Tony Leung and Shu Qi Lead All-Star Cast of Upcoming “Feng Shen Bang”

Above: Angelababy, Huang Xiaoming, Tony Leung Ka Fai, and Shu Qi star in “Feng Shen Bang”.

Judging from the recent box office success of Stephen Chow’s (周星馳) Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons <西遊·降魔篇> and Cheang Pou Soi’s (鄭保瑞) The Monkey King <西游記之大鬧天宮>, the mainland Chinese film market is ripe for movies adapted from Chinese mythological tales. One such upcoming project is Feng Shen Bang <封神榜>, a 3D film that will star Tony Leung Ka Fai (梁家輝) and Shu Qi (舒淇), and is scheduled to begin filming in September.

Feng Shen Bang, which will be co-directed by Wilson Yip (葉偉信) and Koan Hui (許安), is based on the 16th-century Chinese novel Feng Shen Yan Yi <封神演義>, often translated as The Investiture of the Gods. The story tells of how King Zhou of Shang (Tony Leung) becomes a tyrant due to the wiles of Daji (Shu Qi), a vixen spirit who is disguised as one of his concubines. After a series of battles involving mythological intervention, King Zhou of Shang is overthrown by King Wu of Zhou and his strategist Jiang Ziya (Jet Li 李連杰).

With a budget of 300 million HKD, Feng Shen Bang is considered a comeback project for China Star Entertainment Group, a well-known film production company that hit an economic rut in 2005. Because CEO Charles Heung (向華強) and his wife Tiffany Chen (陳明英) are friends with many top entertainment stars, much of the Feng Shen Bang cast agreed to take on the film for a fraction of their market worth. Even Jet Li, who initially turned down the movie due to health issues, changed his mind because of his friendship with Heung.

The cast for Feng Shen Bang also includes Huang Xiaoming (黃曉明) as Erlang Shen, Angelababy (楊穎) as a mermaid, Louis Koo (古天樂) as Buddhist wisdom god Mahamayuri, Wen Zhang (文章) as Nezha, and Jacky Heung (向佐) as Leizhenzi. To the disappointment of Huang Xiaoming and Angelababy fans, however, the real-life couple will have very few scenes together.

Feng Shen Bang 2  Feng Shen Bang 3

Source: ihktv.com

This article is written by Joanna for JayneStars.com.

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Responses

  1. Jet Li should do more modern action movies like Kiss Of The Dragon. His period martial arts movies after Fearless have all been very disappointing.

      1. Kiwi, I agree SHU QI resembles Angelina Jolie. We have the same thought of them two.

  2. This is a big cast, hope the story is written well. I’m currently watching the loosely adapted version from mainland that is starring Sammual chan. The storyline has its ups and downs but it has some funny parts.

  3. Shu Qi look very beautiful and exotic in the poster! She’s considered hot/sexy/beautiful in the Western.

  4. What is Angelababy doing on the screen? she should be on the shelf in the barbie section of a toy department for $9.99

  5. Shouldn’t Jet Li be lead since he is the biggest star of all of them?

  6. ANOTHER remake of Fengshen Bang?? The costumes are awful.

  7. I have nothing against Huang Xiao Ming, but he is overexposed (his girlfriend as well). I remember that people made fun of Jude Law when he had like 3 movies that came out at once, but Huang Xiao Ming takes it to a whole new level. Hong Kong movie + Chinese Movie + Chinese Idol.

    1. Well, if Angelababy is China’s Barbie doll, then Huang Xiao Ming is the Ken doll. They are both just there for their artificial good looks, apparently. Definitely they are not in high demand for their acting prowess. They are paid to look like live versions of these anime type characters.

      Jet Li is the only international star in the cast, followed by Shu Qi. If not for them in the movie, I doubt most people would be interested to check it out. Angelababy is not a boxoffice magnet.

    2. When it comes to overexposure, nothing can beat the churning of films back in the old days when HK stars packed their schedules filming multiple films on a daily basis. As a typical example, Andy Lau rushed from one movie lot to another and then another in a single day. How else could he have made several hundred movies, many of dubious quality, in a few short years? Huang Xiao Ming can barely compare.

    3. Huang xiao ming’s acting was actually okay. he was pretty good in some dramas and then slowly it’s more about looking good then acting lolol
      as for angelababy…. horrible.. T_T

  8. Surprised Jet Li isn’t the lead here, might possibly be his first time being a supporting actor in Hong Kong/China movies other than cameos.

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