In the Pipeline

-- Hands of the Dragon --

Philip Ng has been invited by an independent film studio in USA to play the leading role in an action film tentatively called Hands of the Dragon. To accommodate Philip Ng's schedule, they push shooting, which takes place in USA, from November 2007 to January 2008. The studio sets its sights on Philip Ng on the account that he's one of the new generation Asian actors who possesses true martial arts ability. The studio is employing mainly newcomers, including the director and the lead actress, for the film. Filming will take for over two months and reportedly, Philip Ng receives a seven digit pay for this project.  Sina

-- Hua Mulan --

The Weinstein Co and Meridian Films are co-producing Hua Mulan, originally developed by Michelle Yeoh and Thomas Chung, at an estimated budget of US$20m. Zhang Ziyi, who has been handed the script, written by Wang Hui Ling, expresses her interest to act as Hua Mu Lan. Michelle Yeoh will play a princess married off to the Huns. The director will be confirmed by the end of the month, and could possibly be either Tsui Hark or Johnnie To. Production begins in autumn 2008.  Dongfang Daily

-- The Five Venoms --

Remake of The Five Venoms, directed by Kirk Wong, will begin production at the end of October in Shanghai. Maggie Q, Edison Chen, Wang Lee Hom, Huang Xiao Ming, Wu Jing, RZA, Gordon Liu are being invited to join the production. . In this remake that is set in 21sth century, Edison Chen will play the junior most disciple commissioned by his Master Gordon Liu before his death to deal with five other treacherous disciples. Martial arts director Dion Lam has already entered the production and begun discussing the action scenes with director Kirk Wong, who has been a vegetarian for over 20 years despite being a director of or actor in violent action movies.  The Beijing News