All articles by Liz Shackleton – Page 178

  • News

    Teen comedy Formula cracks Taiwan box office

    2004-04-06T04:00:00Z

    Taiwanese teen comedy Formula 17, produced by start-up production company Three Dots Entertainment, has surpassed expectations for a local film over its opening weekend in Taipei, achieving a screen average of US$11,777 (NT$387,660) - the highest among all new releases.Following its premiere at the Taipei Film Festival on March 22, ...

  • News

    Karma proves a winner at Hong Kong Film Awards

    2004-04-05T00:00:00Z

    Running On Karma, directed by Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai, scooped three prizes including best film at the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards on Sunday night, while To was awarded best director for cop drama PTU.An action adventure film that ruminates on reincarnation and destiny, Running On Karma also picked ...

  • News

    HONG KONG

    2004-03-26T00:00:00Z

    Horror sequel The Eye 2, produced by Hong Kong's Applause Pictures, has outperformed the original film in its opening week, grossing US$741,729 from 40 screens.Directed by the Pang Brothers, The Eye 2 stars Shu Qi as a pregnant woman who starts to suffer from terrifying hallucinations. Eugenia Yuan and Thai ...

  • News

    Chen starts high-profile Promise

    2004-03-16T21:00:00Z

    Acclaimed Chinese director Chen Kaige has started shooting The Promise (Wu Ji), a big-budget fantasy epic that brings together some of Asia's top talent both in front of and behind the camera.Heading the cast of the film - which cranked up at the Beijing Film Studio on Monday - is ...

  • News

    Chinese pair to open Hong Kong Festival

    2004-03-04T21:55:00Z

    The Hong Kong Arts Development Council has unveiled the line-up of the 28th Hong Kong International Film Festival (April 6-21) which includes Oscar winner The Barbarian Invasions and the winner of last year's Palme d'Or, Gus Van Sant's Elephant.In total, around 300 movies from more than 40 countries will screen ...

  • News

    HONG KONG

    2004-03-01T00:00:00Z

    Thai martial arts movie Ong-Bak, starring rising action hero Tony Jaa, tops the Hong Kong box office this week with US$732,775 from 30 screens which distributor Edko says is 'within expectations'. The film is already the second highest-grossing Thai movie ever in Hong Kong although it has a long way ...

  • News

    Hong Kong looks forward to Monkey business

    2004-03-01T00:00:00Z

    For full Hong Kong production listings click HEREEmperor Motion Picture Group's The Twins Effect II, the sequel to last year's blockbuster action comedy which is currently shooting in China, seems to encapsulate many things about the current mood in the Hong Kong film industry.Firstly, the film is crammed full of ...

  • News

    Infernal Affairs star backs gangster thriller

    2004-02-19T22:00:00Z

    Andy Lau's Focus Films is co-financing a $5m (HK$40m) gangster thriller, Jiang Hu, which combines a stellar cast with one of Hong Kong's most promising new directors.The film, which started shooting earlier this month, reunites many stars from recent Hong Kong blockbuster Infernal Affairs including Lau himself, Eric Tsang, Edison ...

  • News

    Karma leads Hong Kong Film Award nominations

    2004-02-12T00:00:00Z

    Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai's action comedy Running On Karma leads the race for this year's Hong Kong Film Awards with 13 nominations, although the second instalment in Andrew Lau and Alan Mak's Infernal Affairs trilogy is close behind with 12 nods.Running On Karma, which stars Andy Lau as a ...

  • News

    HONG KONG

    2004-02-06T00:00:00Z

    As the peak Chinese New Year holiday period continues in Hong Kong, Media Asia's Magic Kitchen and China Star's Fantasia switched places at the top of the chart but continue to dominate the box office leaving most other holiday releases in the dust.Magic Kitchen, starring box office queen Sammi Cheng ...

  • News

    ...as Barbarian Invasions takes top prize

    2004-02-02T04:00:00Z

    Denys Arcand's The Barbarian Invasions was awarded the Golden Kinnaree for best film in the International Competition at this year's Bangkok International Film Festival (Jan 22-Feb 2) while the best director prize went to Jim Sheridan for In America.The Golden Kinnaree for best actor was shared by the three leads ...

  • News

    Bangkok has teething troubles but shows potential...

    2004-02-02T04:00:00Z

    The Bangkok International Film Festival (BIFF), which ended today (Feb 2), still has a long way to go to fulfil its ambitious remit, but this year's event was a spirited affair that promised greater things for future editions.Organised for the second time by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the ...

  • News

    Jackie Chan's son joins Twins Effect II cast

    2004-01-30T00:00:00Z

    Jackie Chan's son, Jaycee Chan, is making his feature acting debut alongside his father in Emperor Multimedia Group's The Twins Effect II (working title) - the sequel to last year's blockbuster action comedy - which is scheduled to start shooting next week.The US$10m martial arts action adventure reteams Hong Kong ...

  • News

    Blockbuster quits Hong Kong market

    2004-01-30T00:00:00Z

    High rents and rampant piracy have forced video rental giant Blockbuster to quit the Hong Kong market and scrap plans to expand into mainland China.The company will close its 24 Hong Kong outlets as their leases expire over the next 18 months and lay off 200 staff, according to a ...

  • News

    Thai studio readies Ong Bak sequel for March shoot

    2004-01-30T00:00:00Z

    Thai studio Sahamongkol Film International has unveiled details of the second film from Ong-Bak star Tony Jaa and director Prachya Pinkaew, in which the Australian underworld gets a taste of Thai-style kickboxing.Called Tom Yum Goong, after the spicy Thai soup, the US$4m action comedy is scheduled to start shooting in ...

  • News

    Sellers find Shangri-La at Bangkok Film Market

    2004-01-28T04:00:00Z

    The first Bangkok Film Market (BFM) - organised as part of the 2004 Bangkok International Film Festival - kicked off in the Thai capital on Tuesday (Jan 27) with more than 60 companies taking rooms at the Shangri-La Hotel.In total, about 120 companies from 23 countries have registered to take ...

  • News

    HONG KONG

    2004-01-19T00:00:00Z

    Overall box office takings were noticeably down after the highs of Christmas and New Year, although they're likely to pick up again next week with the release of The Last Samurai and two Chinese New Year films.Three new releases - one each from the US, Thailand and Hong Kong - ...

  • News

    Warner expands China cinema reach

    2004-01-18T00:00:00Z

    Warner Bros InternationalTheatres (WBIT) is expanding its reach into China's nascent cinema marketstill further via a deal to manage a chain of around 30 multiplexes which arebeing built by Chinese property developer, Dalian Wanda Group.The deal, which was signed byWBIT president Millard Ochs and Dalian Wanda chairman Wang Jianlin in ...

  • News

    HONG KONG

    2004-01-12T00:00:00Z

    Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King continued its domination of the Hong Kong box office in its third week, grossing $734,789 from 47 screens for a cumulative total of $4.06m. Distributed by Deltamac, the film has overtaken local blockbuster Infernal Affairs III, now in its fourth week, as ...

  • News

    HONG KONG

    2003-12-24T00:00:00Z

    Media Asia's Infernal Affairs III kicked off the Christmas box office season with a stellar US$2.14m in its first six days. The film grossed HK$3.22m on its opening day (Dec 12), smashing several records including the biggest non-weekend opening of the year.The highly-anticipated conclusion to Andrew Lau and Alan Mak's ...