艾美艾尊

The producer chooses comedy over tragedy, starting 'Magic to Win' before the upcoming historical epic.

HONG KONG -- Producer Raymond Wong follows comedy with tragedy with his $15 million take on the Chinese historical tale of a war-torn family, titled Saving General Young, produced by Wong’s Pegasus Films with China’s Huayi Brothers and Henan Film Studio.

First, though, Wong will return to familiar grounds with Magic to Win, an update of his 1980s comedy series The Happy Ghost with a new twist.

Filming of Saving General Young will start in August 2011 for release in the second half of 2012, with Ronny Yu (Fearless)as director on a script by Edmond Wong, son of Raymond. It marks the seventh collaboration of the father-son team. Yuen Tak (The Legend) has signed on as action director. The film will mix scenes of epic warfare and family drama in equal measure, and revolves around loyalty to one’s country and filial piety to one’s kin.

“It’s a heart-wrenching yet inspiring tragedy,” says Wong about his reinvention of the well-known 10th-century rescue mission taken by the male line of the Young military clan to save their captured father, the titular General Young, from invaders in the northeast under the prophecy that “seven sons depart, six sons will return.”

“However, the prophecy was wrongly interpreted,” said Wong, “in fact, it meant that seven sons depart, but only the sixth son returns.”

“In past adaptations of this classic tale, the focus was always placed on the sixth son. But our new take puts equal emphasis on all seven brothers, with the eldest taking the lead,” the producer of martial arts hits Ip Man and its sequel tells The Hollywood Reporter.

One of Hong Kong’s busiest actors, Louis Koo (Triple Tap, Overheard), will take the role of the eldest brother. Koo signed a seven-picture deal with Pegasus in 2010, and has starred in the second and third installment of Wong’s revived All’s Well Ends Well Too series.

Former pop star Wu Chun (14 Blades) will play the sole survivor among the brothers. Deng Chao (Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame) and Vic Zhou will also join the clan. Hong Kong television icon Adam Cheng will star as the captured Young patriarch. The only female role of note in the story is that of the matriarch Young, to be played by Xu Fan, the lead in last year’s blockbuster drama Aftershock.

“The character is much older in age than the real-life Xu, but I’m grateful that she doesn’t mind accepting the challenge of playing an elderly character,” Wong notes. “Xu is a highly respected and selective actress, and she’ll be the only female lead in the film.”

The second part in the epic of the tragic and patriotic Young family has likewise spawned numerous retellings in Chinese opera, fiction, film and television adaptations, which depicted the mother, widows and sisters of the clan taking up arms and joining in battle against the invaders after the brothers were wiped out. Wong hasn’t ruled out the possibility of bringing to screen the story of the female warriors of the Young family, but that depends on the performance of Saving General Young.

Yet comedy will come before tragedy for Pegasus, as Wong reawakens his Happy Ghost franchise of the 1980s CinemaCity heyday for the Chinese audience, now renamed Magic to Win. Wong’s Ip Man director Wilson Yip is at the helm, and Edmond Wong again on the screenplay. In fact, the whole crew from Ip Man will return for this CGI-heavy US$10 million update, with Wong reprising the role of the motivational high school teacher, this time possessing not supernatural powers nor a Chinese vampire-style past life but magic instead.

“When we did the original series, we had to make do with makeshift visual effects and old tricks; now we can use state-of-the-art CGI effects,” Wong said. Filming is tentatively scheduled for June for a late 2011 release.

Wong plans to finalize Chinese co-production partnerships and his cast during Filmart. Having been the major force in the revival of the Chinese New Year Hong Kong comedies through Pegasus, Wong is also looking to continue the company’s Chinese New Year comedy run, with a new addition on the agenda to begin production at the end of the year.




網上翻譯:

製片人選擇了喜劇悲劇，開始'魔術永盛即將到來之前的歷史史詩。

香港-監製 黃百鳴 如下喜劇與悲劇，他以1500萬美元在中國的歷史故事戰爭蹂躪的家庭，名為 儲蓄一般青少年 ，產生由黃的飛馬與中國電影的華誼兄弟和河南電影製片廠。

首先，雖然，黃將回到熟悉的理由與 魔術隊贏 ，更新他的20世紀80年代的喜劇系列 的開心鬼 一個新的轉折。

拍攝 保存一般青少年 將在2011年8月發布的2012年下半年，與 於仁泰 （ 霍元甲 ）作為董事的腳本由 埃德蒙黃 的兒子，雷蒙德。 它標誌著第七次合作的父子團隊。 圓德 （ 傳奇 ）已簽約成為動作導演。 這部影片將混合戰爭史詩場面和家庭劇在平等的措施，並圍繞著忠於自己的國家，一個孝順的親屬。

“這是一個令人痛心又鼓舞人心的悲劇，”Wong說他重塑了著名的第10世紀的救援任務所採取的父系的青年軍族拯救他們抓獲的父親，有名無實的一般青年，從日軍根據東北地區的預言說：“七個兒子離開，六個兒子會回來。”

“然而，預言是錯誤的解釋，”黃說，“事實上，這意味著七個兒子離開，但只有第六個兒子的回報。”

“在過去的這個經典故事改編，重點一直放在了第六個兒子。 但是，我們要提出新的並重所有七個兄弟，老大與帶頭“的製片人打武術 葉問 及其續集講述 好萊塢記者 。

香港其中一個最繁忙的演員， 古天樂 （ 三重塔 ， 竊聽 ），將採取作用的大哥。 辜振甫簽署了七個畫面處理飛馬在2010年，曾主演過第二和第三批Wong的恢復 所有的井完囍事 系列。

流行明星 吳尊 （ 14刀片 ）將扮演唯一的倖存者在弟兄中間。 鄧超 （ 偵探迪和神秘的幻影火焰 ）和 周渝民 也將加入氏族。 香港電視圖標 鄭少秋 將捕捉到的恆星作為年輕族長。 唯一的女性角色在故事中值得注意的是，年輕的女主人，將發揮 徐帆 ，率先在去年的大片戲劇 餘震 。

“字是在年齡老得多比現實生活中許，但我很感激，她不介意接受挑戰扮演一個老人的角色，”皇筆記。 “徐是一個高度尊重和選擇性的女演員，她將是唯一女主角的電影。”

第二部分在史詩悲慘的愛國青年的家人也同樣產生了許多在中國複述戲曲，小說，電影和電視改編，其中描繪的母親，寡婦和姐妹家族拿起武器和加入抗擊侵略者之後兩兄弟被消滅。 黃並沒有排除這種可能性帶來篩選故事的女戰士的年輕一族，但其性能取決於 儲蓄一般青少年 。

然而，喜劇就要來臨飛馬悲劇，因為他的皇煥發 開心鬼 專營權在80年代鼎盛時期的中國CinemaCity觀眾，現更名為 魔術隊贏 。 黃的 葉問 導演 葉偉信 是掌舵，而 愛德蒙黃 再次在劇本。 事實上，全體船員從 葉曼 將返回這個CGI的沉重1000萬美元的更新，並皇reprising角色的動機高中老師，這次藏有神通，也不是中國的吸血鬼式的過去的生活，但魔術，而不是。

“當我們做了原系列中，我們不得不臨時湊合的視覺效果與老把戲，現在我們可以使用先進設備，最先進的CGI特效，”王說。 拍攝日期暫定為 2011年六月的一晚釋放。

黃計劃敲定中國合作生產的夥伴關係和他的劇組在影視展。 曾任主要力量，在復興春節香港喜劇通過飛馬，王先生也希望繼續公司的賀歲小品來看，隨著新增加的議程開始生產在年底。




source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com