YeinJee's Asian blog

Asian Culture, Lifestyle and Entertainment

John Woo

Reign of Assassin (2010) movie trailer

by

Trailer for Chinese Wuxia (ancient martial arts) film Reign of Assassin (剑雨), starring Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh and Korean actor Jung Woo-sung…

The movie is about an assassin (Yeoh) who possessed a Buddhist monk’s remains which holds a big secret which could unleash enormous power. She thus gone into hiding and got married with a martial artist (Jung), but her former assassin organisation and some other parties were in hot pursuit.

The film is produced by John Woo, his first wuxia film. Other co-stars include Wang Xueqi, Barbie Hsu, Shawn Yue, Kelly Lin, Leon Dai, Guo Xiaodong, Pace Wu, Li Zhonghan, Paw Hee-Ching and Jiang Yiyan. Thanks to Tina for the tip.

John Woo gets lifetime achivement award at Venice

by

John Woo honoured in VeniceHong Kong director John Woo was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 67th Venice International Film Festival on Sept 3. He is the first Chinese film maker to receive the honour.

John Woo is famous for his action thrillers in the 80s, with A Better Tomorrow and The Killer; and made his name in Hollywood with Face Off and Mission: Impossible II etc. in the 90s. He returned to China in 2008 to produce war film Red Cliff which was a huge box office success in Asia. [via Cri]

His latest movie is Reign of Assassin, starring a multinational cast which include Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, Korean actor Jung Woo-sung, Chinese actors Wang Xueqi, Shawn Yue, Taiwanese stars Barbie Hsu, Kelly Lin and Leon Dai etc.

Tokyo Film Festival 2008 opens with eco-theme

by

The 21st Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) kicked off Saturday (Oct 18) with Japanese prime minister Taro Aso among the ~300 guests that graced the opening event at Roppongi Hills [via Japantoday]

The theme of TIFF 2008 is “Ecology = Preservation of Earth’s Environment”, and the organiser replaced the usual red carpet with a green carpet made from recycled plastic bottles to exemplify the theme, which I doubt could bring any meaningful effect.

A total of 315 films from around the world will be shown during the nine-day event. Chinese movie “Red Cliff”, directed by Hong Kong director John Woo, was selected to kick start the screening; would be cute if the stars wore some green outfit during the green carpet to echo the theme lol.

Picture of the cast of Chinese movie Red Cliff at Tokyo Film Festival 2008 in Japan
The main cast of Red Cliff at TIFF 2008… (L-R) Vicki Zhao, Chang Chen, Takeshi Kaneshiro, director John Woo, Tony Leung, Zhang Fengyi and Lin Chi Ling (Image from Udn)

Red Cliff cast promote in Korea

by

The director and leading stars of upcoming Chinese movie “Red Cliff” are promoting the movie in Korea. Director John Woo and actors Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Chang Chen and actress Lin Zhi Ling met the press in Seoul on June 25.

Battle of Red Cliff at press conference in Seoul
(L-R) Chang Chen, Tony Leung, John Woo, Takeshi Kaneshiro. Lin Zhi Ling

[Read more…] about Red Cliff cast promote in Korea

Song Hye-kyo to star in John Woo’s movie

by

Popular Korean actress Song Hye-kyo will be starring in a new movie directed by international renowned director John Woo. The announcement was made on May 20 in Cannes where the 61st Cannes Film Festival is currently being held.

Chang Chen, John Woo and Song Hye-kyo in Cannes
(L-R) Chang Chen, John Woo and Song Hye-kyo (Image from On.cc)

The movie, titled 1949, is scheduled to start filming by end of the year in China, Japan and Taiwan. Song Hye-kyo will star alongside Taiwanese actor Chang Chen in the movie, which is about an epic love during the turbulence time in Shanghai.

[Update 2009] The production has been called off.

Song Hye-kyo series – Next: Levi’s casual & Nylon magazine