DAILY MARCH 24, FILMART 2014 №1 THR.COM/FILMART China_3D_cover_Day1.indd 1 3/21/14 3:18 PM ASIAN PREMIERE INTERNATIONAL MARKET PREMIERE Mon, 24th Mar. Mon,/ 16:00 24th /Mar. AMC / 16:00 Pacific / AMC 4 Pacific/ By Invitation4 / Market (BY INVITATION ONLY) Tue, 25th Mar. / 10:00 / AMC Pacific 1 / By Invitation Tue, 25th Mar. / 10:00 / AMC Pacific 1 / Market (BY INVITATION ONLY) Fortissimo Films HKIFF + HK Filmart Booth: 1E - B09 To set up a meeting with us, please e-mail to [email protected] HK 2014_THR_another me.indd 1 2014/3/19 �� 8:32 Fortissimo FP_Day1.indd 1 3/19/14 11:18 AM MARCH 24, 2014 THR.COM/FILMART FILMART №1 HONG KONG TODAY TOMORROW WEATHER AND HIGH 73° F 71° F TEMPS 23° C 22° C IP MAN 3 Chinese Movie Boom Boosts Filmart KICKS INTO An increased presence from the Mainland sparks optimism among dealmakers hoping to HIGH GEAR grab a larger slice of the world’s fastest-growing film marketBy Clifford Coonan and Karen Chu By Karen Chu ong Kong Filmart is already Asia’s largest wait and see. It’s a curtain raiser for Cannes and egasus Motion Pictures film market in terms of exhibitor numbers, advance showcase for upcoming projects, and it is will begin filming Ip H but coming shortly before Cannes, it is increasingly well attended.” P Man 3 in early 2015. an annual challenge to convince buyers to open But the growing allure of Chinese-language With a budget of $30 mil- their wallets in Asia, rather than wait for the bigger movies makes Filmart ever more important to lion, the finale of the trilogy, European platform. Asian buyers, and this year, more than 770 exhibi- to be shot in 3D, will reunite “The market is significant for us because we tors from 32 countries and regions will take part, the same team that produced are Hong Kong-based and Hong Kong Filmart is from Brunei and Malta, and including Shandong, Ip Man 1 and 2 — director like a home event, and we’ve been very support- Sichuan and Guangdong provinces in the Chinese Wilson Yip, star Donnie Yen, ive,” Albert Lee, CEO of Emperor Films, tells THR. mainland as first-time exhibitors. screenwriter Edmond Wong “As far as business is concerned, we will have to CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 and producer Raymond Wong are on board. The long-gestating project has been in development for Joey Leong, right, comforts Maggie Siu years, amidst rumors of a rift after the appearance between producer Wong and of an evil spirit. star Yen. But Pegasus CEO John Chong put those rumors to rest. “We had difficulties in bringing the original directing and starring team together because of their different schedules, but once CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 Universe Backs Koo’s Holiday By Karen Chu niverse Films has unveiled its Filmart review U lineup, which will include the Louis Koo vehicle Paris Holiday and an untitled Benny Chan road movie. Holiday, written and direct- Second Coming 3D ed by James Yuen (My Sassy Hubby), will star Koo and Hong Kong cult director Herman Yau returns to the schlocky Fiona Sit (Break Up Club). The horror genre that built his rep in the 90s by clarence tsui $5 million romantic comedy, about a red wine marketing he English title of Herman Yau’s latest a blood-sucker one moment and a gory zombie executive and an artist going film might allude to its paranormal twist, the next, The Second Coming does hark back to through a breakup, will be T but the handle could also be perceived pics from Yau’s heyday, such as The Untold Story shot in Paris. as signaling the return of the cinematographer- or Ebola Syndrome. The company will also director to the visceral horror tropes which If only the film, Yau’s first 3-D attempt, had present Little Big Master, propelled him to cult status in Hong Kong those films’ ability to surprise and provoke. a based-on-a-true-story cinema in the 1990s. With nether regions treated Given the schlocky subject matter, there should drama about a principal who to unseemly fates and a character mutating into CONTINUED ON PAGE 18 CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 1 day1_newsB.indd 1 3/23/14 7:15 PM theREPORT HEAT INDEX THE 2014 FILMART POSTER AWARDS The Travel THR pays tribute to the most amusing and over-the-top promotional materials from this year’s market Edition FAN BING BING Flanked by Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton, the Chinese actress and style icon helped charity organization Filmaid raise over $450,000 at its third annual “Power of Film” gala dinner Saturday night. C.K. CHOW The chairman of the Hong Kong stock exchange is on a losing streak: earlier this month, Chinese Internet giant Alibaba took its $15 billion IPO to Best Pitch Meeting Mashup Best (Extremely) Personal Journey New York instead of listing locally, Air Disturbance Hanna’s Journey sending the HK exchange reeling. PITCH MEETING NOTES: Hanna was about to embark on a journey that, WRITER: “It’s like the girl from The Grudge thankfully, most people never have to go on. And on in Snakes on a Plane!” that journey, Hanna would not only find true love, STUDIO EXEC: “Hmmm. Gotta be honest here, but also the one thing she had been searching for I’m not feeling it. Tell you what? Make it her entire life: the left side of her face. the girl from The Ring and you’ve got a deal.” WRITER: “Done! High-five!” NORIYUKI TADA The veteran Japanese exec is poised to take the reins at Tokyo-based studio Toei on April 1 as CEO and president. As always, the Japanese major is expected to be a big player on the Filmart sales floor. know your dealmaker Best Attempt At Looking Like A Celebrity Best Testimonial From A Real Person Wilferd Wong Jackie Roadside HKIFF Society Chairman Wong is the mastermind who performed Jackie was a simple woman with one simple need: Would Hitchcock be proud? Damn right he would! the Herculean task of bringing together to have a right leg that rivaled that of Angelina Of course, we’re talking about Lance Hitchcock, the Busan International Film Festival and the Tokyo International Film Festival to Jolie’s infamous Oscar leg. Jackie tells the story of seventh grade algebra teacher at Robinson Middle form the Asian Film Awards Academy, her thirty-two mostly successful attempts at School in Decatur, Illinois, so.... which for the first time will organize this year’s increasingly high-profile Asian Film breaking her own leg, and the painful surgeries and Awards, to be held on Friday in Macau. grueling physical therapy sessions that followed. THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 2 day1_newsB.indd 2 3/23/14 7:15 PM 360° 180° IMMERSIVE* ENTERTAINMENT 全景娛樂影視方案 Presented by Salon Films (H.K.) Ltd. @ HKFILMART 2014 Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre Hall 1 - Booth No. 1C-D16 24-27 / 3 / 2014 影頻點播 / 實況直播 跨平台播放 全景娛樂影視內容制作 Salon Films Filmart Day 1.indd 1 3/18/14 11:55 AM theREPORT Golden Scene South Korea’s Backs Hong Finecut Closes Kong Fare Multiple Deals By Karen Chu By Karen Chu ong Kong-based eoul-based sales agent Golden Scene is Finecut has seen a H putting an emphasis S flurry of activity ahead on local color with its Filmart of Filmart. Leesong Hee-il’s slate. The Distributor will Hong Kong International Film present the Hong Kong-set ti- Festival official selection Night tles Dot 2 Dot and May We Chat Flight has been picked up by at the annual film market. Sun Entertainment in Hong Dot 2 Dot, a nostalgic Kong and Macau, and Joint drama about a man reminisc- Entertainment in Taiwan. ing about the old Hong Kong, Pegasus will be Elsewhere, the Korean hit is directed by first time helmer pushing Z Storm, The Attorney, which had over starring Louis Amos Why and stars Moses Koo, at Filmart. 11.4 million admissions in Chan (I Love Hong Kong). South Korea, has sold to Edko “The main reason I backed success of The Grandmaster has Films in Hong Kong and Joint this film was because it is a Ip Man 3 been a constructive [form of] Entertainment in Taiwan. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 film about Hong Kong,” says competition. The collaboration The top-grossing thriller of all Winnie Tsang, managing direc- negotiations resumed, it was between director Wilson Yip and time in South Korea, Hide and tor and founder of Golden very friendly,” Chong tells THR. star Yen has set a [high] stan- Seek, sold to Edel Germany for Scene. “We can finally set a time for the dard. Fans of the first two Ip Man both Germany and Austria. May We Chat, the sequel to production to start in 2015.” have high expectations for this The new thriller Intruders Lonely Fifteen, the 1982 release Ip Man put lead Yen on the third outing.” by Noh Young-seok has been about underage girls, “reflects map in 2008. Since then, Ip, the Pegasus is also touting the sold to Hwa Yea Multimedia the rebellion of local girls now- martial artist and mentor of crime thriller Z Storm at Filmart. for Malaysia and Brunei, while adays [in Hong Kong]” adds Bruce Lee has been the subject The film, starring local A-lister spy actioner Iris: New Gen- Tsang. The drama, helmed of biopics in Wong Kar-Wai’s The Louis Koo, revolves around the eration has signed a deal with by film critic-turned director Grandmaster and Herman Yau’s Ip investigation of a Bernie Madoff- Nettai Museum in Japan.