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| The Enchanter ( Derek Kwok - Moss ); UPCOMING LATE 2010/11 RELEASE | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 20 2010, 01:18 PM (594 Views) | |
| Hitman-Reloaded | Apr 20 2010, 01:18 PM Post #1 |
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Black Belt 10th Dan
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Celestial Pictures relaunches production arm Productions restart with two films from Teddy Chen By Karen Chu Celestial Pictures relaunched its film production arm with an exclusive three-picture distribution and production deal with Teddy Chen, the newly-minted Hong Kong Film Awards best director winner of "Bodyguard and Assassins," Celestial senior VP of theatrical distribution Peter Poon told The Hollywood Reporter. The new deal entails a distribution and production agreement with Chen’s production company Sum-Wood Productions, including the international distribution (excluding China) for Chen’s producing project, “The Enchanter," to be directed by Derek Kwok (Hong Kong Film Awards 2009 best new director winner of “The Moss”); filming is scheduled to commence in late July and aim for a late 2010 or early 2011 release. Most of the star alumni of Chen’s “Bodyguards" except Nicholas Tse, who bowed out due to a scheduling conflict, will make an appearance in “The Enchanter," the first Celestial distribution project since the joint production “Perhaps Love” in 2005. Celestial, which owns the 700-titled Shaw Brothers film library, will fund, co-produce and manage the director’s next two projects, which he will also produce. The first is a big-budget remake of as-yet-undecided Shaw brothers period costume actioner, which Poon said the director has narrowed down to two Shaw Brothers classics. The company will look for a Chinese co-producing partner for releasing in China, with a target date of late 2011. The second project between Celestial and Chen will be a contemporary action film inspired by current events, also aimed to be a Hong Kong-China co-production. As is the norm for studios at present, Celestial’s decision to relaunch production is based on the enormous market potential in China, Poon said, but in addition, its movie channel in Southeast Asia. “Celestial is a Chinese content company; the theatrical market demand in China is definitely a part of the calculation. But we also need good quality Chinese-language films to supply to our movie channel in Southeast Asia. So the company has set an objective late last year to produce our own film content,” Poon said. Celestial, the Hong Kong-based subsidiary of Malaysia’s Astro, now plans to produce four to five theatrical releases in the coming year, based on a three-pronged strategy: a director-based route to develop new scripts, updates or remakes of Shaw Brothers classics, and producer-based projects. The company is now in negotiations with a number of directors and producers from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan for exclusive multi-picture deals. It also aims to find promising young directors across Asia for future medium-budget productions. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ |
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| Hitman-Reloaded | May 28 2010, 02:17 PM Post #2 |
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Black Belt 10th Dan
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Award-winning filmmaker Teddy Chen directs for Celestial Pictures enowned veteran local filmmaker Teddy Chen Tak-Sum, who was just named Best Director at the 29th Hong Kong Film Awards for the Best Picture Bodyguards and Assassins, will direct and produce his next two feature films with Hong Kong-based Chinese entertainment company, Celestial Pictures. Chen, who owns his production company Sum-Wood Productions, reveals that the first feature film will be a remake of a classic from the Shaw Brothers Film Library, which is owned by Celestial Pictures. The second project will be an action film inspired by current events. Both projects are currently under development with details to be announced later. Peter Poon, Senior Vice President, Theatrical Distribution of Celestial Pictures affirms Chen's success as a director well-known for thrilling and edgy action films and unique dramas and looks forward to the collborations. Poon also believes that Chen will capture the attention of global fans of Chinese cinema. The ongoing feature production of Celestial Pictures will focus on creating new stories for the worldwide audience of Chinese cinema. Reinterpretation of classic Shaw Brothers' titles will also be another objective for Celestial Pictures. In addition to the two upcoming movies, Celestial Pictures also announces it has inked a multi-year agreement for the exclusive worldwide theatrical, television, mobile and new media distribution rights outside China of The Enchanter, the upcoming movie from Sum-Wood Productions. The Enchanter will be directed by wunderkind auteur Mr. Derek Kwok Tsz-kin (The Pye-Dog, The Moss, The Gallants) who recently won an HAF Award in Hong Kong. The movie centers around the story of a con artist named Jack whose life changes when he meets a pathological gambler and his 20-year-old intellectually disabled son, Egg. Jack, who had once hoped to become a professional magician, decides to use his magic to make Egg's dreams come true and to help Egg recover from his disability. The Enchanter will feature acclaimed actors and crew from Bodyguards and Assassins. http://www.hkfilmart.com/ |
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| Hitman-Reloaded | Sep 2 2010, 04:53 AM Post #3 |
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Black Belt 10th Dan
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INTRODUCTION Hong Kong has a long tradition of conman and gambling films, running all the way back to the 1970’s. But The Enchanter is a new twist on this tradition that also comments on the nature of illusions, on magic and on filmmaking itself. Magic is the hardest art in the world because it tells the audience from the beginning that it is fake; the pleasure lies in the audience’s desire to be tricked. Nowadays, many people regard being tricked as bad, but to reject this desire is to reject all fantasy. This has led to a rush to embrace materialism at the expense of the intangible satisfactions in life such as happiness and spirituality. The Enchanter hopes to pit these two competing human urges against one another. SYNOPSIS Jack is a stage magician turned professional gambler working in Sean’s gambling den to detect cheaters and card sharps while using sleight of hand to fleece wealthy customers. He once had ambitions to be a professional magician, but none of the Macau casinos would hire him. He finally stumbled across Sean and, without any other direction, that’s where he stuck. The only passion he has left in his life is for Sean’s wife who suffers from almost total paralysis. Jack is always conjuring up flowers for Sean to give his wife, but no matter how much Sean begs to learn the trick, Jack keeps telling him, “A good magician never reveals his secrets.” One day, a gambler who has lost everything hands Jack and Sean the deed to his house and then kills himself. Jack is wracked with guilt and he heads for the dead man’s home on Lantau where he discovers the man’s son, Egg, a 20-year-old with the mind of a ten-year-old. Egg’s father left his son in the care of the Buddhist temple, but Egg yearns to return home. Jack earns Egg’s eternal devotion when he performs a few simple magic tricks to cheer him up. Long ago, Egg’s dad told his son that he’d only become smart when the enormous Lantau Buddha disappeared, and ever since then Egg has been obsessed with figuring out a way to pull this off. Jack promises to use his magic to make it happen one day. Back at the gambling hall, Jack arrogantly exposes a conman working the tables, furious that this predator thought he could work his turf. Without a word, Sean chops off the conman’s arm and sends him packing. Then, on his way home, Jack is ambushed by thugs hired by the conman and Sean tells him to go into hiding. And so Jack heads to Lantau Island once more. Egg has been eagerly awaiting his return, hanging around the grocery store / knitting club of Choi Yee, a girl who suffers from excessive sweating, which forces her to lead an “air conditioned life.” But now her air conditioner is broken and she’s miserable. Jack arrives, fixes the air conditioner and the three form an odd kind of family. Under their peaceful influence, Jack contacts Sean and tells him he wants to retire, but soon afterwards Sean is attacked and killed. Swearing to avenge his dead partner, Jack tracks down the one-armed conman, but grants him a last-minute reprieve when the con artist says he can arrange for Jack to challenge an international gambler who has enough money to support Sean’s wife. Jack agrees to the match and triumphs easily. Before he leaves, he gives the one-armed conman a large chunk of his winnings. Deeply moved, the conman calls off a hit he had ordered on Jack but it’s too late – while getting off the ferry, Jack is stabbed to death. He makes it to Choi Yee’s house just in time to perform one final trick, conjuring up a snowstorm that covers the room, the streets, all of Lantau and, finally, the giant Buddha which disappears at last into the snow. All that remains is a thin trickle of bright red blood, flowing from Jack’s dead body. He is finally at peace. DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT We’ve all experienced the mysterious power of magic. The first person who saw moving lights and shadows projected on a silver screen thought it was magic; when people first heard voices over the telephone, or music came out of a box called “radio,” they thought it was magic. Life can be simple; and magic is not necessarily always performed by a great magician. If someone can make you happy, make you forget about your worries for a while, make you forget your heartbreak and sorrow, that person is your magician. http://www.haf.asia/haf/ |
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