HONG KONG Hou Hsiao-hsien, the acclaimed Taiwanese helmer famed for his painstakingly slow drama and almost static camerawork, is inching towards making his first big-budget, martial arts pic.
The Taiwan government announced this week that the Hou's "The Assassin" will be the first movie to receive coin from its National Development Fund.
NDF will provide NT$81.6 million ($2.6 million) of a budget currently pegged at $8.65 million and previously flagged at $12 million, which would be a record for a Taiwanese movie. Funding decision was made on the basis of advice from the Government Information Office, according to GIO Deputy Minister Albert Lin.
In an earlier decision, dating back nearly three years, the GIO itself agreed to provide an additional $480,000.
Hwarng Wern-ying, producer at Hou's Sinomovie Co., said that the NDF coin now puts the film in a position to crank up production. "Pre-production will start on Oct 1, with the exact date of production in early 2009 depending on cast and crew availabilities," she said.
Pic, which still has alternative titles "Nie Yin Niang" and "The Hidden Heroine," is based on an 8th century legend of a girl who was kidnapped by nuns and who as an adult woman used illusion and martial arts skills to challenge the male world.
Cast is expected to be headed by Shu Qi ("The Transporter," "The Eye 2,") and Chang Chen ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Red Cliff.") Pair previously co-starred in Hou's romantic drama "Three Times."
Presentation of the project by Hou was one of the highlights of the Pusan Festival's co-production sidebar. At that stage CMC Movie Corp., the production offshoot of Taiwan's leading video distributor CMC Magnetics Corp, was announced as a major investor, but the company has dropped out of the finacing mix. Hwarng says that CMC Movie has now been replaced by other investors. An int'l sales agent has yet to be appointed.
Lin said that the GIO approved the investment as it believes that the movie could act as a catalyst for the territory's beat-up film sector. Though Taiwanese auteurs have a glittering track record on the int'l festival circuit, Hollywood films regularly account for more than 90% of the box office.
Lin said that future investment policy will take greater account of potential B.O. performance.
© Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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