First-time director Keanu Reeves searches China for co-star
Posted on November 27, 2011, Sunday
HONG KONG: Chinese cinema circles have been abuzz this week with reports that Hollywood superstar Keanu Reeves has been scouring the region looking for a female lead for his next film.
The production – tentatively titled ‘Man of Tai Chi’ – will be the American’s first go at directing, and he has backing to the tune of RMB200 million yuan (RM99.4 million) from both the Village Roadshow corporation and the China Film Group, the country’s most powerful studio.
According to reports in Chinese media, Reeves is calling on the help of noted martial arts choreographer Yuen Woo-ping (‘The Matrix’, ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’) to help out with the action scenes in the movie and he has been most recently seen chatting to Hong Kong-based star Josie Ho, most recently seen in a small role in the Steven Soderbergh-directed thriller ‘Contagion’.
The coming-of-age drama 'Punch' has now collected more than 4.2 million admissions in just over a month to become the fifth most popular film to screen in South Korea this year.
It is expected that the production will start shooting in February next year, taking in locations in China, Hong Kong and Macau.
Hollywood has also cast its spell over the Chinese box office in the past week, with the Steven Spielberg-directed 3D animated romp ‘The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn’ picking up a steady RMB46.7 million (RM23.2 million) on debut to take top spot.
In Japan, meanwhile, local sensation ‘Once In A Blue Moon’ continued to dominate, with the comedy collecting a further US$3 million (RM9.5 million) over the past week to make its four-week haul a healthy US$35 million (RM111 million).
South Korea, too, saw film fans keep lining up to see one of the locals, with the coming-of-age drama ‘Punch’ adding a further 360,000 admissions to its tally over the past week.
The film has now collected more than 4.2 million admissions in just over a month to become the fifth most popular film to screen in South Korea this year.
Rounding out news from the Asian scene over the past week, Hong Kong saw the run of the Taiwanese rom-com ‘You Are the Apple of My Eye’ end as the fantasy epic ‘Immortals’ took top spot with receipts of close to US$500,000 (RM1,587,140) from its first week.
‘You Are the Apple of My Eye’ moved down to second place after taking just over US$350,000 (RM1,110,990) and the film has now taken an impressive US$7 million (RM22.2 million) from five weeks of release. – Relaxnews
<< Previous Entry - Next Entry >>
Advertisement
