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Madame Tutli-Putli
Johnnie To Rethinks Rethinking THE WATER MARGIN?
Posted by Todd Brown at 3:36am.
Posted in Film News , Martial Arts, Action, Asia.
So. Back in November the news broke about an upcoming three film adaptation of classic Chinese epic tale The Water Margin overseen by producer Peter Lam. At the time of the initial announcement Lam dropped word that he had signed up Andrew Lau and Johnnie To to direct the first two installments which got fans - this one included - all excited. The pair are two of Hong Kong’s brightest lights - To arguably the best thing going there right now - and neither are known for having done period epics in the past so this would be something out of the ordinary for both. I was exciting news and we reacted accordingly.
But then, at the end of January, To was quoted saying some less than encouraging things about the project, namely that he was completely uninterested in it as a film project, found it very unlikely that he would ever direct a period martial arts project and that the only character in the entire Water Margin cycle that he had any interest in was Gao Qiu. Which, of course, led to speculation that To was either looking to back out of the project or was preparing audiences for something rather out of the ordinary with his effort.
Well, he aint backing out. At a recent Hong Kong charity function Peter Lam confirmed that both Lau and To would direct the first two films and that he planned on investing roughly six hundred million Hong Kong dollars into the project. So it’s definitely on and To is definitely on board. So, what’s he got up his sleeve ...
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Reader Comments
cpa314 03/09/2008 @ 11:20am
man, I hope that TO and LAU really go through with this. Peter Lam confirmed that they will be shooting 1 and 2 right? 600 million for each film is alot of money to be investing. That is about 77 million per film.(about 3 million less than the budget of RED CLIFFS - the most expensive Asian film to date). So if TO and Lau are shooting the 1st and 2nd installments I wonder which director will direct the 3rd and final film of the trilogy. Maybe they will wait and see how 1 and 2 do at the box office before they decide upon 3. What do you guys think of this project? Personally, I am pumped. I cant believe it took them so long to adapt Water Margin into a full scale epic movie. I liked the old 70s SB ones but no ones has made a Water Margin adapation in a while ya know?
cpa314 03/10/2008 @ 12:31pm
sorry for double-posting. I justwanted to correct a little something about the article.In the article it says “he planned on investing roughly six hundred million Hong Kong dollars into the project” regarding Peter Lam. Actually, I think he meant that he is investing 600 million into each movie.That would make it 1200 million hkd for the first 2 films.Just wanted to point that out
cpa314 03/10/2008 @ 1:58pm
An excerpt from an article from the Hollywood Reporter Asia
In the pipeline: Co-productions fuel Hong Kong resurgence
March 07, 2008
By Karen Chu
“Water Margin”
Status: Preproduction
Adapted from one of the four classics of Chinese literature, the legendary 14th century adventure follows 108 social/political outcasts and bandits living in a mountain commune. The Media Asia-backed project with a HK$600 million ($77 million) budget is in script development with Johnnie To ("Election") and Andrew Lau ("Infernal Affairs"). The story will be told in at least two parts, with To and Lau each directing one. Production is tentatively scheduled to start at the end of 2008.