Kenneth Ma to Star In Wong Jing’s “The Shell Game” with Patrick Tse, Charmaine Sheh and Raymond Wong
Kenneth Ma (馬國明) has confirmed that he will be starring in Wong Jing’s (王晶) remake of the 1980 TVB drama The Shell Game <千王之王> alongside Patrick Tse (謝賢), Charmaine Sheh (佘詩曼), and Raymond Wong (黃浩然). Principal photography commences in April.
The Shell Game will be Kenneth’s first collaboration with Patrick Tse and second collaboration with Charmaine Sheh, who costarred with Kenneth in the upcoming mini film series A Time of Love 2 <愛情來的時候>.
“I heard Charmaine will also be in Wong Jing’s new drama,” said Kenneth after the announcement of his casting in The Shell Game was reported. “I’ll be in it as well. It’s been a year since I’ve last filmed a television drama.”
Was Kenneth’s year of absence due to him being “frozen” by TVB? “No!” said Kenneth quickly. “My contract isn’t up anyways. I’ll be shooting another drama in July. TVB knows I’ve rested enough.”
In regards to The Shell Game, Kenneth said he was very happy when he heard the news that he would be working with Patrick and Charmaine. He also added, “I was just talking with Raymond [Wong] and he told me he was cast as well.”
Asking if he and Charmaine would be playing romantic partners, Kenneth said, “I don’t know what role I’m playing yet, but I hope so!”
The reporters then jokingly asked Kenneth if he is afraid of getting slapped by Patrick. “Nope!” said Kenneth with a laugh. “If it’s in the script then he can slap me as many times as he want! I’m really looking forward to working with Patrick. I’ve never collaborated with him before. Seniors like Patrick are very kind and caring towards us juniors.”
Kenneth also said he has never been in touch with Patrick and has only heard about him through his mother, who is a fan of him. Although still unsure of what role he would be playing in The Shell Game, Kenneth said he hopes he would have many scenes with Patrick.
The Shell Game will be a remake of the 1980 TVB drama of the same name, which starred Patrick Tse, Liza Wang (汪明荃), Simon Yam (任達華), and Peter Yang (楊群). It was produced by Wong Jing’s late father, Wong Tin-lam (王天林). Wong Jing also served as the original serial’s head writer and director at the time.
Source: On.cc
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
“The Shell Game will be Kenneth’s first collaboration with Patrick Tse and second collaboration with Charmaine Sheh, who costarred with Kenneth in the upcoming mini film series A Time of Love 2 .”
Should be THIRD collaboration since they were in A Time Of Love.
The Shell Game is a classic, but a remake? Apparently it’s going to be set in a modern setting . Not sure of the plot, but if it going to be light hearted like his Fom Vegas to Macao movies then I think it’s going to suck..
@mulder99 As is Wong Jing’s usual style in recent years, the script will be filled with fluff and gimmicks with no real substance — basically he is relying on the ‘nostalgia factor’ to get audiences to watch (just like the From Vegas to Macau movies). And since production will be overseen by Wong Jing’s production company (which is based in Mainland) plus the fact that the Mainland market matters more to him now than HK (which he has no problems constantly reminding us of), no doubt that the script will be re-written to accommodate Mainland audiences. So far, Wong Jing’s ‘contribution’ in terms of artists is Patrick Tse (he had said in an interview last week that he will be responsible for providing half the artists and TVB will be responsible for the other half) — I wonder who else he is going to cast from his side…probably a whole bunch of Jing ladies again — it will be sad if one of them end up being lead over Charmaine….
@mulder99 if this new version has talking servant robots, i am going to scream. No robots please, wong jing.
Wong Jing is known for producing crappy works, lame jokes. What a waste of the cast…
Oh no! Why are they remaking this classic drama and getting WJ to remake it at that too??? It’s going to stink and ruin my good memories.
Cast looks promising but not the production or producer. Wong Jing’s ‘Master of Destiny’ was underwhelming to say the least. But will still probably watch it for Kenneth, Charmaine and Raymond’s performances.
Not Charmaine again?! What about Liza wang?