By Niya Diamo
The ceiling on “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” has collapsed after lead actress/producer Zhang Ziyi quit the project. Zhang Ziyi’s second try as a producer (after the success of “Sophie’s Revenge”) was set out to start filming earlier this month.
According to Zhang’s publicist, the actress was too busy filming her martial arts part in Wong Kar-wai’s drama “The Grand Master” which is currently being filmed in North-Eastern China. It has been speculated, though, that her decision was influenced by the fall-out with a Beijing publication, defaming her as the “third woman destroying another’s family”.
“Snow Flower” has drawn blank for now, as Korean actress Jun Ji-hyun (the other female lead) and the male lead, said to be a member of Taiwanese band F4, followed Zhang through the door.
But hope is not gone yet, as producers Wendi Murdock and Florence Sloan started reviewing other Chinese well-known stars. A familiar face we might see is Fan BingBing (“Sophie’s Revenge”; “Shunjuku Incident”) who is now being considered alongside Li BingBing (“The Forbidden Kingdom”). Rumour has it Taiwanese ex-soft-porn actress Qi Shu, also considered for one of the female roles, has turned down the project, as she doesn’t want to strip without good reason.Labels: cueafs |
