FEATURE
Blind Detective
Starring Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng, Johnnie To’s most recent directing project tells the story of a detective — forced to leave the police service after turning blind — who solves cold cases. It marks the first pairing of Lau and Cheng since Yesterday Once More in 2004. The duo previously starred together in To’s 2000 hit romantic comedy, Needing You. Contact Media Asia, Ricky Tse
ricky_tse@mediaasia.com
The Bullet Vanishes
Nicolas Tse and Lau Ching Wan head the cast of this suspense thriller, directed by Law Chi-leung and pro- duced by Derek Yee, which is in post-production. Backed by China’s Le Vision Pictures, the film revolves around a series of mysterious murders in China’s largest armoury during the Republic era. Contact Emperor Motion Pictures, May Yip
mayyip@emp.hk
Chinese Zodiac Diva
Tuned in to demand T
Hong Kong producers are debating their future strategy in the face of regional competition and the booming mainland market. Liz Shackleton reports
he past year has been full of contradictions for Hong Kong’s local production sector. Two Hong Kong films — Ann Hui’s A Simple Life
and Pang Ho Cheung’s Love In The Buff — have been flying high at the local box office. A Simple Life’s Deanie Ip also scooped best actress at last year’s Venice film festival and at the Asian Film Awards in March. But at the end of last year, a Taiwanese film, Gid-
dens Ko’s You Are The Apple Of My Eye, smashed the record set for a Chinese-language film in Hong Kong, previously held by Stephen Chow’s 2004 Kung-fu Hustle. Released last October, Apple finished on a tally of
nearly $8m at the Hong Kong box office, narrowly overtaking Hustle’s $7.9m (HK$61.3m). Its success highlights the recent resurgence of Taiwanese cin- ema and raised many questions among Hong Kong film executives about their future strategy. For several years now, Hong Kong has focused
on producing big-budget titles aimed at the main- land China market. Among those expected this year are Jackie Chan’s Chinese Zodiac, Ronny Yu’s Saving General Yang and Stephen Chow’s Journey To The West. Hong Kong audiences often reject such titles
due to their strong mainland content, but it is becoming harder than ever to produce smaller titles specifically for Hong Kong. The booming mainland market is driving up demand for Hong Kong talent, making actors and directors prohibi- tively expensive. Even a medium-budget film has little chance of recouping in a territory of just 7 mil- lion people. Meanwhile, Taiwan is benefiting from the open-
n 36 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2012
Hong Kong remains a professional, transparent and outward- looking production hub
ing of the mainland market, and also has proactive local government support, resulting in an unex- pected source of competition for Hong Kong. Nevertheless, exceptions such as A Simple Life
and Love In The Buff prove the staying power of Hong Kong writing, directing and acting talent. Though both tapped mainland funding, they were overwhelmingly Hong Kong productions in con- tent and style. Hong Kong also remains a professional, trans-
parent and outward-looking production hub in what is increasingly becoming a pan-Chinese mar- ket. As the list of upcoming projects below testifies, Hong Kong producers and talent will continue to sell tickets and win accolades, not just locally but at an international level, for some time to come. n
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Jackie Chan directs and stars in this globe-trotting action adventure which is scheduled for release in both regular and IMAX versions on December 12. Produced by Chan’s JC Group, Huayi Bros and Emperor Motion Pictures, the film was shot in Bei- jing and France where it took in locations including the Chateau de Chantilly. The story is under wraps but is understood to revolve around a global search for ancient treasure related to China’s history. Contact Jackie & JJ International, Ramy Choi
ramychoi@gmail.com
Cold War
Bill Kong’s Edko Films and his new talent venture, Irresistible Films, are producing this police action film which kicks off with a hostage situation. Directed by Longman Leung and Sunny Luk, the film has a budget of around $9m and stars Aaron Kwok and Tony Leung Ka-fai. It is scheduled for a summer 2012 release. Contact Edko Films, June Wu
wujune@edkofilm.com.hk
Conspirators
Oxide Pang, one half of the Pang brothers, is direct- ing suspense action title Conspirators, starring Aaron Kwok and Nick Cheung. The story, which is a spin-off from Pang’s 2007 The Detective, follows a Thailand-based private detective as he travels to Malaysia to unravel the truth behind his parents’ deaths. The $5m picture is in post-production after shooting in Thailand, Malaysia and mainland China. Contact Universe Films Distribution, Alice Leung
alice_leung@uih.com.hk
Diva The Bullet Vanishes
One of Hong Kong’s hottest female directors, Hei- ward Mak, directs this drama about two young sing- ers navigating the rocky roads of fame and romance. Chapman To, who produced Mak’s well-received youth drama Ex, is again producing and the cast is headed by Joey Yung. Mak’s credits as director also include High Noon and she co-scripted Love In A Puff with Pang Ho Cheung. Diva is in post-produc- tion for a release in the third quarter of 2012. Contact Emperor Motion Pictures, May Yip
mayyip@emp.hk
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