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Streaming platform Rakuten Viki has acquired seven titles from Chinese firm Croton Media. They are set to premiere worldwide on the platform this month, some of them as Viki Originals.

The titles include 58-episode show “Eternal Love,” a period drama starring Yang Mi and Mark Chao; 30-episode “Love O2O,” a modern drama starring Yang Yang and Zheng Shuang; 54-episode “Princess Weiyoung,” a period drama starring Tiffany Tang and Luo Jin, an onscreen couple who got married in real life last year; and 62-episode “General and I,” a period drama starring Angelababy and Wallace Chung.

The 41-episode “Negotiator,” starring Yang Mi and Huang Zitao, who rose to fame as a rapper in the K-pop group Exo, will air as a Viki Original, as will 47-episode “Age of Legends,” starring William Chan and Sandra Ma, and “My Story for You, starring Zheng Shuang and Luo Jin.

“Our watch time for Chinese content...

Three

Stars: Louis Koo, Wei Zhao, Wallace Chung, Siu-Fai Cheung, Suet Lam, Hoi-Pang Lo, Michael Tse, Adrian Wong, Kathy Wu | Written by Ho Leung Lau, Tin Shu Mak | Directed by Johnnie To

When a cop, a wounded crime boss and a doctor are thrown together in the hustle and bustle of an emergency room, a hospital descends from a pristine sanctuary to an explosive battleground. Bullets fly in a when the crime boss’s gang turn up to try and rescue him, and the cop must prevent innocent lives from being caught in the crossfire.

Johnny To’s hospital-set thriller is a Die Hard-esque tale that instantly recalls the John Woo classic Hard Boiled and yet is in no way similar in story and action. Like a number of his films before this, To takes his time building his film – introducing his characters, exploring their motivations etc. – before finally getting...

When Well Go USA released Three on Blu-Ray and DVD on April 4,2017, I expected it to be all about the fellas. I was in for a shock. In the midst of a mental tug-of-war between a band of bank robbers and a group of police detectives, Vicki Zhao quietly steals the show. I’ve heard that if you truly dislike a character that was intended to spark rage, the actor or actress did a good job. Vicki Zhao was truly beautiful and truly enraging. I could not be more pleased with the fantastic job she did. It goes without saying that Louis Koo and Wallace Chung delivered stellar performances as well, but today I want to focus on Vicki Zhao. She was the heat that melted the glue and didn’t give a damn about keeping anything together.

Director Johnnie To yet again shows his brilliance in the directing of Three.

Well Go USA will be releasing Johnnie To’s action-packed suspense film Three on Blu-ray on April 4.

Three stars Louis Koo, Wei Zhao, and Wallace Chung

When a police sting goes bad, a master criminal (Wallace Chung, Drug War) makes a desperate choice: he forces the cops to shoot him. Once there, he refuses treatment, instead waiting for his cohorts to break him out. Caught between an obsessed cop (Louis Koo, Triad Election) and the troubled surgeon assigned to save his life (Zhao Wei, Red Cliff), the hospital is now a taught-and-tense situation that could turn into a bloody battleground at any moment.

Now, you can own the Johnnie To’s Three Blu-ray. Wamg has two copies to give away. All you have to do is leave a comment answering this question: What is your favorite movie with a number in the title? (mine is Triple 9). It’s so easy!

Even if Monster Hunt were billed in America with “from Raman Hui, the supervising animator of everyone’s favorite DreamWorks player, the Gingerbread Man, and co-director of Shrek the Third, comes a magical adventure of man and beast” on the posters, it wouldn’t be enough. But that’s okay, because Hui didn’t make it for American audiences. Instead, it stemmed from a desire back in 2005 to make an animated film in China after spending so much time with Steven Spielberg‘s company learning the ropes. A decade later and the finished live-action-animated hybrid became the nation’s highest-grossing film ever (since beaten by Stephen Chow‘s The Mermaid). Not even the boast of this acclaim could make it a winner stateside, though. It’s simply too weird for western audiences.

That doesn’t mean it’s bad or indecipherable. Hui utilizes many of the same themes from the...

Korean actor Lee Min-ho will star in the upcoming movie ‘Bounty Hunters’ alongside Wallace Chung (Monster Hunt), Tiffany Tang (East Meets West), and Karena Ng (Ip Man 3). ‘Bounty Hunters’ is one of a growing list of big-budget joint ventures between Chinese and Korean production companies to be released in 2016.

According to Filmcatalogue.com, the movie centers on a team of bounty hunters gathered by an FBI agent to capture a wanted man. Filming began in August 2015 and features locations in Asia such as South Korea, Hong Kong, China, and Thailand.

Korean director Shin Terra (My Girlfriend is an Agent) is at the helm of this action-adventure film and Edmond Wong of the Ip Man film series penned the script.

The movie has a budget of $10-25 million and is produced by Harmonious Entertainment Shanghai, Starhaus Entertainment of Korea, and Pegasus Motion Pictures of Hong Kong which also produced blockbusters such as All’s Well,...

Monster Hunt was released today ( Jan 22 ) in North American cinemas .

The film was originally released in China on July 2015 in 3D and went on to be the highest grossing Chinese film of all time (earning in excess of 2.48 billion Yuan )

Voice Acting Cast

Bai Baihe, Jing Boran, Jiang Wu, Elaine Jin, Wallace Chung, Eric Tsang, Sandra Ng

Synopsis

The film takes place in the distant past, where the Human race existed alongside the Monster race. They once shared the world in peace and harmony until the Humans drove the Monsters out from their lands, for they sought total dominion over their lands.

Recently, a civil war took place in the Monster Realm which resulted in the usurpation of the Monster King’s throne from a treacherous minister, who later sought the Monster Queen and her unborn baby, and the Monster Queen fled to the Human Realm.

The story begins with...

The biggest movie in Chinese history is getting ready to invade the United States, with the first trailer and poster for Monster Hunt. Variety reported earlier this week that Monster Hunt will get a North American theatrical release, with domestic distributor FilmRise setting a January 22 release date. The 3D action fantasy movie will be going up against The 5th Wave, The Boy and Dirty Grandpa.

The story centers on a baby monster named Huba, the child of a human man and a monster queen. This newborn creature is threatened by both monster-hating humans and monsters attempting to capture the new-born in an ancient world based on medieval China. The cast includes Wei Tang, Baihe Bai, Eric Tsang, Wu Jiang, Wallace Chung, Boran Jing, Chen Yao, Elaine Jin, Xiaodong Guo and Ni Yan. Here's what FilmRise CEO Danny Fisher had to say in a statement.

"We have carefully edited the English...

Monster Hunt is coming to Australian cinemas next week! Directed by Raman Hui, animator for the Shrek films and director of Shrek The Third, this new Chinese fantasy film stars Wuba, Bai Baihe, Jing Boran, Tang Wei, Yao Chen, Eric Tsang, Sandra Ng and Wallace Chung. Thanks to its distributor in Australia, Magnum Films, we have Five double passes to give away to our readers.For a chance to win, all you have to do is to follow these two steps:1) Like the Magnum Film Facebook page, and2) Email your name and postal address to me at: hugo[at]twitchfilm.netMonster Hunt will open in Australian cinemas on July 23, and this competition will close at 3pm on July 21. -- Good luck!You can find out more about this and...

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Exclusive: Projects include an omnibus about Hong Kong’s history that brings together eight of the territory’s leading directors.

Media Asia is unleashing a trio of Johnnie To projects at Efm, including an omnibus about Hong Kong’s history that brings together eight of the territory’s leading directors.

The as-yet-untitled project will include segments directed by To, John Woo, Tsui Hark, Ann Hui, Ringo Lam, Patrick Tam, Sammo Hung and Yuen Woo-ping. To will also produce through his Hong Kong-based Milkyway Image.

“The idea is that each of them will focus on one decade of Hong Kong’s history, although it may not end up being as strict as that,” explained Media Asia general manager and head of sales and international co-productions Fred Tsui.

Ann Hui has already started shooting her segment, set in 1940s Hong Kong, which delves into social commentary with a tale about kindergarten classes that were held on rooftops.

To is also...

Spaghetti Western homage Django Unchained was rumored as the potential secret film at the now-in progress Rome Film Festival, but Quentin Tarantino was unable to complete the film in time, so it was announced Johnnie To‘s new thriller Du zhan (Drug War) was the second and final surprise selection added to the festival’s 15-film competition.

Gritty yet stylish action is billed as the famous Hong Kong director’s first actioner shot in the Chinese mainland, telling the story of a police captain’s efforts to break up a major cocaine ring with the help of an arrested drug lord..

The film stars Louis Koo, Sun Honglei, Xiao Cong, Yin Zhusheng, Gao Yunxiang, Huang Yi and Wallace Chung.

The festival previously announced that Yi Wu Si Er (Back to 1942) from Chinese director Feng Xiaogang was the first surprise film in the main competition.

New and English subtitled trailer for the film has just arrived,...