Noticias

Contemporary Chinese Cinema is a column devoted to exploring contemporary Chinese-language cinema primarily as it is revealed to us at North American multiplexes.Over the last few years it has become increasingly easy to see mainstream Asian films in North America at the same time they are released in their home countries. Thanks to partnerships with small, international distributors, the major multiplex chains (AMC, Cinemark, Regal) have devoted a handful of screens in major markets to showing new releases from India, Korea, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Most of these titles fall under the radar of both critics and audiences outside the diasporic communities to which they are targeted. They play for a week or two and then disappear, outside of a handful of breakout titles. Last year Stephen Chow’s The Mermaid made headlines for its high per-screen averages in North America as it shattered domestic box office records in China.

If Tom Cruise can jet around the globe breaking into high-security vaults in his fifties, then so can Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau, or so goes the thinking. The trouble is, Lau doesn’t have the clever machinations of Mission: Impossible or a stellar villain to rival Philip Seymour Hoffman to play with in The Adventurers, the latest brazenly mindless softball by actor-turned-director Stephen Fung. An unapologetic modern rehash of the sunny European adventure of John Woo’s Once a Thief, with a dash of M:i and maybe even a little Fast & Furious for good measure, The Adventurers is every bit...

"The operation is compromised." Well Go USA has debuted an official Us trailer for the Chinese action heist movie called The Adventurers, from director Stephen Fung. The action-packed film is about three of the world's top thieves, played by Andy Lau, Tony Yang, and Shu Qi, who band together to pull off the "heist of a lifetime." But hot on their trailer is a French detective, played Jean Reno of course, who chases them all over Europe. The full cast Jingchu Zhang, Eric Tsang, Tony Yo-ning Yang, David Bowles, and Yi Sha. This definitely looks slick, kind of like a Hollywood action heist movie with some cool set pieces and locations, but I hope it's actually good. Seems like it's going to be super cheesy, a little too much Hollywood. Here's the official Us trailer (+ international poster) for Stephen Fung's The Adventurers, from YouTube: In this slick, high-stakes action-adventure,...

After a six-month break forced by a serious horse-riding injury, Andy Lau is back with the treasure-hunt action drama The Adventurers, set to release in China on August 11. Directed by Stephen Fung (Tai Chi Zero, House of Fury), the film boasts of an international star cast of Shu Qi (The Assassin), Zhang Jingchu (Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation), Tony Yang (Where the Wind Settles), Eric Tsang (Ip Man: The Final Fight) and Jean Reno.

The Adventurers (2017) (Source: maactioncinema.com)

Loosely based on the 1991 John Woo action comedy Once a Thief, the film follows a trio of thieves led by Lau’s Cheung Tan, who hatch a plot to steal precious jewels in Europe. Reno is the very imaginatively named French detective Pierre, who has been hot on Cheung Tan’s trail for many years. Thrown into the mix are a criminal mastermind played by Tsang and Cheung Tan’s scorned ex-girlfriend played by Jingchu,...

The films will skip cinemas and instead launch on digital platforms.

Paris-based Marco Polo Production has acquired Jason Flemyng’s vampire black comedy Eat Local for its 2017 slate of films aimed at French digital and broadcast distribution.

Other new acquisitions include Gerard Butler-starrer A Family Man (aka The Headhunter’s Calling); the upcoming biopic Speed Kills starring John Travolta as murdered speed-boat maverick Donald Aronow, and Tuscany-set gothic mystery Voice From The Stone [pictured], starring Emilia Clarke.

The company invests around $4m each year in the acquisitions of 15 to 20 mainly action films and genre pictures often with name cast attached.

Flemyng’s directorial debut, reuniting the actor with Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels cast members Dexter Fletcher and Nick Moran and also starring Charlie Cox and Freema Agyeman, is sold by London-based sales outfit Gfm evolution.

“It’s a lot of fun, very English and the Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels connection is a good...

Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau is in hospital and will need 6 to 9 months to fully recover from multiple pelvic fractures and muscle / tendon injuries that were sustained from an accident while shooting a commercial in Thailand last week.

The accident happened when the horse Lau was riding threw him off and stepped on his back. He was flown back to Hong Kong for medical treatment last Wednesday evening.

There have been speculations by the local media on the extent of his injuries and the actor only spoke publicly today for the first time since the accident.

“I will fully comply with the recommendations of the medical team,” Lau wrote in his blog. “I know your pain will not be any less than mine. I will rest quietly and quickly get better!”

Lau was most recently seen in Zhang Yimou’s “The Great Wall“, in which he stars alongside Matt Damon.

One of the year’s most anticipated films opened this week in a handful of theatres across North America: Hong Kong director Ringo Lam’s Sky on Fire. After his promisingly solid return to directing after more than a decade in retirement with last year’s Wild City, hopes were high for the new film, if only because it shares the title formulation of some of his greatest works: City on Fire, School on Fire and the two Prison on Fire films. With Daniel Wu starring in a story of greed and corruption in the medical industry, it promised to be a worthy addition to the career of one of Hong Kong’s most distinguished directors, a man whose bleak tales of institutional collapse provided some of the most viscerally kinetic and apocalyptic visions of the colony in the years between the 1984 Joint Declaration and the 1997 Handover. Instead, it’s a mess,...

After a foray into Us television as a producer and second unit director on Badlands following his massive 2012 two part Tai Chi Hero epic, director Stephen Fung returns to the big screen with upciming effort The Adventurers and - true to form - the first teaser for the summer 2017 blockbuster promises high octane action. Hong Kong megastar Andy Lau - hopefully on a bit of a comeback trailer after recent years of dodgy decisions - anchors a cast that includes Shu Qi and French star Jean Reno in a slick, glossy heist thriller. And while the initial teaser is just a brief one there's a Lot in there. You want guns. cars, motorcycles, explosions and questionable English? This has got it all! Check...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Exclusive: Andy Lau, Shu Qi and Jean Reno [pictured] star in the story of a jewelry heist at the Cannes Film Festival.

Im Global has acquired worldwide rights to Chinese romantic thriller The Adventurers, one of the first productions from Flagship Entertainment, Warner Bros’ joint venture with China Media Capital (Cmc).

Currently in post-production, the film is directed by Stephen Fung (Tai Chi Zero) and stars Andy Lau, Shu Qi and Jean Reno. Flagship produced with Cmc division Gravity Pictures and acclaimed producer Terence Chang (Red Cliff, Face/Off). Im Global, which has worldwide rights excluding China, Thailand, Singapore and Philippines, is launching sales on the film here at Afm.

Written by Fung, Chi Kwong Cheung, Andy Lo and Steve Ha, the film revolves around a thief (Lau) who steals two priceless pieces of jewelry during the Cannes Film Festival. Reno plays a detective on his trail who is using the thief’s ex (Shu Qi) as bait...

Radar Daniel Craig offered $150 million to continue to play 007 twice more. That's rich but the James Bond franchise is worth billions

Billboard Barbra Streisand gets her eleventh #1 album with "Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway" further cementing her lead as the women with the most #1 albums (Madonna is a distant second). Her first #1 album was in 1964. Talk about staying power.

The Guardian Carrie Fisher on getting older and the new doc about her and her mother

Shadowplay isn't as taken with It Follows as most critics were

In Contention will Moonlight be another Oscar player for A24? I'm seeing this tomorrow. Can't wait.

Film Mixtape a lovely review of Little Men

Awards Daily five Oscar takeaways from Telluride Film Festival from Rooney Mara in Best Actress to Arrival's iffy prospects

Av Club Stanley Tucci not up for reprising his Devil Wears Prada role. Curious. That's exactly what he did in Burlesque.

“The Adventurers” is loosely based on John Woo’s “Once A Thief” and will feature an all star cast including Andy Lau, Shu Qi, Tony Yang and Jean Reno.

One of a dozen projects announced in March by Flagship Entertainment, the joint venture between Warner Bros., China Media Capital and broadcaster Tvb, “The Adventurers” will start shooting this summer at Prague Studios and in and around the Czech capital, Karlovy Vary, Lednice, Bouzov and other locations through September. Then it will move to France.

Flagship Entertainment, a joint venture between Warner Bros, China Media Capital (Cmc) and Tvb, has unveiled its debut slate, including projects from Hong Kong filmmakers Peter Chan, Wong Jing and Stephen Fung.

Launched last year, the Hong Kong-based joint venture aims to produce a slate of Chinese-language films, including global tentpoles, for Chinese and international distribution. The first titles will be released in 2016.

Peter Chan is set to direct drama Murder Of The Husband – about a woman whose suffering gave rise to the revolution of women’s social rights in China – and will also partner with Brett Ratner to produce romance Beautiful Coma, chronicling a love that transcends every challenge.

Wong Jing will direct action comedy In Love With The Thieves, starring Andy Lau, Huang Xiaoming and Shen Teng, while Stephen Fung is attached to action romance The Adventurers, starring Feng Shaofeng in a story about an overseas treasure hunt.

In addition...