With the holiday season out of the way, Hong Kong's film studios have already started shooting the first of the new movies that will be released over the coming year. And now that the mainland has lifted restrictions on the importation of Hong Kong films, many of the studios are planning fairly ambitious productions.
One of the biggest - Emperor Motion Picture Group's US$10m The Twins Effect II - started production last week. Emperor's film arm has been quiet since it made the first Twins Effect film, which was a huge hit last summer. But the company's new chief executive, Albert Lee, has been quietly working on a new slate of films, headed by the Twins Effect sequel, and including projects from Cory Yuen Kwai and Dante Lam Chiu-yin, among others.
Lee acknowledges that the allure of the rapidly opening mainland market has had a big impact on the company's strategy. 'We try to cater for as many territories as we can, but our primary markets are still Chinese-language and we're definitely aiming up north for the China market,' he says.
As a result, Twins Effect II is being shot on the mainland - in Guangzhou and Yunnan province - and has a storyline that has been deemed suitable for mainland release. The vampires are gone, and our young heroines - Charlene Choi Cheuk-yin and Gillian Chung Yan-tung - will play warriors in a fictional all-female nation, set 1,000 years in the past.
In addition to the Twins, the film is packed full of stars - hence, its hefty budget. Jackie Chan's son, Chan Cho-ming, and Taiwanese idol Chen Bo-lin will star, and reportedly romance Choi and Chung. Jackie Chan and Edison Chen Koon-hei, who appeared in the original film, are expected to return in the sequel in special guest appearances. And if that's not enough to keep movie-goers happy, Daniel Wu, Tony Leung Ka-fai and Donnie Yen are also involved. Yen co-directed the original with Dante Lam, but will concentrate on acting and action in the second film. Directing duties have passed to Cory Yuen Kwai and Patrick Leung Pak-kin.
Yuen will oversee the action sequences, while Leung, who directed Emperor's Demi-Haunted and, more recently, China Star's Good Times, Bed Times, will look after the drama. Two mainland actresses - Fan Bing Bing and Qu Ying - will also star, and pop duo Boy'z will put in cameo appearances.
The film is scheduled to shoot until April for release over the summer. Once it's wrapped, Emperor plans to start shooting a romantic comedy directed by Law Chi-leung (Inner Senses) and starring the company's new teenage protege, Isabella Leong.