Hong Kong action thriller Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In, which screened at Cannes this week, is set to become a trilogy, reuniting director Soi Cheang and producers John Chong and Wilson Yip.
Like the first film, the two new instalments will be based on the novel City Of Darkness by Yuyi. Both are expected to go into production around the same time next year on newly built extensive sets, according to Angus Chan of Entertaining Power, who owns the film rights to the novel.
The second instalment, Twilight Of The Warriors: Dragon Throne will be set in the 1950s and 1960s, serving as a prequel to the 1980-set first film. It will trace the early years of the characters played by Louis Koo and Aaron Kwok. Chou Man Yu (Dust To Dust) is writing the screenplay.
The third instalment and sequel, Twilight Of The Warriors: The Final Chapter, will be set in 1993, the year when the notorious slum of the Kowloon Walled City was demolished. The four younger actors – Raymond Lam, Terrance Lau, German Cheung and Tony Wu – will reprise their roles from the first film.
Aether Film, Yip and Cheang’s Hong Kong-based company, will handle production of both films.
Onsite at the Cannes market, Media Asia has closed further deals for Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In for South Korea (Contents Panda), India (Indo Overseas), Indonesia and Cambodia (Westec Media), and Eastern Europe (Polemedia).
The film has performed strongly with takings of more than $7.7m (HK$60m) in Hong Kong and $69m (RMB500m) in mainland China, following its release on May 1.
Shortly after its Cannes premiere, where it played in Midnight Screenings, the film opened in Taiwan (Sky Films), Singapore (Shaw Renters) and Malaysia (Lotus Five Star) on May 17.
It will next roll out in Australia and New Zealand (Purple Plan) on May 23, the UK (Trinity CineAsia) on May 24, Vietnam (Skyline Media) on May 31, France (Metropolitan) on September 4 and North America (Well Go USA) in October.
The film has also been sold to Germany (Plaion Pictures), Italy (Tucker Film) and Spain (YouPlanet Pictures).
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