Los Angeles-based dis- tribution veteran Ko Mori of Eleven Arts and producer Tim Kwok of Convergence Entertainment. The company plans to release eight to 10 films a year theatrically in the North American market, while its other acquisitions will be posi- tioned as VoD and DVD releases.


BY LIZ SHACKLETON Hong Kong-based Emperor Motion Pictures (EMP) is launch- ing a big-budget fire-fighting drama at Filmart, to be directed by up-and-coming film-maker Derek Kwok with Nicholas Tse heading the cast. The as-yet-untitled project is


scheduled to start shooting in the third quarter of this year for release in 2013. Tse, who is famous for performing his own stunts, will play a firefighter in a series of dra- matic set pieces. Kwok, who has spent half a year researching the story, previously co-directed mar-


tial-arts parody Gallants, which won best film at the Hong Kong Film Awards. Hong Kong’s Universe Films is


also planning a disaster film about fire-fighting, a subject that has not been tackled in Hong Kong cinema since Johnnie To’s Lifeline in 1997. EMP is also launching sales on


The Bullet Vanishes, a suspense thriller directed by Law Chi-leung and produced by Derek Yee, which also stars Tse along with Lau Ching Wan. Produced by China’s Le Vision Pictures, the film revolves around a series of myste- rious murders in China’s largest


armoury during the Republic era. The film is in post-production. EMP, whose parent company


Emperor Group is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, is also selling new projects from Huang Lei, son of veteran Chinese film- maker Huang Jianxin, and fast- rising film-maker Daniel Chan. Huang Lei is making his direct-


ing debut with Angry Kid, on which his father serves as pro- ducer. EMP is also selling Heiward Mak’s Diva, starring Joey Yung and produced by Chapman To, which is tentatively scheduled for a summer release.


Showbox sends Choi’s Thieves around Asia


BY JEAN NOH South Korean sales company Showbox has pre-sold Macau dia- mond heist film The Thieves to Dream Movie Entertainment for Singapore and Malaysia, Queen International Pictures for Indone- sia and Catchplay for Taiwan. Directed by hit-maker Choi


Dong-hoon (Tazza: The High Roll- ers and Woochi), The Thieves is expected to be released wide in each territory following its Korean release this summer. The film’s A-list ensemble cast includes Kim Yun-seok (The Yellow Sea), Kim Hye-soo (Tazza), Lee Jung-jae (The Housemaid), Gianna Jun


All about M-Line’s Wife


South Korean sales company M-Line Distribution is launching sales here at Filmart on romantic comedy All About My Wife. Directed by Min Kyu-dong (Antique, Memento Mori), the film stars Lee Sun-kyun from Oki’s Movie and Paju, and Lim Soo-jung from Come Rain, Come Shine. Tired of his wife’s nagging, Lee’s


character schemes with a womanising neighbour to encourage her to have an affair so he can begin divorce proceedings. M-Line has also picked up Asian


sales right for Yoo Ha’s wolf-hound thriller Howling starring Song Kang-ho (The Host) and Lee Na-young (Maundy Thursday). The company is also selling historical mystery melodrama Gabi and doing pre-sales on the Kim Jee-woon and Yim Pil-sung co-directed Doomsday Book.


“Howling has had good box office


and this is its first Asian market so there’s a lot of interest, especially from Japan and China, and we expect to close deals on other territories as well,” said Nahie J Kim, manager at M-Line. “Gabi just opened in Korea and


there’s a lot of interest from Asia and Europe. Since it stars Joo Jin-mo, it’s almost needless to say,” she said about the heart throb who stars as a Joseon Dynasty king in peril with a new-found taste for coffee. Doomsday Book is due for an April


12 local release. The film stars Kim Kang-woo (Marine Boy), Ryoo Seung- bum (The Unjust) and Song Sae-byuk (Meet The In-laws) in a sci-fi film made up of three short stories about a robot, a zombie invasion and a meteor crash.


Jean Noh AllAbout My Wife n 6 Screen International at Filmart March 19, 2012


BY SEN-LUN YU Golden Sun Films had closed a package deal with Chinese state- owned TV giant CCTV-6 for IPTV- VoD rights to 500 titles worth an estimated $4.4m (RMB30m). Golden Sun Films has a library


of more than 300 Chinese-lan- guage films featuring stars such as Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen and Andy Lau. China Central TV Corporation’s CCTV 6 is a special- ist movie channel co-owned and managed by China’s state-owned studio China Film Group. Golden Sun is also looking to


remaster its library titles into the HD format. “This is to ensure the quality of our films and also to take advantage of new distribution opportunities,” said Kathy Lan, chairwoman of Golden Sun Films.


The Thieves


(Snow Flower And The Secret Fan), Simon Yam (Ip Man) and Derek Tsang (Dream Home). The company is also launching


sales on Take Off and 200 Pounds Beauty director Kim Yong-hwa’s


Mr Go 3D. Budgeted at more than $20m, the film is about a gorilla that is trained to play pro-baseball. In production, the film is being shot in stereoscopic 3D, aiming for a summer 2013 release locally. Showbox is also having the


market premiere of music romance Love On Air and has From Seoul To Varanasi screening at both Filmart and the Hong Kong International Film Festival. Its slate also includes local box-


office hit Nameless Gangster: Rules Of The Time and upcoming action thrillers Confession Of Murder and A Company Man, as well as erotic thriller The Scent.


Blind Detective, Switch make Media Asia bow


BY LIZ SHACKLETON Hong Kong’s Media Asia is intro- ducing two high-profile projects at Filmart: Johnnie To’s crime drama Blind Detective and Jay Sun’s action drama Switch. Starring Andy Lau and Sammi


Cheng, Blind Detective tells the story of a detective, forced to leave the service after turning blind, who tries to make a living by solving cold cases. It marks the first pairing of Lau and Cheng since Yesterday Once More in 2004. Media Asia has worldwide rights to Blind Detective, which is scheduled to start shoot- ing in the next few weeks. Switch, formerly known as


Dwelling In The Fuchun Moun- tains, is a $20m action adventure which is in post-production after shooting in several international locations including Dubai. Andy Lau, Zhang Jingchu and Lin Chi- ling head the cast. The story revolves around the


famous Chinese landscape paint- ing Dwelling In The Fuchun Mountains by Huang Gongwang, which was split in two 300 years ago. The film imagines the paint- ing is to be put back together, and follows gangs of thieves as they scramble to steal it. Media Asia has South-East Asia


rights to the film, with China Film Group holding rights in the rest of the world. Media Asia is also sell- ing Pang Ho Cheung’s HKIFF opener Love In The Buff, To’s Romancing In Thin Air and Derek Tsang and Jimmy Wan’s Lacuna.


Golden Sun hot for library deal


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