April Fool’s: Cui Jian to direct rock opera based on the Nine Sons of Emperor Kangxi

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The star-studded musical stars Chen Kun, Wang Kai, Lu Han, Xiao Zhan, Wang Leehom, Xiao Shunyao, Yan Xujia, Da Zhang Wei, and Tan Jianci.

Rock Artist-filmmaker Cui Jian has announced yet another foray into film, this time a rock opera based on the nine sons of the Emperor Kangxi vying for the throne. The opera, tentatively title Nine Dragons 摇滚九子, is likened to the musical Six and will feature the teams of the princes as rivaling rock bands in an 80’s battle of the bands.

Singer-actor Chen Kun plays the insolent second prince. Wang Leehom and Da Zhang Wei guest stars as two short-lived competitors – the first and third princes. Wang Kai plays the fourth prince (later the Emperor Yongzheng) , while Lu Han plays his bandmate the Thirteen Prince. Xiao Zhan plays his chief rival the Eighth prince while his bandmates the Ninth Prince and Tenth Prince are played by Xiao Shunyao and Yan Xujia respectively. Tan Jianci plays their new lead singer, the Fourteenth Prince. Cui Jian himself will play their father and the judge.

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April Fool’s Day: Jay Walk to produce anthology series of Disney fairytales

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Dilraba and Merxat bring Aladdin back to  China.

Jay Walk Studio has announced an anthology series of made-for-streaming Disney princess films starring many of its actors. The project is the realization of Jay Walk’s deal with Disney last year, and already has a huge cast signed up.

Other than Jay Walk’s own Yang Mi, Dilraba, Daisy, and Zhang Yunlong as well as other artists such as Zhou Dongyu, Zhang Xueying, Li Qin, Zhang Ruonan, Wan Qian, Merxat, Hanikezi, Yang Yang, Chen Feiyu, Xu Kai , Chen Chuhe, Ning Jing, Li Bingbing, and Ni Ni.

The anthology series will, among others, star Zhang Xueying in Beauty and the Beast, Li Qin in Cinderella, Yang Mi in the Princess and the Frog, and Zhang Ruonan in the Little Mermaid.

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April Fool’s Day: Cyberpunk Wuxia adaptation of Laughing in the Wind

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The rebel leader who gave herself to AI control in order to achieve her goals of universal praise,  Dongfang Bubai  (Zhou Dongyu) imprisoned the old leader and turned the rebel forces into a cult of personality.   Members recite slogans and cheers for her in fear of death, while she herself leaves most of the governing to a mechanical dragon of her own creation.

The latest adaptation of political intrigue wuxia novel Laughing in the Wind is a groundbreaking cyberpunk wuxia film set in a future where the world is ran by several major corporations that maintain order in the society.    Opposite them are the Sun & Moon Collective, a loosely connected group of increasingly violent activists seeking to overthrow the military-industrial complex. 

The Lin family has long been rumored to hold the rights to a ground-breaking technology that has never been used.  When the family is reportedly slaughtered by a group of bandits, the sole surviving member – Lin Pingzhi (Dilraba) –  becomes a target as all sides, including herself, seek to find her heirloom technology.

But the technology was unused for a reason. Humans don’t realize their choices until a few seconds after the decision-making process. The program’s complex algorithms allows the user to make instant optimal decisions  to achieve preset goals, but users won’t realize their decisions until it’s too late to stop them. The program’s use causes the user to slowly be consumed by the algorithms until they become AI’s solely driven by the preset goals.  (more…)

April Fool’s Day: Sci-fi epic adapts the The Monkey King

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China’s first sci-fi superhero film will be based on none other than a futuralistic rendition of the famous Journey to the West. The series stars Ni Ni, Chen Kun, Wang Kai, Zhou Xun, Yang Yang, Fan Bingbing, Jing Boran, and Chen Daoming.

Ni Ni plays Sun Wukong, a physicist at the top-secret Penglai Research Facility. There, she learns to manipulate atoms for a limited amount of time, allowing her to temporarily shape-shift and create wormholes of her own.

She is kicked out after getting into a fight with fellow researcher Zhu Bajie (Wang Kai ) over the affections of Chang’e (Fan Bingbing). Both  retained their knowledge after Chang’e disobeyed orders to erase their memories. Back in the real world, the two wreck havoc with their new knowledge until they’re restrained by the Agency of Sub-atomic Affairs.

Five hundred years later, pollution and war have pushed most of humanity to move to planets faraway from the Earth. On Earth itself, scientific knowledge was all but gone. Hoping science could save her people from a dying planet, the Earth’s new ruler (Zhou Xun) chose to send out a team to reclaim Earth’s lost knowledge from distant planets. Sun and Zhu were released to aid Professor Xuanzang (Chen Kun) on his intergalactic journey to save the people of Earth. They are joined by mission director Guanyin (Chen Daoming), alien Prince and guide Bai Longma (Yang Yang), support staff Sha Wujing (Jing Boran),  and occasional help Nezha (Dilraba), a three-headed mutant due to nuclear exposure, on this journey across 81 galaxies.

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