HAPPY NEW YEAR!

UPDATE: Box office numbers for "Curse" in the USA

According to Box Office Mojo figures Curse of the Golden Flower appearing in only 60 theaters in the US have made over 1.5 million dollars. Good numbers so far. It will be in many more theaters on January 12th.

Curse of the Golden Flower among highest ranking films per theater limited showing movies

A Winning "Night" For "Dreamgirls"
Posted: Wednesday December 27th 2006 1:59am
Source: Assorted Sources
Author: Garth Franklin

20th Century Fox's "Night at the Museum" cleaned up over the four-day Christmas holiday weekend, raking in a whopping $42.2 million from Friday to Monday.The headlines though are all focused on another record breaker - "Dreamgirls". After its very limited roadshow debut two weeks ago, the movie expanded onto 852 screens where it pulled in an astonishing $8.7 million on its first day. The figure puts it as the third highest Christmas Day opening behind 2001's "Ali" ($10.2 million) and 2002's "Catch Me If You Can" ($9.8 million) but the key thing here is that those films opened on three and four times as many screens as "Dreamgirls" did respectively. Comparing their per theatre averages it plays out as "Dreamgirls" ($10,242), "Ali" ($4,177) and "Catch Me If You Can ($3,137). Also scoring well on the limited front were Clint Eastwood drama "Letters from Iwo Jima" with a $24,520 per theatre average for the four days, Peter O'Toole comedy "Venus" with a $16,290 screen average, Asian flick "Curse of the Golden Flower" with a $11,883 average, and "Children of Men" with a $11,250 average. Back in the big leagues "Rocky Balboa" continued its strong mid-week debut with a $17 million haul, whilst Matt Damon CIA drama "The Good Shepherd" also fared alright with $14.2 million. The notable dud of the period was football drama "We Are Marshall" with a mere $8.6 million."The Pursuit of Happyness", "The Holiday" and "Charlotte's Web" all had only small drops in their takes whilst "Eragon" had the biggest fall of the list (-60%). "Eragon" may be bombing domestically but is holding its own overseas with around double its U.S. haul in international receipts so far.
Dark Horizons

Confession of Pain and Curse of the Golden Flower to compete in Hong Kong

"Confession" to Compete with "Curse" 2006-12-22 13:07:37 CRIENGLISH.com The two posters of Hong Kong movie "Confession of Pain" and Zhang Yimou's blockbuster "Curse of Golden Flower" Hong Kong movie "Confession of Pain," arriving at Chinese cinemas on Friday, may be a strong competitor to "Curse of the Golden Flower." Starring Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Shu Qi and Xu Jinglei, the film is co-directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak. The story begins with a seasoned detective named Hei and his street-smart and alcoholic former partner-turned-private investigator Bong, who team up for a gruesome murder case that gradually digs out the skeletons in their closets. Although it is another police story by Lau and Mak, "Confession" is very different from their 2002 cop movie "Infernal Affairs," which depicted a fierce face-off between an undercover officer and his mafia opponent. "Infernal Affairs" was remade in Hollywood as "The Departed." "Confession" is more of a tense thriller that snares the audience with its plotline and pacing. While other movies have been pushed out of the cinemas over the Christmas period by "Curse," which cost 360 million yuan to make, "Confession" should attract moviegoers with its better storytelling and more realistic look at life. "The two movies belong to different genres which will attract different audiences.

Although 'Curse' occupies most cinema schedule lists, it does not mean 'Confession' has no chance of winning," said a local cinema manager. http://english.cri.cn/3086/2006/12/22/60@176804.htm

Here are the latest of figures in Hong Kong only. The box office starts counting on every Thursday. Ranking as per week total/ Movie Title /Box Office/ No. of theatres/ No. of days / Cumulative total

1. Curse of the Golden flower/ HK$1,070,000/ 43 / 1 / HK$1,070,000

2. Confession of Pain / HK$830,000/ 45 / 1 / HK$830,000

3. Casino Royale/ HK$700,000/ 36 / 2 / HK$4,260,000

4. Happy Feet / HK$460,000/ 34 / 1/ HK$460,000

5. Eragon / HK$160,000 / 31 / 8/ HK$4,570,000

6. The Nativity Story/ HK$15,000 / 15 / HK$470,000

7. Little Miss Sunshine / HK$13,000 / 15/ HK$64,000

8. Paris Je t'aime/ HK$12,000 / 15/ HK$64,000

9. After the Exile (Aaron Kwok)/ HK$12,000/ 22/ HK$6,220,000

10. The Science of Sleep / HK$11,000/ 22/ HK$470,000

As shown on La Creme D' Asie Forum

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

TODAY IN SOME USA THEATERS CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER IS SHOWING. CHECK YOUR LOCAL THEATERS TO SEE THE SCHEDULE FOR THE FILM. OTHER THEATERS THROUGHOUT THE US WILL SHOW IT BEGINNING ON JANUARY 12TH

UPDATE: Filming Children of Huang Shi

Michelle Yeoh talking with director Spottiswoode and a new picture of CYF

More pictures

Report from Michelle Yeoh Web Theatre: Michelle said she found the character interesting when the director talked with her about the story more than four years ago. Spottiswoode said: "In Tomorrow Never Dies Michelle had many action scenes. On the one hand it might have restricted the development of her own character. I always hoped there would be an opportunity which allows her to express more of her own character and inner world. This is why I chose Michelle to portray Madam Wang." Nearly ten years have passed since they made Tomorrow Never Dies. "She looks younger and more beautiful now," said Spottiswoode, "and her performances are even more impressive." Michelle said: "We are all ten years older. I haven't seen Roger for a long time. When I saw him on Saturday (the 9th) he looked very tired. They had been filming in Gansu for five weeks and it was tough shoot." This week, with neither Michelle nor Chow Yun-Fat on set, local reporters basically left the filming team alone.

Monkey Peaches gives review of Curse of the Golden Flower

Monkey Peaches gives a review with plot details and opinions of the actors performances. A copy of the review is on the COTGF blogger page.

On the "red carpet" with the stars of "Curse"

Pictures from the "red carpet" for the opening of Curse of the Golden Flower in Taipei, Taiwan with the stars Chow Yun-Fat, Gong Li, Jay Chou, and CYF's wife Jasmine.

Chow Yun-Fat, Gong Li and Jay Chou at press conference in Taipei

Pictures (Reuters) from the press conference in Taipei, Taiwan for Curse of the Golden Flower opening with Gong Li, Jay Chou, and a very happy Chow Yun-Fat. As shown on Crienglish

UPDATE: Chow Yun-Fat and Jasmine arrive in Taiwan

Here are more pictures of the Chows in Taiwan for the opening of Curse of the Golden Flower. Pictures (Tom) arriving in Taiwan and stopping to have something to eat. Picture of Gong Li arriving in Taiwan last night as shown on Admiring Gong Li forum.

UPDATE: Filming Children of Huang Shi

Michelle as her character will appear in the film

(12/18/06) CCTV, the central government's official TV station in mainland China, aired on Dec. 17th a program about the film, focusing on Chow Yun-Fat's character, who is a West Point graduate and a military officer of the communist New Fourth Army. They reported that Chow will have in total seven sets of costumes in the film, including Western-style clothing, a wool coat (seen in released photos) for the Silk-Road journey, and the communist New Fourth Army uniform.

(12/18/06) Director Roger Spottiswoode said in an interview that he met Chow Yun-Fat ten years ago through Michelle. Five years ago, Spottiswoode showed an early script to Michelle and Chow, and both of them agreed to star. In an interview of Radha Mitchell, she said she's very excited about working with Michelle and Chow Yun-Fat. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is my favorite Chinese language film. They teamed up perfectly," said Mitchell. Michelle has already left Hengdian.

As shown on Michelle Yeoh Web Theatre

TV special to be on Starz 5 Cinema in USA

"On the Set
Curse of the Golden Flower
A look at 'Curse of the Golden Flower' (2006), about taboo romance in the Chinese imperial court. Chow Yun-fat stars with Gong Li. 30 minutes- TV-14, USA, 2006, (CC), Stereo
Wed Dec 20 01:50PM (Eastern Standard Time) on Starz 5 Cinema" As shown on TV-Now.com

For the first time there was a preview of "Curse" on TV last night in the USA (although it might have been on before, but I didn't see it).

Everyone get ready to go on the opening day if possible!

"Curse" Hits Box Office Gold

2006-12-18 16:49:12 Shanghai Daily
Zhang Yimou's 360 million yuan (US$45 million) film "Curse of the Golden Flower" proved a hit on its opening weekend, making nine million yuan in Shanghai's cinemas alone. Its total box office on the Chinese mainland during the past weekend is expected to near 100 million yuan, industry officials estimated.In contrast, Jia Zhangke's "Still Life," the winner of the Golden Lion prize at this year's Venice Film Festival, had a bleak beginning in ticket sales, according to Shanghai United Cinema Lines, the city's largest chain. It also officially opened last Thursday, December 14.The "Curse" is proving a real curse for other movies. Over the weekend, local ticket sales for other movies, such as "Battle of Wits" and "The Knot," were estimated to be less than 500,000 yuan."Local ticket sales for 'Curse' may even roar to 25 million yuan amid the festive season of Christmas and New Year, surpassing Chen Kaige's 'The Promise,' shown at the same period last year," said Wu Hehu, the cinema chain's deputy general manager.The opening weekend take for "The Promise" was 8.82 million yuan in the city, which finally made 210 million yuan in ticket sales on the Chinese mainland. Paradise Warner Cinema City has sold one million yuan worth of tickets to "Curse," but only 10,000 yuan to "Still.""Our theaters were nearly 90 percent full for 'Curse' over the weekend," said Li Lan, manager of the cinema. "Now the movie has more than 20 screenings every day. We have received plenty of calls inquiring about screening times."Chen Xiaohong, manager of Studio City Cinema, said opening-weekend ticket revenues for "Curse" had surpassed 900,000 yuan at her cinema, better than that of "The Promise" and Feng Xiaogang's "The Banquet" (nearly 600,000 yuan)."But 'Still Life' attracted just a handful of audience members, taking only several thousand yuan in ticket sales," she added.

By Xu Wei as shown on Crienglish

Chow Yun-Fat and Jasmine arrive in Taiwan

Continuing promotions and premieres for Curse of the Golden Flower CYF arrives in Taiwan. It has been reported he will stay in Taiwan for 4 days. Picture from Sohu.com

Curse of the Golden Flower Sweepstakes

Our friend at Campus Circle has let us know about this sweepstakes:
SONY PICTURES CLASSICS and CAMPUS CIRCLE invite you to enter to win a Logitech Digital 5.1 wireless speaker system and a SONY PICTURES CLASSICS DVD box set. Ends 01/28/07

Curse of the Golden Flower Premiere in Hong Kong

Unlike the premiere in Beijing, the one in Hong Kong on the 16th was attended by most of the lead actors except Liu Ye and the director Zhang Yimou. It was a festive occasion and other movie celebrities attended the showing of the movie. More pictures are in the Picture Galleries under "Special Events."

UPDATE: Filming Children of Huang Shi

Michelle has to finish all her scenes (about 30 to 40 of them) this week. (Filming is at the Hengdian Studios.) The schedule is very tight. At the end of her 30 minute interview on set, Michelle's assistant kept asking reporters to wrap it up, since Michelle had not had lunch yet (it was after 1:30PM) and the only time she could eat something was during the 10 minutes when reporters interviewed the director. Reportedly all of the four main leads - Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Chow Yun-Fat, Radha Mitchell, and Michelle, are involved in some romances in the film. More of the report for 12/14 on Michelle Yeoh Web Theatre.

The Curse of the Golden Flower has official premiere in Beijing

Zhang Yimou gave his message for the premiere by way of video tape, CYF was not there because he was filming, also Gong Li did not appear because she was caring for her sick mother, but Jay Chou took over and Jet Li made a surprise appearance making a plea for his charity.

Crienglish reported:

A star-studded cast including pop king Jay Chou attended the world premiere of Curse of Golden Flower in Beijing last night. 　
Nine famous hosts from the mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong presented the event, including He Jiong, Shen Xing and Guo Degang. 　　
Director Zhang Yimou is working on an opera in New York, but managed to send his congratulations from abroad. 　
“The synchronized screening of the film around the world shows the growing influence of Chinese film. But to be frank I still pay more attention to domestic audience's response. I hope more Chinese people will like it.” 　　
Jay Chou was the star of the night. He sang the two songs he composed for the film and said he really loves the role he played. 　　　
“I think my personality quite fits an ancient character like this. I loved kungfu fighting from childhood. And at one point in the film I was acting like crazy, killing whoever approached me. The fighting scenes were hard to shoot, but I felt really happy all through it.” 　　
Taiwan host Tsai Kang Yung gave his impressions of the film. 　
“The relations between characters are very complicated. And secrets are being disclosed one after another. So you’re constantly being hooked while watching the film. Finally you reach the conclusion that a person overly obsessed with power will never be happy.” 　　
Despite the praise heaped on it from the Chinese media, some foreign critics weren't overly impressed with Curse of Golden Flower. They said the story didn't measure up to the sumptuous design of the film. 　
It tells the story of an ill-fated romance in the imperial palace, where royal family secrets are revealed one after another. 　More pictures on the Curse of the Golden Flower Blog

UPDATE: Chow Yun-Fat in Singapore

Chow Yun-Fat with his wife Jasmine at the premiere of Curse of the Golden Flower in Singapore. Shown here with Jasmine is her paternal Grandmother who was in attendance.

UPDATE: Chow Yun-Fat in Singapore

SINGLED OUT from a sea of 500 fans
They haven't seen each other for more than a decade, but when HK star Chow Yun Fat spots his friend, Leong Fook Yong, among the crowd, the actor spares precious moments to catch up with the S'pore lensman
By Wendy Teo
December 14, 2006
OUT of the nearly 500 people who jostled one another at VivoCity last evening for a glimpse of Chow Yun Fat, only one man managed to catch the superstar's attention.
The man was an old friend, photographer Leong Fook Yong, whom Yun Fat has not seen in more than 10 years. Mr Leong was a prominent celebrity photographer-cum-confidant to the stars in the '70s and '80s. He was highly sought-after by Hong Kong stars like Adam Cheng, Nancy Sit, Teresa Teng and Carol Cheng.
The New Paper did a feature on him on 10 Jul this year. Not only did the Hong Kong actor seem genuinely happy to see Mr Leong, the latter was also the only one Yun Fat stopped to chat with, apart from a quick interview with the TV crew.
Yun Fat, 51, was in town for the premiere of Zhang Yimou's latest period epic, Curse Of The Golden Flower, in which he stars as the brutal Tang Dynasty Emperor Ping.
The movie's distributor, Buena Vista International, had rolled out the red carpet to welcome the star for the movie's premiere at the Golden Village cineplex there last night. WAITED FOR 2 HOURS It was nearly 7.40pm before Yun Fat's arrival was announced, and by then, a nervous Mr Leong, 63, had been waiting for nearly two hours.
While Mr Leong was confident that Yun Fat would recognise him, he told The New Paper that he wasn't sure that the Hong Kong star would stop to chat, especially with the tight security. His worries were unfounded.
Yun Fat didn't seem to recognise Mr Leong at first when the latter called out 'Fat Gor' and reached out with his hand. But a blink and a double take later, Yun Fat's eyes crinkled up into a warm smile as he pumped Mr Leong's hand. As the flash bulbs went off around them, Yun Fat leaned towards Mr Leong, who has grown-up children from two marriages, and whispered in Cantonese: 'Hey, Leong, are you still taking photos?' He also asked Mr Leong for his business card and patted his hand before continuing his brisk red carpet walk. The chat lasted barely a minute but Mr Leong was happy enough to be reunited with Yun Fat, with whom he says he had gradually lost touch since the actor got married to Singaporean Jasmine Tan in 1986.
They met in the late 1970s through a scriptwriter when Yun Fat was still an unknown actor and Mr Leong was assigned to take photographs of him. A common love of photography bonded the two men, and Mr Leong - who owns Swanlake Photo Studio - claims that they were so close, they used to have five-hour long-distance phone calls even though the charges were exorbitant.
In those days in early '80s , whenever Yun Fat was in town, he hung out with Mr Leong at the roadside stalls near Neil Road in Chinatown and the old Satay Club. And when Mr Leong visited Hong Kong, he said that Yun Fat would drive him around in his trusty old Datsun car. Together with Simon Yam and Kent Cheng, they were a gang of four who did nearly everything together.
Mr Leong was also the only Singaporean photographer permitted to take pictures of Yun Fat and Jasmine's wedding celebrations here. 'We started drifting apart after he got married.
'At first, we still chatted over the phone occasionally, but eventually, that stopped too,' said Mr Leong. He remembers Yun Fat as a cheeky and fun-loving chap, who is no different now except for 'more white hair'.
Last night's event was also attended by Ms Ho Ching, Temasek's executive director and chief executive, and Minister for Information, Communication and the Arts Lee Boon Yang.
The Electric New Paper

UPDATE: Chow Yun-Fat in Singapore

People: This King Is A Real Joker

Updated:2006-12-14 10:59:38 MYT
He may play emperor on screen, but in person, Chow Yun Fat is equally adept at playing court jester. The veteran Hong Kong actor portrays a stern-faced king in the new Mandarin movie Curse Of The Golden Flower, which opens in Singapore on Dec 21. Helmed by acclaimed Chinese director Zhang Yimou, the epic period drama about estranged ties in a royal family also stars Chinese actress Gong Li as the empress and Taiwanese singer-actor Jay Chou as one of the emperor's three sons. At a press conference at the Shangri-La Hotel on Dec 12, Chow, 51, tickled journalists with his wicked wit. When a reporter asked about his Hollywood pursuits, he replied cheekily, "Did you say Bollywood or Hollywood?" before jiggling like an Indian dancer. His co-stars, who were not present, were not spared either.Asked what he thought of Chou, known for his lady-killing charms, he said, "I was upset with him because he stole all my concubines. That's why I had the director have his character killed in the movie."But he is actually impressed with the younger man's acting. "He handled his emotional scenes well. He'll certainly surpass me. "For Chow, a native Cantonese speaker, the most difficult part of his role was to speak Mandarin. Besides getting help from teachers, he also had help from Gong who gave him tape recordings of his script. "I felt like a primary school student," he said with a laugh. Grinning, he added, "I hated Gong. She once scolded me, 'You have such a bad command of Mandarin, and you still dare to come to Beijing to film?'" "I hope she makes a film in Cantonese soon, and I'll return the favour. "Chow, who has been in showbiz for over 30 years, turned sombre when he recalled his foray to Hollywood in the late 1990s. He acted in several box-office flops such as The Replacement Killers (1998) and The Corruptor (1999). But he does not regret that phase of his career, saying, "It was part of the learning process. "It was only when he returned to Asia to film the Oscar-winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) that his standing in the film world was restored. And one suspects that he is not going all out to prove himself on screen anymore. Recently, he accepted a supporting role in Chinese movie The Children Of Huang Shi, which stars Michelle Yeoh. "To me, it doesn't matter whether the roles are big or small, as long as I perform my best. It's like Chinese medicine--you can't brew good medicine without licorice." (By Lee Sze Yong, The Straits Times/ANN) As shown on Sinchew-i

UPDATE: Filming Children of Huang Shi

On the set of "Children" at the Hengdian Studio in China Michelle Yeoh was part of a press conference:

Although it has been a big news that Michelle and Chow Yun-Fat will co-star once more in a film six years after their smashing Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Michelle said she's not sure whether she will see Chow Yun-Fat, a good friend of hers, this time at all since she will only stay for a short time on the filming. When Spottiswoode discussed with her about the candidates for the Chinese male lead, Michelle "made the decision" for the director: "In my heart, Fa-Ge (Brother Fa/Fat) is the best." (Note: latest media news said Chow Yun-Fat will skip the Beijing premiere of Curse of the Golden Flower on the 14th due to Children of Huang Shi. Maybe he will meet with Michelle this time after all!) For the entire report of the conference see Michelle Yeoh Web Theatre

UPDATE: Chow Yun-Fat in Singapore

Shown here CYF and his wife Jasmine (with a new hairdo) giving an interview in Singapore for promotion of Curse of the Golden Flower. Jasmine is originally from Singapore.

UPDATE: Chow Yun-Fat in Singapore

A blessing for the curse By Jeanine Tan, TODAY Posted: 13 December 2006
SINGAPORE: He came, he saw, he conquered. That sums up Chow Yun Fat's first official visit to Singapore since 2000. In a press conference held at the Shangri-La Hotel on Tuesday to promote his new film Curse of the Golden Flower, the 51-year-old Hong Kong actor had plenty of his legendary charm to spare. Curse of the Golden Flower, a lavish period epic directed by Zhang Yimou, is set in the Tang Dynasty and co-stars Gong Li, Liu Ye and Jay Chou. It opens in Singapore next Thursday. Gong was also supposed to be in town to grace the gala premiere of the film at VivoCity last night, but she had to fly home to Beijing instead because her mother is ill. When Chow first stepped into the function room where the press conference was held, he looked tired, despite being dressed casually - and youthfully - in a white track jacket, khakis and sneakers. But he soon warmed up, cracking jokes, flashing that trademark boyish grin and making every journalist in the room, regardless of gender or nationality, smile along with him. In the film, Chow plays a ruthless Emperor who is mired in court intrigue, including betrayal by his Queen (Gong) and the Crown Prince (Liu). Despite the weightiness of the role, the actor revealed that it was actually very light-hearted on set. "Once the camera stopped rolling, I'd always be joking around. I never bring my character home with me once filming ends. In fact, I'm a very talented member of the cast because on set, I'm involved with everything that doesn't concern me," he said with mock seriousness. As Zhang told newspapers in China, Chow once invited a street hawker onto the set to feed the cast and crew with barbecued kebabs. He then paid for everything. "The filming took six months because there was more fooling around, and barbecuing, than actual acting," Chow quipped. Oh yes, Chow is quite the charmer. When a journalist from China started off her question by calling him Mr Chow, he interrupted her: "You can call me Fa ge (Brother Fa), you don't have to call me Mr Chow." Later, when she revealed that she was from Dalian and grew up watching him in The Bund, he teased: "Dalian girls are the prettiest in China. Did you have a good impression of me in The Bund?" While Chow seemed more comfortable answering questions in Mandarin than in English, his Cantonese accent made it necessary for him to be coached ahead of the film on how to pronounce Mandarin words properly. He revealed that he had told Gong that the film set was beautiful, but had ended up being teased by her for mispronouncing bu jing (the Chinese word for set) as bao jing. "She told me: 'You have such bad Mandarin, how did you ever become an actor?' So, if there's ever a chance, I want her to try acting in a Cantonese movie," he said. "It's because she was so mean to me that I told the director that she had to die at the end of the film!" Chow also seemed to have an easy-going relationship with Chou, who plays his second son. The Taiwanese singer has a reputation for doing magic tricks, a habit he continued on set whenever he wasn't doing a scene. "Jay stole so many of my female fans because of his magic tricks and he refused to stop when I told him to. I'm the Emperor, yet all my subjects left me alone because they had all flocked to him. So, I told the director to kill him off, too!" What Chow didn't enjoy was the scene where he had to whip his youngest son with a belt. Apparently, the child actor playing the role - Qin Junjie - was so intimidated by Chow's star status that he didn't dare speak up when it hurt. "It was the saddest thing to hit the kid. When he moved and I accidentally hit his face, he still said it didn't hurt. In Chinese culture, it's the norm for parents to beat their children. But it's not in the West, so maybe the movie will get an R rating," he joked. Recently, it was announced that Curse of the Golden Flower will be China's entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category at next year's Academy Awards. Chow, for one, seemed rather nonchalant about its prospects. "As an actor, when I've finished acting, I'm done," he said. "If the film makes it to the Oscars, I'm happy because I get a free ticket to the show. I get to stay at a first-class hotel and eat good food. "I don't care if it wins or not. The film company and the director would be concerned about such things, but not me. I'm easy. Why put so much pressure on yourself?" Similarly, when a reporter raised the question of whether he considers his career in Hollywood a failure - Chow has done only four films in the nine years he has been there - the actor displayed the same attitude. "It's up to you what you think of my work so far. I think all of them have been good. It doesn't mean that just because you've made a lot of movies, it means the movies you've made are good ones." When the signal came from Chow's minders to wrap up the press conference so that he could have lunch, he protested: "But these journalists haven't had lunch yet." He took one last question, before thanking everyone profusely - something stars rarely do. "Thank you for all your support all these years. I'm a very lucky man. Let's hope the next time I'm here, we can get in the mood for love." Media Corp News

UPDATE: Chow Yun-Fat in Singapore

Hong Kong film star Chow Yun-Fat is keen to record a duet with Taiwan singer-songwriter Jay Chou if the chance arises, the veteran actor said. Chow, in Singapore to promote his latest movie "Curse Of The Golden Flower," spoke highly of the 27-year-old Taiwan star, who acted as his son in the new Mandarin period film by acclaimed Chinese director Zhang Yimou.
"If Jay does not mind my lousy Mandarin, I can sing with him ... rap is also fine," he said when asked if he would like to record a song with Chou, who did a duet with older Taiwan crooner Fei Yu-Ching on his latest album.
"As long as he gives me one opportunity, I'll definitely do it ... it is as simple as that," said the 51-year-old Chow.
He was full of praise for his co-star, who was only acting in his second movie after his debut last year in "Initial D."
"He did a lot of good work for this movie... he composed a very good song and I like it very much," Chow said.
"In this show, he acted well and the director was smart to choose him for the role in this movie," he said ahead of the Asian gala premiere of "Curse Of The Golden Flower" in Singapore.
The movie is set in 10th-century China during the Tang Dynasty and stars Chow as the emperor alongside China's first international movie star Gong Li as the empress. As shown on Crienglish

UPDATE: Filming Children of Huang Shi

(12/12/06) According to Shanghai newspaper "Dongfang Daily", a press conference will be held by the production team on the 13th in Hengdian, Zhejiang Province, where the filming of Children of Huang Shi is continuing. Michelle, Jonathan Meyers, and Radha Mitchell will meet the media. According to the report, Hengdian filming will last until mid-February. In addition to the Hengdian World Studios, many scenes will also be shot in the surrounding areas. Because of Michelle's tight schedule, shooting is going to concentrate on her scenes during the next few weeks. Michelle and Chow Yun-Fat have not shown up on the set together yet since Chow just started the promotion tour of his new film, Curse of the Golden Flower. Chow will return to the filming later. As shown on Michelle Yeoh Web Theatre

Prices of tickets for Curse of the Golden Flower

"Golden Flower" Tickets Sell for Golden Prices
2006-12-12 14:05:37 CRIENGLISH.com
Ticket prices have become a cause for concern as the premiere of the biggest Chinese blockbuster of the year, director Zhang Yimou's "Curse of the Golden Flower", draws near. Tickets for the small scale September previews of the movie in Beijing sold for the vastly inflated sum of 100 yuan, or more than 12 US dollars. Now major Beijing cinemas have reached an agreement to price each ticket for "Curse of the Golden Flower" at 70 yuan, or about 9 US dollars for all the screenings. But the film's distributor, Beijing New Picture Company, argues cinemas should issue day matinees tickets for no less than 50 yuan, 20 yuan more than any of the other films this year. "Curse of the Golden Flower" is set to premiere in Beijing on Thursday. The Beijing Film Studio will host a grand opening party with all the cast members, Taiwan host Jacky Wu and former CCTV sports analyst Huang Jianxiang.

Chow Yun-Fat in Singapore for "Curse"

Actor Chow Yun Fat in Singapore to promote 'Curse of the Golden Flower'

By Wong Siew Ying, Channel News Asia

12 December 2006
Chow Yun Fat poses in front of an advert of his latest film, 'Curse Of The Golden Flower', in Singapore.

SINGAPORE: Chinese director Zhang Yimou's latest movie 'Curse of the Golden Flower' may turn out to be a blessing on many fronts. The action film, set in the Tang Dynasty, promises to delight the audience and even snag an award or two. Its lead actor, Chow Yun Fat, is in Singapore to promote the film. 'The Curse of the Golden Flower' weaves an intricate web of deceit and desires amidst troubled times, beneath the glamour of the Imperial Palace. It follows the fate of a dysfunctional imperial family, led by a powerful emperor, played by Chow Yun Fat, who is about to be overthrown by his ambitious son and the ailing Empress, starring Jay Chou and Gong Li. This sets the stage for a bloody showdown as audience finds out who is behind the brutal rebellion. Chow said he had to brush up his Mandarin for the role and had a lot of help from cast members. "In 1997, I moved to Hollywood to find my new career. For 10 years I was totally off the Hong Kong film business until Ang's movie Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. This is a good opportunity for Zhang Yimou, Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li to work together in one movie," Chow said. This is Zhang Yimou's third action film after 'Hero' and 'House of Flying Daggers'. The S$160 million production is also tipped to be a favourite for the Best Foreign Film prize at the Academy Awards. Chow was very relaxed when asked to rate the movie's chance to win an Oscar. "As an actor, I have finished my job. Of course if they can go into the Oscars, I would be happy. "If every movie must be nominated for Oscars, you put a lot of pressure on yourself. You don't have to - life is simple, easy." Not so easy though were the costumes and play of light in the movie. It took 40 craftsmen over two months to put together each royal robe. The movie opens in Singapore on 21st December. - CNA/so

UPDATE: Filming Children of Huang Shi

The Michelle Yeoh Web Theatre reports:

[Spoiler warning] According to recent Chinese reports, the story of Children of Huang Shi starts with George Hogg, a British journalist, going to Japanese invaded Nanjing (Nanking, the then China's capital city) and trying to report the massacre to the world and getting captured by the Japanese. Jake Chen (Chow Yun-Fat) rescues him. When Hogg escapes, he meets a group of 60 children, orphaned by the massacre. After the recent death of the director of the orphanage, the children were temporarily under the care of an Australian nurse, Lee (Radha Mitchell). The situation of the war gets worse. With the help of a kindhearted lady, Mrs. Wang (Michelle), they escape from Japanese soldiers and go on a difficult journey along the Silk Road to get the children to a safe haven. In the early reports from last year, Michelle's character was described as "a kindhearted village woman who would sacrifice her own life to save the children". Newer reports suggest her character is actually a business woman (no word on her fate). Filming is expected to last until February.

NOTE: In another report it said that there will not be a romance between CYF and Michelle (darn!), but since it was reported that Saturday she was joining CYF and the others of the cast, it would appear she still might have some scenes with him.

Review of Curse of the Golden Flower

From Ain't It Cool comes a very positive review of "Curse" The reviewer says he was impressed by performances in the film and the direction Zhang Yimou took the movie. To read go to our associate blog for Curse of the Golden Flower

Chow Yun-Fat and Gong Li will go to Taiwan for opening of "Curse"

Article: December 7, 2006
Source: http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/061207/2/7pj9.html

The Confession of Pain will be released in Taiwan on Dec 20. The Curse of Golden Flower will be released on Dec 14 in China and one week later on the same day in Taiwan. Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li have already agreed to meet up with Jay in Taiwan and now for Confession of Pain, they are trying to arrange Shu Qi and Takeshi to attend the promotions, that is if Takeshi could take days off from his filming project then.If he does come, it will be the talk of the town with Jay Chou promoting the other film also.

Permission to repost this article is granted only if this article is accompanied with this message, the text is not altered, and credit is given to this site as follows:

Credit: http://z2.invisionfree.com/la_creme_d_asie

UPDATE: Filming Children of Huang Shi

It was reported on Michelle Yeoh Web Theatre: Michelle said she's going to meet Chow Yun-Fat and the rest of the production team of Children of Huang Shi in Hangzhou this Saturday (today).

More pictures in "Movie Children of Huang Shi pictures"

UPDATE: Filming Children of Huang Shi

(12/07/06) On the 6th, Children of Huang Shi filmed the last scenes in Lanzhou at the old Governor's building of the Mongol Chieftain Lu Family with Chow Yun-Fat, Jonathan Meyers and Radha Mitchell. The filming team boarded a plane to the Eastern China on the 7th. All filming in Gansu province, which started on Nov. 13, is complete. As shown on Michelle Yeoh Web Theatre
photo from early Gebi desert shooting in Gansu

It is supposed they will begin shoot at the Hengdian Studio soon.

The National Board of Review names Curse of the Golden Flower Top 5 Foreign Films

Board of Review votes 'Iwo Jima' best picture By Gregg Goldstein Dec 7, 2006 NEW YORK -- The National Board of Review has chosen Clint Eastwood's Japanese-language "Letters from Iwo Jima" as its best film of 2006. Forest Whitaker was named best actor for "The Last King of Scotland" and Helen Mirren was named best actress for "The Queen." The group's list of bests includes: Best Film: "Letters from Iwo Jima" Best Director: Martin Scorsese, "The Departed" Best Actor: Forest Whitaker, "The Last King of Scotland" Best Actress: Helen Miren, "The Queen" Best Supporting Actor: Djimon Hounsou, "Blood Diamond" Best Supporting Actress: Catherine O'Hara, "For Your Consideration" Best Foreign Film: "Volver"' Best Documentary: "An Inconvenient Truth" Best Animated Feature: "Cars" Best Ensemble Cast: "The Departed" Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: Ryan Gosling, "Half Nelson" Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: Jennifer Hudson in "Dreamgirls" and Rinko Kikuchi, "Babel" Best Directorial Debut: Jason Reitman, "Thank You for Smoking" Best Original Screenplay: Zach Helm, "Stranger Than Fiction" Best Adapted Screenplay: Ron Nyswaner, "The Painted Veil" In addition to "Letters from Iwo Jima," it named as its top ten films: "Babel," "Blood Diamond," "The Departed," "The Devil Wears Prada," "Flags of Our Fathers," "The History Boys," "Little Miss Sunshine," "Notes on a Scandal" and "The Painted Veil." Its top five foreign films are "Volver," "Curse of the Golden Flower," "Days of Glory," "Pan's Labyrinth" and "Water." Its top five documentary films are "An Inconvenient Truth,""51 Birch Street," "Iraq in Fragments," "Shut Up & Sing" and "Wordplay." Its top independent films are: "Akeelah and the Bee," "Bobby," "Catch a Fire," "Copying Beethoven," "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints," "Half Nelson," "The Illusionist," "Lonsesome Jim," "Sherrybaby," "10 Items or Less" and "Thank You for Smoking." Other awards include: Career Achievement, "Eli Wallach" Billy Wilder Award for Excellence in Directing, Jonathan Demme Career Achievement in Producing - Irwin Winker William K. Everson Film History Award, Donald Krim The Bvlgari Award for NBR Freedom of Expression, "Water" and "World Trade Center" As shown on the Admiring Gong Li Forum

New picture of Chow Yun-Fat as Capt. Sao Feng

A new picture of Chow Yun-Fat as Captain Sao Feng in Pirates of the Caribbean at World's End. The new film will be released in May of 2007 and will have some stiff competition from Shrek 3 and Spiderman 3. Here is a quote from Geoffrey Rush (shown in the picture with Johnny Depp and CYF):

The latest entry establishes the seafaring epic as global, with the brotherhood of pirates battling a brutal trading company, Rush says. "Over the last two weeks, just completing the filming, you have little bits of the jigsaw (puzzle) left," Rush says. "You think what surprises can I bring to the character? The sort of stuff that I think emerges in ("Pirates") three is not just more of the same. Everything comes to an absolute climax. Many climaxes!" Quote from Orlando Bloom Multimedia

Chow Yun-Fat's early Hong Kong career

There is a new link on the page "Chow Yun-Fat Hong Kong Movies." This returning section of the Chow Yun-Fat of Hong Kong Fan Site will recount the successes of CYF's career in Hong Kong and the movies he made before 1996. There are pictures, videos and posters covering some of the films.

UPDATE: Filming Children of Huang Shi

More pictures

(12/04/06) According to "Western Economic Daily", the filming team is leaving Lanzhou on the 6th. Since the names of Jonathan Meyers and Radha Mitchell are not very well known in China, the local media is more interested in Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh. Michelle is not involved in the Gansu shooting, so Chow is the absolute focus. Reporters have tried to follow everything - from Chow's hotel room, his bodyguards, to all the scenes that are shot with him. Reportedly Chow Yun-Fat's Gansu part is scheduled to finish on the 4th. As shown on Michelle Yeoh Web Theatre