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Amsterdam and Beijing-based film sales company Fortissimo Films has picked up licensing duties to upcoming “Escape From the 21st Century,” a Chinese sci-fi action title.

The story follows three friends who discover they have the power to travel back and forth 20 years with a sneeze. However, the future is not as good as they hoped and need to take on the responsibility of saving the world. The action shuttles between 1999 and 2019 and on Planet K, which is very similar to Earth.

The film is directed by Li Yang (short and co-directed feature “Lee’s Future”) and stars Zhang Ruoyun (“Joy of Life”), Zhong Cuxi (“Youth”) and Song Yang (“Wrath of Silence”).

The picture is produced by Desen International and is headed for a mainland China commercial release on Aug. 3 through Enlight Pictures. Fortissimo is handling rights in the rest of the world ex-mainland China.

Watch the trailer here.

Fortissimo had a busy Cannes,...

China and Netherlands-based Fortissimo Films has picked up international sales rights to anticipated Chinese blockbuster movie “If You Are the One 3.”

To be released on Dec. 30 in China, the picture is directed by Feng Xiaogang as the second sequel in his anti-romance comedy franchise, about a rich businessman and an air stewardess, which kicked off in 2008 and earned a follow-up in 2010. The new picture reunites the key cast Ge You and Shu Qi, as well as Fan Wei (“One Second”), Yao Chen (“Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back”) and Guan Xiaotong (“Shadow”).

Set in 2031, the new film tells the story of Qin (Ge) retiring alone on a small island, as his wife Xiaoxiao (Shu) is away all year long. Fan (Fan), Qin’s friend, designs an android identical to Xiaoxiao to keep Qin company. Spending time with the android and old friends, Qin reflects on loneliness and companionship,...

Via Vision Entertainment is excited to announce its newest media distribution expansion with the launch of Imprint Asia.

Imprint Asia will deliver ongoing releases of contemporary & classic Asian cinema across film festival, multi digital platforms, and physical media including 4K & Blu-ray for Australia and New Zealand.

Already working with some of the biggest Asian licencing partners in the market, the new brand will be launching with a host of key properties including Rui Cui's 2023 box office megahit ‘Lost In The Stars', Larry Yang's 2023 action comedy ‘Ride On' starring Jackie Chan and the 2023 Sci-Fi epic ‘The Wandering Earth II‘ starring Andy Lau.

In addition to the new release slate there will be ongoing classic releases with new restorations and extras produced for physical media collectors including Chen Kaige's ‘The Emperor and The Assassin' (1998) & ‘Farewell My Concubine' (1992), Tsui Hark's ‘The Legend of Zu' (2001), Kei Kumai...

In the annals of legendary stunt performers, there are few to compare with Jackie Chan. That said, part of the reason for his success is that he can also act, and as he has grown older he has increasingly focused on on this, moving away from the really demanding stunt work. In this sentimental but nonetheless enjoyable yarn by Larry Yang, he plays an ageing stuntman. It’s an opportunity to reflect on his own past and pay respect to the traditions of an industry now dramatically altered by CGI – to honour the people who devoted their lives to it (sometimes losing them in the process), and to likewise honour stunt animals.

Chan’s character, Luo Zhilong, lives on a former studio lot with his beloved horse, Red Hare. We see in flashback how he saved the horse from death when it was born with a twisted leg, and how the two.

Legendary superstar Jackie Chan is “at his best” (Variety) in Ride On,the adventure comedy for the whole family debuting on Digital, Blu-ray and DVD on October 24 from Well Go USA Entertainment. When debt collectors try—and fail—to seize a horse from a stuntman (Chan), video of the attempt goes viral. Furious, the debt collectors return, leading to hilarious, action-packed antics that outdo even the pair’s most daring acts. Written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Larry Yang, Ride On also stars Kevin Guo (Adoring), Wu Jing, Xing Yu, and Andy On (New Police Story). Bonus material includes two behind-the-scenes featurettes and an English dub.

Synopsis:

After debt collectors attempt to seize the beloved stunt horse of washed-up aging stuntman Luo (Jackie Chan), video of the dynamic duo’s daring escape goes viral on social media, immediately reviving Luo’s movie career. But in the midst of this triumphant return to film,...

To celebrate the release of action legend Jackie Chan’s latest film, Ride On, coming to Blu-ray, DVD and Digital on 24 July 2023, we have an amazing prize bundle to giveaway for one lucky winner!

Courtesy of CineAsia, this top prize includes a signed copy of his best-selling autobiography, ‘Never Grow Up’, plus a fantastic set of Jackie movies including his latest, Ride On (with Blu-ray exclusive extras), Vanguard (Blu-ray), Shaolin (Blu-ray), the Jackie Chan-produced House of Fury (Blu-ray), and The Shinjuku Incident (Ultimate Edition DVD). A must-have for any Jc fan!

In Ride On, the Rush Hour star is back in an action-packed and heart-warming tribute to the world of stunts which made him a superstar. He plays a washed-up stuntman whose glory days are long behind him. When his trusty stunt horse, Red Hare, becomes the target of debt collectors, the pair fight off the attackers, with their impressive...

Back in the old days, when there was little to no computer-generated imagery on the silver screen, directors, especially those directing action films, had to depend on the skill and commitment of a stuntman to put his life on the line and execute a dangerous action sequence. The new Jackie Chan starrer Ride On is an action comedy that builds around the sentiment regarding the stunt job and unabashedly pays homage to Jackie’s career as a consummate stunt professional, nicely embedding it in a sentimental family drama.

The film, directed by Larry Yang, revolves around the story of a washed-up stuntman named Lao, who lives with his horse and sustains his existence by doing street acts. Trouble arises when a wealthy businessman makes up his mind to take his horse away, and Lao is forced to seek his estranged daughter’s help.

Spoilers Ahead

Plot Synopsis: What Happens In...

After 60 years in the movie business, Jackie Chan is still a box office force. The Hong Kong action legend added another chapter to his storied career over the weekend as his latest action feature, Ride On, fended off competition from Japanese anime hit Suzume and Universal Pictures’ The Super Mario Bros. Movie to win the weekend in China.

Directed by Larry Yang and produced by Alibaba Pictures, Ride On stars Chan as a washed-up stuntman battling debt collectors over ownership of his stunt horse. The film opened to $11.7 million, topping Suzume‘s $8 million performance and Super Mario‘s muted $6.3 showing, according to data from Artisan Gateway. Ride On, which also stars Liu Haocun, Kevin Guo and Wu Jing, is on pace for a $30 million-plus career run.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie smashed expectations and set a number of box office records in North America and several other international markets during the long Easter holiday weekend.

Stars: Jackie Chan, Andy On, Liu Haocun, Kevin Guo, Xing Yu | Written and Directed by Larry Yang

Jackie Chan’s latest film, Ride On, is a long way from what most of us have come to expect from its star. Rather than an all-out action film mixing lots of fight scenes and physical comedy, this has been dubbed an“action dramedy” by its makers. Those makers include writer/director Larry Yang, known for dramas such as Adoring and Sorry I Love You. This is another way of saying it’s a serious film about family and the choices we make in life with some fight scenes and the occasional joke about getting a faceful of horse farts.

Lao Luo is a stuntman who has seen better days. He scrapes by these days working as an extra or posing for pictures with his stunt horse Red Hare. In an eventful few hours,...

Watch any of the films that made Jackie Chan a legend and you notice that so much of his graceful, goofball charisma comes from simply having one more move up his sleeve. Whether changing position while sliding down a plate-glass skyscraper or falling off a clock face onto a series of awnings or dispatching multiple assailants with his witty brand of bendy, aerobic kung-fu, only to end on a silly eye-poke or a gymnastic semi-levitation, the star-making flourish is so often the extra thing he does when anyone else would be finished.

But what do you do when, nearing 70 and with almost 150 movie performances behind you, there aren’t that many one-more-moves left? Maybe you make something like Larry Yang’s “Ride On,” a sappy but enjoyable slice of family fun that has a nice horse doing wacky tricks for the younger viewers and for parents and older fans, is a gently meta,...

Busy week sees 19 releases, including Ben Affleck’s ‘Air’, and ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’.

Universal’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie will smash the record for widest UK-Ireland opening by an animated film this weekend, starting its run in 721 sites.

That is 31 sites above the 690-site opening for the previous record holder, Disney’s Toy Story 4 from 2019.

Adapted from the best-selling Nintendo game series, The Super Mario Bros. Movie tells the story of two Italian-American siblings trying to get their plumbing business off the ground, who are accidentally drawn into a battle to save a magical land called the Mushroom Kingdom.

The veteran action star plays as a washed-up stuntman in the drama-comedy.

Hong Kong’s Golden Network Asia has closed sales of upcoming Jackie Chan action feature Ride On in the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

The film has sold to North America (Well Go USA), Germany (Plaion Pictures), Italy (Eagle Pictures), Eastern Europe, Benelux and Israel (Spi International), Cis (An Media), Turkey (Atv), Middle East (Phars Film), Japan (Twin Co. Ltd), South Korea (Contents Panda), Malaysia (Shanghai Pictures), Singapore (Shaw Renters), Taiwan and worldwide airlines (Eagle International), Indonesia (Prima Cinema), the Philippines (Pioneer Films) and India (Indo Overseas Film...

Jackie Chan’s upcoming stuntman-horse buddy action movie Ride On has sold wide ahead of the European Film Market in Berlin. Hong Kong sales outlet Golden Network has inked distribution deals for the film across North America, Europe and Asia. The film is being sold as an homage to Chan’s classic stuntman movies.

Ride On stars Chan as a washed-up stuntman who can barely make ends meet, let alone take care of his beloved stunt horse, Red Hare. Chan’s character is in the process of seeking financial help from his estranged daughter and her lawyer boyfriend when he’s notified that his horse may be auctioned off to cover his debts. Suddenly, though, the stuntman and the horse become overnight media sensations when their real-life fight with debt collectors goes viral on social media. That earns the stuntman a second chance to choose between his movie career and his family.

Hong Kong-based sales agency Golden Network Asia has amassed a large collection of advanced sales on upcoming Jackie Chan-starring film “Ride On.”

The film, pitched as an action dramedy and one in which Chan pays homage to old-school stunt men, has recently been given an April 7 release date in mainland China. The date also mark’s the star’s 69th birthday.

The film has already been licensed to: Well Go USA for North America; Plaion Pictures for Germany; Eagle Pictures for Italy; Spi International for Eastern Europe, Benelux and Israel; An Media for Cis; Atv for Turkey; Phars Film for Middle East; Twin Co. for Japan; Contents Panda for South Korea; Shanghai Pictures for Malaysia; Shaw Renters for Singapore; Eagle International for Taiwan and worldwide Airline; Prima Cinema for Indonesia; Pioneer Films for the Philippines and Indo Overseas Film for India.

Chan stars as a washed-up stuntman who can barely make ends meet,...

Hong Kong-based sales firm Golden Network has picked up international rights to Jackie Chan’s upcoming film “Ride On.”

The feature has recently wrapped production and is scheduled to be released on Dec. 31 in time for what is normally a peak cinemagoing period in China and elsewhere.

Asian films are currently struggling to achieve pre-sales in international markets, but “Ride On” could be an exception. Chan is reliably bankable in action and comedy films, with appeal in Asia, overseas diaspora territories and European TV, streaming and home entertainment markets.

“Ride On” is directed by one of China’s most bankable filmmakers, Larry Yang. Yang previously pleased critics with his 2015 rural drama “Mountain Cry” and then earned over 100 million at the box office with 2019 title “Adoring,” about six couples and their pets.

In “Ride On,” Chan stars as a washed-up stuntman who can barely make ends meet, let alone take care of his beloved stunt horse,...

The Chinese feature will be introduced to Cannes buyers.

Hong Kong’s Golden Network Asia has picked up international rights to Jackie Chan action comedy Ride On and will introduce the film during the Cannes Marché.

Larry Yang directs the Chinese feature, which stars Chan as an old stuntman who becomes a media sensation after a video of him fighting debt collectors alongside his trusty horse goes viral. The cast also includes Liu Haocun of Cliff Walkers and Kevin Guo, who starred in Yang’s previous feature Adoring.

The film is backed by Alibaba Pictures, Beijing Hairun Pictures and Zhejiang Hengdian Film,...

Ivanhoe Pictures, which produced “Crazy Rich Asians,” has partnered with Jeffrey Sharp and Sharp Independent Pictures to finance and co-produce “The Baccarat Queen” about Chinese gambler Cheung Yin “Kelly” Sun.

The project is inspired by Michael Kaplan’s article “The Baccarat Machine,” published in Cigar Aficionado, about Sun amassing millions of dollars of winnings by teaming with “King of Poker” Phil Ivey and using a technique known as edge sorting — recognizing the use of playing cards in which the edges on either side are unevenly cut by fractions of an inch.

Ivanhoe plans to develop a predominately English-language film featuring Asian characters. Ivanhoe and Sharp will produce.

“‘The Baccarat Queen’ is a truly captivating story that will feature a diverse international cast, a goal that Ivanhoe continues to pursue as global storytellers,” Ivanhoe Pictures president John Penotti said. “We are thrilled to partner with Sharp as we tell this exciting,...

Ivanhoe Pictures, a division of Sk Global and the production company behind Crazy Rich Asians, has teamed with Jeffrey Sharp of Sharp Independent Pictures to produce The Baccarat Queen (working title), a film about Cheung Yin “Kelly” Sun, the skilled Baccarat player who is considered the most successful female gambler in modern history.

Based on Michael Kaplan’s Cigar Aficionado article, The Baccarat Machine (which is also Sun’s nickname), the predominately English-language film will feature Asian characters for the global market.

The film will tell the true story of Sun, a young Chinese woman who turns a painstakingly developed talent and obsession for payback into one of the most ingenious legal gambling runs ever documented. Over the course of less than a year playing baccarat in major casinos around the world, Sun amasses winnings in the 10s of millions of dollars. With major casinos conspiring to bar her from their properties,...

The joint venture between Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Ivanhoe Pictures launched last year to build a slate of local-language films across Asia has identified a Chinese-language project about the former NBA star.

Sk Global (which launched in April 2015 as Ske Global) is financing and co-producing with China’s Hairun Pictures My Other Home, which stars Marbury as himself and charts his rise to stardom, subsequent troubles with the NBA, and ultimate transition to playing professional basketball in China.

China’s Larry Yang – whose Mountain Cry just played at the Shanghai International Film Festival – is directing from his screenplay.

The producers have applied for official Chinese-us co-production status and shooting is underway in Beijing before a move to New York at the end of the month. Marbury played 15 seasons in the NBA and currently plies his trade for the Beijing Ducks where he has helped the team to three Cba championships.

Sk Global...

Village Roadshow Pictures Asia (Vrpa) is teaming with Heyi Pictures to co-finance and co-produce sci-fi thriller Bleeding Steel, starring Jackie Chan.

Written and directed by Leo Zhang (Chrysanthemum To The Beast), the film is scheduled to start shooting in July in Sydney.

The film is expected to be the biggest-budget Chinese production ever to shoot in Australia. It’s also Chan’s first film to be shot primarily in Australia since Mr. Nice Guy was filmed in Melbourne in 1996. Additional filming will take place in Taiwan.

Chan plays a special forces agent in the future who fights to protect a...

The biggest European film festival excludsively dealing with Asian cinema will open on Friday the 22nd of April with the South Korean blockbuster “The Tiger” and close with the Hong Kong thriller “The Bodyguard” on Saturday the 30th with the presence of the legendary Sammo Hung. Legendary director Johnnie To and composer Lim Giong will also attend.

The festival will feature 72 films in the official selection (5 world premieres) a retrospective of Japanese science fiction, the restored 4K versions of four Bruce Lee masterpieces and over 100 events organized around the city.

The line up of 2016 includes the followings:

Competition Section

China (10)

Chongqing Hot Pot, Yang Qing, crime-action- hipster noir, China 2016, European Premiere

The Dead End, Cao Baoping, cop-loves-cop thriller, China 2015, European Premiere

Destiny, Zhang Wei, human drama, China 2016, World Premiere

The Left Ear, Alec Su, youth drama, China 2015, European Premiere

Lost in Hong Kong, Xu Zheng, clash of cultures comedy, China 2015, International Festival Premiere

The Master,...

The 18th Feff will feature 50 titles in competition, including Lost In Hong Kong, Mojin: The Lost Legend and Ip Man 3, as well as a new Focus Asia market.Scroll down for full programme

The Udine Far East Film Festival (Feff) has revealed the programme for its 18th edition (April 22-30), featuring a myriad of high-profile Asian titles from the past year.

The event will close with the European premiere of director and actor Sammo Hung’s latest feature, The Bodyguard [pictured], with Hung due to be in attendance.

Hung’s appearance marks the second year in a row that the festival has played host to a Hong Kong film icon, after Jackie Chan attended last year’s edition.

The Bodyguard (also known as My Beloved Bodyguard) has grossed close to $50m since its release in China on April 1. The film stars Sammo Hung as a retired bodyguard who strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young girl.

The...

The film will be released in Japan in Q3 2016.

Hark & Company has acquired the Japanese rights to Chinese director Larry Yang’s Mountain Cry, which recently premiered as the closing film of the 20th Busan International Film Festival, with a theatrical release in Japan scheduled for the third quarter of 2016.

Based on a short novel set in an isolated mountain village in the mid-1980s, the film follows a mysterious mute widow who becomes increasingly attached to a fellow villager assigned to care for her and her children after the death of her husband. The cast features Lang Yueting and Wang Ziyi.

“This modest film from director Larry Yang has a very powerful moving story and a message that I am confident will resonate with our audiences in Japan. The two leads are very appealing with fresh faces and great acting talent,” said Satoru Iseki, director of Hark & Company, who is a long-time supporter of quality cinema...

Village Roadshow Pictures has renewed its $US750 million film production facility, which finances films co-produced with Warner Bros., Sony Pictures and other major distributors. Its 2016 release slate includes Grimsby, which stars Sasha Baron Cohen and Mark Strong, directed by Louis Leterrier; David Yates. Tarzan, with Alexander Skarsgard, Margot Robbie and Samuel L. Jackson; Paul Feig.s Ghostbusters starring Melissa McCarthy and Kristin Wiig;. and Guy Ritchie.s King Arthur, featuring Charlie Hunnam and Jude Law.

Also set for next year are Antoine Fuqua.s The Magnificent Seven, starring Chris Pratt, Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke, and Morten Tyldum.s Passengers, with Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt.

The first titles confirmed for 2017 are The Equalizer 2, which will star Denzel Washington and has no director attached yet, and Steven Spielberg.s Ready Player One, adapted from the Ernie Cline novel set in a virtual world called Oasis, in which a teenager...

Read More: Well Go USA Acquires Blockbuster Chinese Comedy Sequel 'Lost in Hong Kong' Fortissimo Films has acquired global sales rights to Larry Yang's "Mountain Cry." The film, which won the prize for Best Commercial Potential at last year’s Beijing International Film Festival "Pitch & Catch" event, was just announced yesterday to have its world premiere as the Closing Film of the 20th Busan International Film Festival. The official synopsis reads: "Set in a remote mountain village in China in the mid 1980’s, 'Mountain Cry' weaves a tale that begins with the sudden violent death of a man under unusual circumstances, leaving behind a mysterious widow – a young mute woman (played by Yueting Lang)) with two young children. The now broken family upends the village’s tight-knit traditional community structure. As the local village leaders struggle with how to handle the matter, the widow forms a bond...

Fortissimo Films has acquired global rights to Larry Yang’s Mountain Cry, which will receive its world premiere as the closing film of this year’s Busan International Film Festival (Biff) on October 10.

The film is the first of an initial slate of five films to be produced jointly by Village Roadshow Pictures Asia (Vrpa) and China’s Hairun Pictures.

Set in a remote mountain village in the mid 1980s, it follows a mysterious young mute woman and her two children who upend the village’s tight-knit community structure. Lang Yueting (Office) and Wang Ziyi (Chongqing Blues) head the cast.

The film was produced by Vrpa CEO Ellen Eliasoph and Hairun vice president Victoria Hon with Yanming Liu and Greg Basser serving as executive producers.

Vrpa boarded the project after it won the prize for ‘Best Commercial Potential’ at last year’s Beijing International Film Festival ‘Pitch & Catch’ event.

Vrpa and Hairun will jointly release the film...

Fortissimo Films has acquired global rights to Larry Yang’s Mountain Cry, which will receive its world premiere as the closing film of this year’s Busan International Film Festival (Biff) on October 10.

The film is the first of an initial slate of five films to be produced jointly by Village Roadshow Pictures Asia (Vrpa) and China’s Hairun Pictures.

Set in a remote mountain village in the mid 1980s, it follows a mysterious young mute woman and her two children who upend the village’s tight-knit community structure. Lang Yueting (Office) and Wang Ziyi (Chongqing Blues) head the cast.

The film was produced by Vrpa CEO Ellen Eliasoph and Hairun vice president Victoria Hon with Yanming Liu and Greg Basser serving as executive producers. Vrpa boarded the project after it won the prize for ‘Best Commercial Potential’ at last year’s Beijing International Film Festival ‘Pitch & Catch’ event.

Vrpa and Hairun will jointly release the film...

The 20th Busan International Film Festival (Biff) has announced its line-up of 304 films from 75 countries with 121 world and international premieres.

The fest in South Korea will open Oct 1 with the world premiere of Indian film Zubaan, the feature directorial debut of independent film producer Mozez Singh (White Noise, Peddlers).

Produced by Guneet Monga (The Lunchbox), Zubaan is about a young man’s search for values and self.

Biff will close Oct 10 with the world premiere of Chinese film Mountain Cry, directed by Larry Yang, based on Ge Shui-ping’s award-winning novel.

Gala Presentations will include Hou Hsiao-hsien’s The Assassin, Jia Zhangke’s Mountains May Depart, Luca Guadagnino’s A Bigger Splash and the world premiere of previously announced Busan-Youku collaboration project Color Of Asia - Masters, directed by Im Sang-soo, Naomi Kawase, Wang Xiaoshuai and Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

Other Asian masters set to attend include Eric Khoo with Singaporean 50th anniversary omnibus 7 Letters, Bahman Ghobadi with the...

Village Roadshow Pictures Asia (Vrpa) and Beijing-based Hairun Pictures have entered into a strategic film production alliance and unveiled a slate of five features.

The two partners will jointly develop, finance, produce and distribute a slate of films, initially consisting of Sino-foreign co-productions, with plans to also co-produce English-language content in the near future.

The alliance was signed today at the Beijing International Film Festival (Bjiff) by Vrpa CEO Ellen Eliasoph and Liu Yanming, chairman of Hairun Media & Entertainment Group.

Larry Yang’s Mountain Cry, the partners’ initial project together, originated at last year’s Bjiff Pitch and Catch event, where it was awarded as the project with “Top Commercial Potential”. The film is currently in post-production.

The other four projects on the Vpra/Hairun slate include:

Ipo, a fast-paced contemporary drama depicting the dark underworld of China’s booming financial markets;

My Other Home (working title), a biopic of Stephon Marbury, the former...

Exclusive: Larry Yang’s Mountain Cry, co-produced by Hairun Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures Asia, started production today in the Taihang Mountains of China’s Shanxi Province.

Yang, a young mainland Chinese filmmaker, has also written the script based on Ge Shuiping’s award-winning Chinese novel of the same name.

Set in a remote village, the story begins with the sudden death of a husband and father whose family is new to the village’s tight-knit community. Following his death, the villagers get to know the man’s widow, a mysterious mute with the power to tell her story wordlessly.

Ge’s novel was inspired by real life events that occurred in the Taihang Mountain region where she grew up and still lives today.

Lang Yueting plays the mute wife, while Wang Ziyi plays the role of Han Chong, a young man in the village who is forced to take responsibility for her husband’s death.

Lang...

The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television has brought a delegation of companies to Busan’s Asian Film Market for the first time, including leading producers such as Galloping Horse, Stellar Megamedia and Desen International Media.

The delegation also includes Hairun Pictures, Hs Media Co, Goldsome Pictures, Forbidden City Film Co, October Days Culture Media Co and The Mirage Culture & Media. The Beijing International Film Festival (Bjiff) and Beijing Film Market (Bfm), which are both organised by Beijing Sapprft, are also attending the market.

Zhao Zhiyong, assistant director of Beijing Sapprft and executive deputy secretary of Bjiff’s organising committee, said a major reason for attending the market is China’s growing interest in working with Korea.

“China’s film market has grown dramatically to become the world’s second largest box office territory,” Zhao said. “Due to the fast development, we have many needs related to financing, talent and technology...

Soi Cheang’s action drama stars Tony Jaa [pictured], Wu Jing and Simon Yam.

Start-up Hong Kong sales and distribution outfit Bravos Pictures has picked up Soi Cheang’s action drama Spl 2, starring Tony Jaa, Wu Jing and Simon Yam.

Currently in production, the film follows a Hong Kong cop attempting to rescue a colleague who has been locked up in a Thai prison, but who can save his daughter’s life through a bone marrow transplant.

Sun Entertainment Culture is producing the film, which also features Louis Koo in a special appearance.

The film is a thematic sequel to 2005 action drama Spl, directed by Wilson Yip and starring Sammo Hung, Donnie Yen and Wu Jing. Spl refers to the initials of three renegade stars in Chinese astrology. Yip and Paco Wong are producing the sequel.

Bravos, established by former Media Asia sales exec Ricky Tse, is involved in both international sales and distribution in Hong Kong and...