After his blockbuster project The Grandmaster <一代宗師>, Wong Kar Wai will embark on his next big project, The Ferryman <擺渡人> in September.
Adapted from Zhang Jia Jia’s online novel, the Hong Kong famed director reportedly has plans to cast two of Asia’s biggest stars, Tony Leung and Jun Ji Hyun in his new film . Other casts reportedly include Takeshi Kaneshiro, Tang Wei and Wu Xiubo.
The film is said to have a massive budget of RMB$150 million, and Wong’s director’s fee is said to cost RMB$20 million. Tony’s remuneration is estimated at RMB$35 million, and the rest of the cast will collect RMB$10 million each.
Wong hopes that Tony and Ji Hyun’s new pair up will create refreshing sparks in his new film. He also finds Ji Hyun suitable for the female lead role after seeing her impressive performance in Korean hit drama, My Love from the Star. Both Tony and Ji Hyun have expressed interests in the film, but as Ji Hyun has accepted to film Korean director, Choi Dong Hoon’s new film Assassin, there could be a clash in the filming schedule.
When asked about Wong’s new film, a spokesperson from his production company had admitted that Wong would indeed film Zhang Jiajia’s novel, The Ferryman in the later part of the year. However, she declined to confirm the cast.
“The list of actors will only be announced when it’s confirmed, but I can say that they are all heavy weight stars.”
The author of the novel, Zhang Jiajia has confirmed that Tony Leung is likely to star as the lead actor role, and Wong has once sought his opinion, “Which role do you think will be most suitable for Tony?” In order to accommodate Tony, the age of the male character will be ten years older than the original story.
The Ferryman is a love story which centres on the one-sided love by Ah Yu (rumoured to be played by Jun Ji Hyun) on a married artist, Ma Li (rumoured to be played by Tony Leung). As Ma Li could not forget his cheating ex-wife, Ah Yu eventually leaves the man and gives him her blessings.
Source: HK Channel
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