Easternlight picks up Annie Yi’s The Queens

Produced by Beijing-based Desen International Media, the romantic comedy also stars Korean actress Song Hye Kyo and Chinese actress Vivian Wu. Chinese release is scheduled for November 7.

The film follows three cosmopolitan women, an actress, a PR specialist and a gallery manager, all wrestling with the ups and downs of their romantic lives. “We want to present the mystery, desires, sorrows and pain in urban relationships”” said Desen’s Ann An. “The motto for women from the film is ‘Don’t be a slave, and don’t be a queen, just be yourself’. The characters go through the transformation from ‘being a queen’ to purely ‘being themselves’.”

Also known by her Chinese name Yi Nengjing, Annie Yi starred in Hou Hsiao-hsien’s Good Men, Good Women (1995), Peter Greenaway’s 8 ½ Women (1999) and more recently Gao Xiaosong’s My Kingdom (2011).

She is also a former judge on China’s Got Talent and has a huge following on Sina Weibo with more than 9 million followers. The Queens is her directing debut.

Vivian Wu also starred in 8 ½ Women  and more recently Wayne Wang’s Snow Flower And The Secret Fan. The Queens will be Song Hye Kyo’s third Chinese film following Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmaster and John Woo’s upcoming romantic epic The Crossing.

The Queens’ star-laden ensemble cast also includes male actors Joe Chen, Shawn Dou, Jiang Wu and Jerry Yang.

Desen is also producing Zhongkui: Snow Girl And The Dark Crystal, which Village Roadshow Pictures Asia and Warner Bros recently boarded as co-financiers and co-producers. Currently in post-production, the big-budget 3D fantasy adventure is scheduled for release on February 19, 2015.

Arclight is also selling Eddie Tse’s Death Day Party, starring Anita Yuen and Archie Kao; Rain Li’s Beijing New York, starring Lin Chiling and Liu Ye; Ghost Rituals, directed by and starring Hong Kong actor Nick Cheung; and animation sequel Legend Of A Rabbit: Martial Of Fire.