Wu-Jing.org

Director Benny Chan didn't thought of doing a science-fiction initially (This was also echoed by Wu Jing on another occasion, who mentioned that it was a crime film when the director first approached him.), but as he doesn't want to repeat what he has done before, such as the typical cops vs crooks, car chase or gun combats.

Ngai Sing (or Collin Chou) says that he admires director Benny Chan for his enterprising spirit, "Director Benny Chan is very bold, he dares experiment something he has never done before, I take my hats off to him for that. I also admire his talents, no matter what subject he's filming, it's as if he's telling the ups and downs of one's life.

Here is the final City Under Siege trailer that showcases the various cast members Aaron Kwok, Ngai Sing, Wu Jing, Zhang Jing Chu, Tie Nan, Zhang Bao Wen in action, plus the de rigueur Benny Chan massive amount of glass shattering effects, and telltale signs of CGIs such as those carelessly tossed turbo-charged darting daggers.

Trailer: View / Download (MTime)

-- City Under Siege --

In this sci-fi actioner directed by Benny Chan, action directed by Ma Yuk Sing and Nicky Li, and starring Aaron Kwok, Ngai Sing, Wu Jing, Zhang Jing Chu, Tie Nan, Zhang Bao Wen, Shu Qi, Benny Chan is upping the ante by lavishly spending around 70m yuan on big explosive action scenes, one of which involves 30 cars crashing.   

Having a hand in the choreography, Wu Jing is incorporating some elements of Tai Chi in his martial arts sequences, such as his climatic battle against Ngai Sing, that the latter describes as so intense and frenzied that sparks were flying all over the place.

City Under Siege opens in China on August 8, in Hong Kong on the following week, and in Singapore and Malaysia 2 weeks later.

Trailer 1: View / Download (Youtube)

Trailer 2: View / Download (Youtube)

Trailer 3: View (Imgo)

Press conference for City Under Siege was held on June 1, 2010 afternoon in Beijing, during which a 5 minutes making-of featurette was shown. The event was attended by the producers/investors, director Benny Chan, the cast Aaron Kwok, Ngai Sing, Wu Jing, Shu Qi.

-- City Under Siege --

Here are some official stills from City Under Siege, courtesy of Sina.

In this sci-fi film by Benny Chan, a circus troupe, led by Ngai Sing, goes on a crime spree after inhaling some toxic gases by accident, causing mutation and granting them superhuman powers. However, one of them, Aaron Kwok, would not connive with the rest. Instead, he is to eventually team up with special agent Wu Jing and cop Zhang Jingchu, who push him to the peaks of his potent potential paranormal powers, to melee the malefactor mutants and save the subdued city.

-- City Under Siege --
Director Benny Chan says that he has just made a 126 minutes cut of City Under Siege, "Every actor has done a very good job, their performances are terrific. And Aaron Kwok's acting is very moving. It's already a big headache edit the film from 3hrs down to 126 minutes, I can't bear to cut it any further, every shot is very thrilling."

Benny Chan says that this is his most challenging work in the recent years, as it involves superhuman characters and the use of copious CGIs.

City Under Siege, costing around 100m yuan to produce, will combine Chinese kungfu with Hollywood special effects. The mutants in the film - Aaaron Kwok, Collin Chou, Tie Nan, Zhang Wen Bao - will all be executing Chinese Kungfu. So do the mutant-busters Wu Jing and Zhang Jing Chu.  Netease

-- City Under Siege --

On his August 6, 2009 blog entry, Wu Jing says that City Under Siege, directed by Benny Chan, with Ma Yuk Sing as the action choreographer, is near completion. A few days ago, he had a scene involving being smashed against the table. Without any hesitation, he put on the waist guard and did the stunt himself. After the scene was done, someone asked, "This shot doesn't show much of the face, why did you have to do it personally? Didn't you injure your waist sometime back?"

This question boggled Wu Jing. He never thinks of anything else when he is doing an action scene, he just feels it's his job to do it. This is quite a paradox, to an actor, they have to do their scenes personally, it's their duty. But looking from another angle, if a person doesn't know how to take care of themselves when doing their work, how could they talk of finishing it?

This put Wu Jing at a loss, to quote Little Shenyang, "Why is this so?"

Incidentally, a 0:37 video of a scene with a truck being driven to run over the mutant Ngai Sing only to be stopped and lifted by the latter may be viewed on Netease.

Oriental Daily reports that Aaron Kwok says it's great working with Ngai Sing, "Actually, he had a few script choices, but on hearing that he'd be collaborating with me, he flew from US to shoot this film."

Aaron Kwok who was sent to the hospital on the first day he had to wear mutant makeup due to sensitive skin, feels sorry for Ngai Sing who has to be in mutant form all day long, "I introduced the doctor to him, and he teaches me kungfu, we became good friends."

Filming inauguration (video) for City Under Siege was held on a soundstage in Yuen Long, Hong Kong on June 24.

Director Benny Chan says that he had long wanted to do a Chinese type of superhero movie, one that combines that unique characteristics of Chinese Kungfu with special visual effects.

On June 11 afternoon, Beijing Enlight Pictures held a press conference to announce its 8 upcoming/ongoing/future projects/co-productions between 2009 to 2010. Liu Yi Wei and Liu Yan hosted the event that was attended by Enlight's chairman Wang Zhang Tian and president Zhang Zhao, and their collaborators producer Raymond Wong, directors Gordon Chan, Andrew Lau, etc, as well as comics creator Tony Wong Yuk Long.

-- City on Alert --

City on Alert, a 100m yuan sci-fi actioner by director's Benny Chan Muk Sing, has been secretly in production for several days. The cast includes Aaron Kwok, Ngai Sing, Wu Jing, Shu Q, Zhang Jing Chu.

In this film on courage, a group of circus performers goes on a rampage after undergoing some kind of mutation, that grants them superhuman abilities, in an accident. However, one of them, an ordinary clown originally, would not condone the others' misdeeds and for the sake of the entire city, stands up against them.