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-- Detective Dee --
Apart from Andy Lau who has long been attached to this production, Carina Lau, Li Bing Bing, Tony Leung Kar Fai, Lau Ching Wan are also joining Detective Dee directed by Tsui Hark.

Andy Lau plays the eponymous magistrate Di Ren Jie who's tasked by Empress Wu Zetian to look into a series of enigmatic deaths of court officials in this period suspense mystery set in Tang dynasty.

-- Detective Dee --

Tsui Hark will direct period martial arts suspense thriller Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame in Hong Kong, Beijing, Hangzhou and Henan beginning in May 2009, with proposed release in summer 2010.

With a $13 million budget, a script by Chen Kuofu and production by Chen Kuofu, Tsui Hark's wife and partner Nansun Shi and Peggy Lee, Tsui Hark and Huayi Brothers will bring to life an imagined case solved by a real Tang Dynasty detective Di Ren Jie, to be played by Andy Lau.

When the mysterious deaths of a series of loyal subjects threaten to delay the 690 A.D. inauguration of Empress Wu Zetian, China's only female leader, she summons the infamous Detective Dee back from an exile into which she cast him eight years earlier.

"They had such an interesting relationship of hatred, love and passion," said Tsui Hark, who is focused on finding the perfect empress to play opposite Andy Lau. "She was the sole one, the first and last empress in China, who claimed to be very iron-fisted, using all these cruel methods in handling her politics. At the same time she was very smart, using all the intelligent people she selected for her cabinet."

Detective Dee accepts the challenge and partners with gung-ho Commander Bei and the Ghost Doctor, a master of disguise, to solve the crimes. Tsui Hark has not yet chosen actors to play the rest of the historical figures.  The Hollywood Reporter

Tsui Hark, accompanied by Shi Nan Sun, was at 13th Pusan International Film Festival on October 5 to give a talk "My Life, My Cinema". His cosmopolitan comedy She Ain't Mean/All About Women was to premiere worldwide at the festival but had to be withdrawn at the last minute as its approval from Mainland censors was delayed owing to National Day holiday.

To Tsui Hark, a filmmaker should keep exploring all kinds of possibilities, and hence he has been experimenting with different kinds of films such as Legend of Zu, Missing, and She Ain't Mean, rather than being limited to one genre, and trying out new technology and filming equipment. A filmmaker should experiment, reinvent, and find their own niche.

Tsui Hark directed Missing and She Ain't Mean for he believes that Mainland film industry needs more variety as most are just following the trend, which might lead to some awkward situations and saturation of the market.

Tsui Hark does have the intention of doing a remake of New Dragon Inn, which was announced several years back. However, as his other movie Di Ren Jie/Judge Dee is set to begin production next April, he is still debating if he should go ahead with New Dragon Inn due to time constraints. And the talented director has just completed the script of another comedy.  EastDay

-- Interview with 1st Grade HK film Producer Nansun Shi --

 Producer Nansun Shi has been in the film industry for nearly thirty years, wife of celebrated director Tsui Hark, Senior Advisor for Media Asia, she has contributed a lot to the HK cinema since the late 70s. She kindly welcomed in October 2003, one of HKcinemagic editors Arnaud Lanuque to discuss the difficulties of producing moving through the three decades, in late 70s early 80s with Cinema City, in the eighties and nineties with Film Workshop and in the late nineties with Media Asia.  HK Cinemagic >>>More<<

-- The Seven Swords --

The Seven Swords celebrates production completion on the evening of May 9 - Pictures: Tom, Tom, Sohu, Sina | Video: Sina

-- Seven Swords at Cannes --

Post-production for Seven Swords has finally been completed. Tsui Hark, who once gave up the hope of meeting the deadline, says that Seven Swords will be holding its grand premiere at 58th Cannes Film Festival after all and Tsui Hark and the various actors, Donnie Yen, Leon Lai, Kim So Yeon, Zhang Jing Chu, will be there to promote the film. Tsui Hark said that he did not expect to finish post-production in time. He had been doing post-production in Australia, and feeling that there were many areas that needed alterations, constantly experimented with different musical motifs and different dialogues. Originally, a promo reel was to be screened at Olympia 2 at 12 pm on May 15, 2005.  Fazhi Evening Post

-- Seven Swords Begins Production --
The Seven Swords film has begun production quietly in Xinjiang's Tiechanggou on Aug 31 morning, one day ahead of schedule. Tsui Hark and part of the cast arrived in Xinjiang on Aug 30. As the cast-members who have already arrived were ready and to expedite filming, Tsui Hark brought forward the production date. Filming will take three to four months, after which six months will be spent doing post-production in Australia.  Xinjiang City Daily

-- Seven Swords of Mt Tian --

According to Beijing Ciwen Oriental Digital Film and TV Production, Seven Swords of Mt Tian 《七剑下天山》 series will begin production in Xinjiang on the seventh day of next month. Cheung Chi Leung will be the series' chief director. The series, which has been in pre-production for over two years, will be divided into two segments.

The first segment, which is about Seven Swordmasters of the first generation, is comprised of 30 episodes and will purportedly be shot first. The cast includes Zhao Wen Zhuo, Li Xiao Ran, Wu Jing, Ji Chun Hua, etc. Presently, producer Wang Yong, the production crew, as well as some of the cast-members, have already arrived or are gradually arriving in Xinjiang for experimentation filming or auditioning, getting ready for the official camera rolling inauguration. Li Xiao Ran will play Hangzhou Commander Nalan Xiu Ku's daughter, Nalan Ming Hui.  Nanfang City Daily

Among the candidates who responded to the recruitment drive in Xinjiang, 24 Xinjiang locals were chosen to act in Seven Swords of Mt Tian series, having met the criteria of the production during the auditions, including playing opposite Sang Wei Lin on actual locales. They were also the readers' top choices based on Xinjiang City Daily's polls.   Xinjiang City Daily

According to Shi Nan Sun, Leon Lai and Song Seung Hun are currently receiving training in sword and horse-riding in preparation for the movie. They will be going to Xinjiang for more intensive training in the middle of August, to acclimatised themselves to the sweltering weather of Xinjiang, which reaches as high as over 40 degrees Celsius in temperature, as well as the conditions of Mt Tian and Fiery Mountain. Martial arts director Liu Chia Liang, along with the Lau Clan, is teaching the main cast members new moves, hoping to produce a new era wuxia movie.  Kunpeng World