Incredibly prolific director Herman Yau presents his fourth film of the 2023, “Moscow Mission”, after “The White Storm 3: Heaven or Hell”, “Death Notice” and “Raid on the Lethal Zone”. Yau has turned into a bona fide master of action and this last effort is a bombastic take on the true story of a series of violent robberies in 1993 on the Beijing-Moscow train and the Chinese mission to eradicate them and capture the robbers. It's not the first film dealing with these particular incidents; Michael Mak had directed “The Train Robbers” in 1995, and there is also a more recent 31-episode online drama, directed by Zhang Rui. Chen Daming has curated the screenplay, incorporating as much action set pieces as possible, although, maybe at the expense of the script's fluidity.
Moscow Mission is screening at UdineFar East Film Festival 2024
It's 1993 and the economy situation in China and Russia is in a state of great confusion.
Moscow Mission is screening at UdineFar East Film Festival 2024
It's 1993 and the economy situation in China and Russia is in a state of great confusion.
- 4/26/2024
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Acclaimed Chinese film director Chen Daming is expected to direct “The Peking Express,” a book-to-film adaptation of the story of an infamous train robbery that took place 100 years ago.
The non-fiction book was written Beijing-based writer and lawyer James Zimmerman and was an ‘Editor’s Choice’ selection by the New York Times. It describes the raid on a luxury express train by Chinese bandits in Shandong Province in 1923 and the ensuing six-week hostage standoff that captivated the world. So extraordinary are the events recounted in The Peking Express that it reads like fantasy…yielding a captivating story of robbery, murder, hostages and intrigue…,” said the paper in a review of the book.
A screenplay is currently being drafted and it is envisaged that the film will be structured as a China-international co-production.
The package is being put together by Chen and veteran producer Chris Lee, who was previously president of...
The non-fiction book was written Beijing-based writer and lawyer James Zimmerman and was an ‘Editor’s Choice’ selection by the New York Times. It describes the raid on a luxury express train by Chinese bandits in Shandong Province in 1923 and the ensuing six-week hostage standoff that captivated the world. So extraordinary are the events recounted in The Peking Express that it reads like fantasy…yielding a captivating story of robbery, murder, hostages and intrigue…,” said the paper in a review of the book.
A screenplay is currently being drafted and it is envisaged that the film will be structured as a China-international co-production.
The package is being put together by Chen and veteran producer Chris Lee, who was previously president of...
- 3/25/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
One of the world’s great true-life train heist stories is set to return to the big screen in China. Filmmaker DaMing Chen and veteran producer Chris Lee have partnered to develop a feature adaptation of James Zimmerman’s acclaimed nonfiction book, The Peking Express: The Bandits Who Stole a Train, Stunned the West, and Broke the Republic of China.
The new film, like the book, will recount the improbable saga of a 1923 incident once known as the “Lincheng Outrage,” which was sparked when Chinese bandits raided a luxury express train bound for Beijing and took over 300 international hostages — captivating the world and stirring up a six-week geopolitical showdown. A subject of popular fascination a century ago, the event inspired no less than Josef von Sternberg’s 1932 romance/adventure classic Shanghai Express, starring Marlene Dietrich and Anna May Wong, as well as two later Paramount Pictures remakes.
Zimmerman’s book...
The new film, like the book, will recount the improbable saga of a 1923 incident once known as the “Lincheng Outrage,” which was sparked when Chinese bandits raided a luxury express train bound for Beijing and took over 300 international hostages — captivating the world and stirring up a six-week geopolitical showdown. A subject of popular fascination a century ago, the event inspired no less than Josef von Sternberg’s 1932 romance/adventure classic Shanghai Express, starring Marlene Dietrich and Anna May Wong, as well as two later Paramount Pictures remakes.
Zimmerman’s book...
- 3/23/2024
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Martin Ellis, a beloved second assistant director who worked on films such as A Dog’s Journey and the upcoming Monster High The Movie 2, and television shows including The Flash and The Power, died August 22 at his home in Vancouver, family friend and producer Seth William Meier confirmed to Deadline. Ellis was 44. A cause of death was not released.
Born in Dauphin, Manitoba, Canada, Ellis’ interest in the movie industry began at a young age, according to a family statement announcing his death. In Winnipeg, where his family moved when he was a child, Ellis went on to work as an Assistant Location Manager and Location Manager, eventually becoming a Second Assistant Director in Winnipeg and then in Vancouver.
During his career he worked on over 50 productions, including films, TV movies and television series. Notable movies include A Dog’s Journey and the soon to be released television movie Monster High The...
Born in Dauphin, Manitoba, Canada, Ellis’ interest in the movie industry began at a young age, according to a family statement announcing his death. In Winnipeg, where his family moved when he was a child, Ellis went on to work as an Assistant Location Manager and Location Manager, eventually becoming a Second Assistant Director in Winnipeg and then in Vancouver.
During his career he worked on over 50 productions, including films, TV movies and television series. Notable movies include A Dog’s Journey and the soon to be released television movie Monster High The...
- 9/11/2023
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
The Shanghai International Film Festival kicked off on a triumphant note Friday night in China’s commercial capital as the country’s film industry threw open its doors to the global film community.
This year’s edition of China’s most prestigious cinema event is the first in over three years that is easily accessible to the outside world after the past three festivals were either canceled, put online or simply very difficult to attend because of the country’s strict Covid-19 travel restrictions. The festival also happens to be celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, as well as arriving at a moment when China’s commercial film industry is finally regaining some momentum after the long years of the pandemic.
“Each section of this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival is fully back offline, and we are more than thrilled to meet all guests in-person again,” says Wenquan He,...
This year’s edition of China’s most prestigious cinema event is the first in over three years that is easily accessible to the outside world after the past three festivals were either canceled, put online or simply very difficult to attend because of the country’s strict Covid-19 travel restrictions. The festival also happens to be celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, as well as arriving at a moment when China’s commercial film industry is finally regaining some momentum after the long years of the pandemic.
“Each section of this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival is fully back offline, and we are more than thrilled to meet all guests in-person again,” says Wenquan He,...
- 6/9/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Walking Dead‘s Michael Cudlitz is going from the wastelands of a zombie apocalypse to the highrises of Metropolis when he joins the cast of Superman & Lois for the show’s third season. According to Entertainment Weekly, Cudlitz is playing a new version of the supervillain genius known to hold the DC Universe in a vice-like grip tighter than Superman’s most aggressive handshake.
Per the EW’s official description, “Cudlitz’s Lex Luthor is known to the world as the visionary billionaire behind LexCorp, but secretly, the criminal underworld knows who Lex truly is: a brutal psychopath who terrorizes anyone he crosses paths with. When Lex debuts this season, it’s been years since he dropped out of the public eye, and he’s re-emerging hellbent on correcting a personal injustice by enacting revenge on the two people he feels have wronged him — Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) and Lois Lane...
Per the EW’s official description, “Cudlitz’s Lex Luthor is known to the world as the visionary billionaire behind LexCorp, but secretly, the criminal underworld knows who Lex truly is: a brutal psychopath who terrorizes anyone he crosses paths with. When Lex debuts this season, it’s been years since he dropped out of the public eye, and he’s re-emerging hellbent on correcting a personal injustice by enacting revenge on the two people he feels have wronged him — Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) and Lois Lane...
- 1/24/2023
- by Steve Seigh
- JoBlo.com
Michael Cudlitz and Jake Abel and have signed on to star alongside Zhang Hanyu and Vivienne Tien (Be Yourself) in Unspoken, a dramatic feature from writer-director Daming Chen that is now in production.
Unspoken tells the story of Xu (Zhang), an estranged father separated from his deaf daughter and her new life at an American university, whose murder reunites them in a way neither could have foreseen. The tragedy pierces Xu with grief and guilt that he couldn’t be present to protect his child. An ex-cop himself, he becomes convinced the local authorities are pursuing the wrong suspect – and that racism is compromising the investigation.
With a young Chinese translator in tow (Tien), who is navigating her own challenging path as a young immigrant, Xu sets out to learn what really happened to his daughter.
Unspoken tells the story of Xu (Zhang), an estranged father separated from his deaf daughter and her new life at an American university, whose murder reunites them in a way neither could have foreseen. The tragedy pierces Xu with grief and guilt that he couldn’t be present to protect his child. An ex-cop himself, he becomes convinced the local authorities are pursuing the wrong suspect – and that racism is compromising the investigation.
With a young Chinese translator in tow (Tien), who is navigating her own challenging path as a young immigrant, Xu sets out to learn what really happened to his daughter.
- 1/5/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Green Room
"Fright Night" stars Anton Yelchin and Imogen Poots are reteaming to star in "Blue Ruin" director Jeremy Saulnier's indie thriller "Green Room" for Broad Green Pictures. Alia Shawkat, Callum Turner, Joe Cole, Macon Blair and Mark Webber also star in the film which shoots in Portland later this month.
The story centers on a punk band who witnesses a murder at one of their shows in a middle-of-nowhere venue. They find themselves locked in the green room and targeted for death by a gang of racist skinheads. Poots plays a skinhead who joins forces with the band. [Source: Heat Vision]
Noodle Man
Donnie Yen ("IP Man") has signed on to star in Daming Chen's English-language action feature "Noodle Man". Michael Shamberg will produce.
Yen will play an ex-cop from China who has given up on himself after a botched mission 15 years earlier killed his partner. He finds a new...
"Fright Night" stars Anton Yelchin and Imogen Poots are reteaming to star in "Blue Ruin" director Jeremy Saulnier's indie thriller "Green Room" for Broad Green Pictures. Alia Shawkat, Callum Turner, Joe Cole, Macon Blair and Mark Webber also star in the film which shoots in Portland later this month.
The story centers on a punk band who witnesses a murder at one of their shows in a middle-of-nowhere venue. They find themselves locked in the green room and targeted for death by a gang of racist skinheads. Poots plays a skinhead who joins forces with the band. [Source: Heat Vision]
Noodle Man
Donnie Yen ("IP Man") has signed on to star in Daming Chen's English-language action feature "Noodle Man". Michael Shamberg will produce.
Yen will play an ex-cop from China who has given up on himself after a botched mission 15 years earlier killed his partner. He finds a new...
- 10/17/2014
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
“I Know A Woman’s Heart” is a Chinese remake of the film “What Women Want” that came out in 2000 starring Helen Hunt and Mel Gibson. This time director Daming Chen tries his hand at this rom-com with Andy Lau & Gong Li instead of Hunt & Gibson.
Andy Lau has become a triple threat: he can act, he can dance and he can sing and that gets him the nod for the Wow-Factor. Here he becomes Sun Zi Gang, a male chauvinist who doesn’t necessarily look down on women but rather seems to have figured them out quite easily a long time ago. His method? A smile and a compliment. Or a lie and a smile, which ever works best. The only problem for Sun is when they come back… then he calls in his man Tip to gently ease them out of the way. Sun is a big-shot exec in a bigger company,...
Andy Lau has become a triple threat: he can act, he can dance and he can sing and that gets him the nod for the Wow-Factor. Here he becomes Sun Zi Gang, a male chauvinist who doesn’t necessarily look down on women but rather seems to have figured them out quite easily a long time ago. His method? A smile and a compliment. Or a lie and a smile, which ever works best. The only problem for Sun is when they come back… then he calls in his man Tip to gently ease them out of the way. Sun is a big-shot exec in a bigger company,...
- 4/26/2012
- by The0racle
- AsianMoviePulse
- Unfortunately, Erik was incorrect in his guess that a recent casting notice looking for Midwestern teens was for J.J. Abrams' Super 8. The Playlist learned from Production Weekly that it's really just a call sheet for Bad Robot's remake of Little Darlings. Booooo. Well, hey, maybe they're actually the same movie and this time around the girls bet on who can be the first to lose their alien virginity. New title: Little Earth Darlings Are Easy.
- Oh and if you didn't expect a lot of people to go all skeptic regarding the above debunkery and chime in with, "or is it... ," then you're new to the Internet. So hello, and welcome! (and thanks for coming to Cinematical first.)
- First it was Selena Gomez cast in an inverse remake called What Boys Want. Now Gong Li is reportedly set to star in a Chinese remake of...
- 6/3/2010
- by Christopher Campbell
- Cinematical
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