Hero Is #1 In North America!
August 30, 2004
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After finally receiving a general release in North American theaters on Friday, August 27, 2004,
Hero, legendary
director Zhang Yimou's first
endeavour in filming the wuxia
genre — a Quentin Tarantino presentation,
starring Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu-wai,
Maggie Cheung Man-yuk,
Chen Daoming, Donnie Yen Ji-dan
and Zhang Ziyi and choreographed by Tony Ching Siu-tung —
has emerged over the weekend as the #1 film in North America with an estimated US $17.8 million in ticket sales.
Distributed to 2,031 theaters, Hero is now the widest released Asian film of all-time, a recorded previously held by
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with 2,027;
the second best foreign language film to debut, after The Passion Of The Christ;
and the best end of August opening for any film ever. The record for the top grossing foreign language film in
North America is still held by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with US $128.07 million.
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Thanks to MonkeyPeaches for the news update.
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Zhang Ziyi Attends 10th Huabiao Film Awards
August 29, 2004
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Last night, Saturday, August 28, 2004, Zhang Ziyi was in attendance at China's star-studded 10th Huabiao Film Awards
in Beijing, China, for which she
was nominated Best Actress for her multiple roles as Mo, Li and Hua in director Hou Yong's
Jasmine Women (aka Mo Li
Hua Kai, formerly Jasmine Flower), co-starring Joan Chen,
Jiang Wen,
Lu Yi and
Liu Ye.
Zhang Ziyi, along with her Jasmine Women co-star Liu Ye, being greeted by her Chinese fans on the red carpet; Zhang Ziyi at the speaker's podium:
Zhang Ziyi and Liu Ye signing a sort of "Wall of the Stars" that were in attendance at the awards ceremony:
Established and organized by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television,
China's Huabiao Film Awards recognizes the social contribution, rather than art, by the film industry, and generally
represents the conservative viewpoint of the Chinese film industry. Only mainland Chinese productions and citizens are allowed to compete.
Based on Su Tong's novelette The Lives of Women
(《妇女生活》即《茉莉花开》), Jasmine Women
tells the story of a family of three generations of women set in 1930's, 50's and 80's Shanghai, China.
Images courtesy of SINA and SOHU
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Thanks to fanqiemeimei, ceciliahe and MonkeyPeaches for the news update.
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2046 To Open in China In September
August 20, 2004
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Director Wong Kar-wai's long-awaited sequal to his
2000 art-house hit In the Mood for Love,
2046, starring
2046, starring
Tony Leung, Zhang Ziyi,
Maggie Cheung,
Chang Chen,
Gong Li,
Carina Lau,
Takuya Kimura,
Faye Wong and
Dong Jie, among others,
will be unveiled with a grand opening ceremony in Beijing,
China, one week before being released nationwide on Thursday, September 30, 2004.
Moving forward in one-year increments throughout the 1960's, 2046 continues the tale of journalist Mr. Chow (Tony Leung).
After moving into a hotel vacated by a nightclub performer he once knew, he gradually crafts a science-fiction novel about
the future named after his room number, 2046.
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House of Flying Daggers Computer Game
August 19, 2004
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Multi-Oscar nominated director Zhang Yimou
is the artistic director for a new PC game based on the recently released in Asia House of Flying Daggers
(Shi Mian Mai Fu - "No Way Out", aka Lovers), his second wuxia
film since 2002's internationally successful Hero.
Begun in early May of this year and expected to finish some time in 2005, the project is reportedly the first ever attempt of its kind in China.
In the game, players will be able to choose among the film's stars and fight for love and freedom in various scenes, including beautiful green bamboo forests.
House of Flying Daggers, a film that mixes martial arts, romance and drama, stars Zhang Ziyi as a blind dancer and Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro as Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) law enforcement officers
sent to capture the mysterious new leader of the large and powerful rebel group House of Flying Daggers.
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Zhang Ziyi To Star In Memoirs of a Geisha!
August 19, 2004
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Zhang Ziyi
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It's official!
It's been announced today by the film's producers and senior representatives of Columbia Pictures that
British Academy Award nominee Zhang Ziyi,
Michelle Yeoh,
Gong Li,
Ken Watanabe,
Yôki Kudô and
Koji Yakusho
have all either signed or are in final negotiations to star in Columbia Pictures / DreamWorks Films /
Spyglass Entertainment's feature film adaptation of
Memoirs of a Geisha, based on author
Arthur Golden's exotic and enthralling best-selling novel.
Written by Ronald Bass,
Akiva Goldsman and
Robin Swicord,
produced by Douglas Wick,
Lucy Fisher and
Steven Spielberg
and directed by Rob Marshall, Memoirs of a Geisha will
also also utilize the talents of Liza Dalby, world-renowned
geisha expert and author of many definitive works on the culture of the geisha, including The Tale of Murasaki, Geisha
and Kimono, as consultant in the making of this film.
The primary cast was assembled after an exhaustive search, which began with several months in Japan and continued throughout
Asia to find the perfect actor for each role. Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi will portray Sayuri, the beautiful young orphan from a
remote fishing village whose life changes forever when she is sent to the city to learn the ways of the geisha. Japanese actor Ken Watanabe
will portray 'The Chairman,' the high-powered executive with whom the young geisha, Sayuri, falls in love.
Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh will portray Mameha, the elegant and experienced geisha who becomes Sayuri's mentor. Chinese
actress Gong Li will portray Sayuri's stunning and treacherous rival Hatsumomo. Rounding out the principal cast is Japanese
actor Koji Yakusho as Nobu, the brilliant but tragic businessman who seeks to become Sayuri's patron and another Japanese
star Yôki Kudô as Pumpkin, Sayuri's closest friend since childhood who also struggles on the path to becoming a geisha.
Rob Marshall: "We could not be more excited about the extraordinary cast that we have in place for Memoirs of a Geisha.
We are adapting a beloved piece of literature that has become a worldwide sensation, which made it important to me to assemble
a cast with a prestigious international profile. I cannot wait to begin production this fall."
Wick and Fisher: "We are thrilled to be using this beautiful piece of literature as an opportunity to bring together some of
the greatest actors in the world, and certainly the most distinguished team of Asian actors ever assembled for an American movie."
Spielberg: "From the time I first read Arthur Golden's novel, I wanted to see this as a film. It's a uniquely compelling story
rich with characters who take you into a world you have never experienced before, and there is no one better than Rob Marshall
to bring all the poetry and artistry of Arthur Golden's novel to movie theaters all over the world."
Zhang Ziyi: "This is the first time that I will play the lead in an English-language movie. It will be a big challenge, but the studios,
producers and director have shown great confidence in me. I will continue to do my utmost to make this the best role I've ever played."
Memoirs of a Geisha begins production next month in Los Angeles and Japan for a scheduled 2005 release.
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First Pictures From Hero Premier
August 18, 2004
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Last night, Tuesday, August 17, 2004, Miramax,
which owns the North American distribution rights to Hero,
held a premier screening for the 2003 Oscar nominated film at the
Arclight Theater in Hollywood, California. In attendance
were stars Jet Li, Donnie Yen Ji-dan
and Zhang Ziyi, among others, and
presenter Quentin Tarantino.
Zhang Ziyi and Jet Li; Quentin Tarantino and Zhang Ziyi; Quentin Tarantino and Jet Li; Donnie Yen and his wife, Cecilia; and Zhang Ziyi
signing autographs for fans at last night's event:
Unfortunately, the film's director, Zhang Yimou, could not
attend because he's currently at the 2004 Olympic Games in
Athens, Greece preparing to film the Olympic flag handover ceremony. Beijing,
China will be hosting the next Summer Olympic Games in 2008. Hero, his first endeavour in filming the
wuxia genre,
will receive a general release in North American theaters on Friday, August 27, 2004.
Images courtesy of SINA
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Miramax North American Premier Screening of Hero
August 13, 2004
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Miramax, which owns the North American distribution rights to
Hero, will
be holding a premier screening for the 2003 Oscar nominated film at 7:30 PM on the evening of Tuesday, August 17, 2004, at the Arclight Theater
in Hollywood, California. In attendance will be stars Jet Li,
Donnie Yen and Zhang Ziyi, among others, and
presenter Quentin Tarantino.
Theater and location info:
The Arclight Theater
6360 Sunset Boulevard
Hollywood, California
Lobby: (323) 464-1478
Hero, legendary director Zhang Yimou's first
endeavour in filming the wuxia
genre — a Quentin Tarantino presentation, starring Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu-wai,
Maggie Cheung Man-yuk,
Chen Daoming, Donnie Yen Ji-dan and Zhang Ziyi and choreographed by
Tony Ching Siu-tung — will receive a general release in North American theaters on Friday, August 27, 2004.
The exact same version of Hero that shattered box office records in China, making it currently second in all-time domestic gross only to Titanic, will be released in North America, uncut and unedited with Mandarin dialogue and English subtitles.
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House of Flying Daggers Premier In South Korea
August 13, 2004
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Kaneshiro Takeshi, Zhang Ziyi and Andy Lau posing for photographers during a press conference in Seoul on Wednesday
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Last night, Thursday, August 12, 2004, House of Flying Daggers (Shi Mian Mai Fu - "No Way Out", aka Lovers),
Zhang Yimou's second wuxia
film since 2002's internationally successful, Oscar nominated Hero,
held it's premier screening in Seoul, South Korea. The director, stars Zhang Ziyi, Andy Lau and
Takeshi Kaneshiro (Jin Chengwu) and action choreographer Tony Ching Siu-tung
attended a press conference to talk about the film and to pose for photographers at the Shilla Hotel in downtown Seoul on Wednesday.
Director Zhang Yimou: "The movie is different from my previous film Hero. It is about people who choose love instead of sacrificing for a greater cause."
Zhang Ziyi: "It was particularly difficult to play Mei in the movie since I had to play a blind woman who is very good at dancing and singing and, at the same time, express the emotion of love."
House of Flying Daggers, a film that mixes martial arts, romance and drama, stars Zhang Ziyi as a blind dancer and Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro as Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) law enforcement officers.
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Pictures From Operetta Tanukigoten Set
August 11, 2004
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Zhang Ziyi
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The following pictures were recently released from the set of Operetta Tanukigoten ("Operetta Raccoon Dog Palace"),
legendary director Seijun Suzuki's new Japanese musical, starring Zhang Ziyi as a young Chinese woman in Japan and
Jô Odagiri as her onscreen love interest. The first two are of Zhang Ziyi in costume. The last contains, from left to right, Zhang Ziyi, 81 year old veteran director Seijun Suzuki and costar Jô Odagiri:
Contrary to what has been previously reported, Operetta Tanukigoten is not set in Japan during China's Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD).
Rather, considering the costumes of the cast members pictured above and the fact that the script calls for dialogue in Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese and Latin, it's been deduced that the film is set in Japan in
or around the year 1600 toward the end of China's Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), a time when trade between Japan and Portugal and the influence of the Church in Japan were prevalent.
Operetta Tanukigoten is planned to be released nationwide in Japan in the Fall of 2005. No international distributor has yet been announced.
Images courtesy of SINA
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Thanks to BootlegZiyi and rekishika for the news update.
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