November 2004

Picture © ent.sina.com.cn

Source: The Straits Times

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The Bund Songwriter Dies

Cantopop songwriter James Wong died of lung cancer at Union Hospital in Hong Kong early yesterday.
He was 64.

The wordsmith and talkshow wit, who was affectionatel known as "Devilish Talent", was the lyricist of the theme songs of The Bund and countless other Hong Kong TV serials in the 1970s and 1980s.

Wong, who penned the words to more than 2,000 Cantonese songs, was one half of Hong Kong's most successful songwriting team.

Working with composer Joseph Koo Ka Fai, he produced popular songs such as themes of the TV serials Legend Of The Condor Heroes and Demi-Gods And Semi-Devils.

He also wrote A Laugh In The Ocean, the song from the film The Swordsman.
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03 November is the birthday of Brigitte Lin Ching Hsia, fondly remembered for her role as 'Asia The Invincible' in SWORDSMAN II. This year, Brigitte celebrates her 50th birthday. ACTION WEB takes this opportunity to wish Brigitte well and to celebrate this special day, ACTION WEB is pleased to present the poster for the movie, OUTSIDE THE WINDOW, Brigitte's debut on the silverscreen when she was 17 years old:

Click here for a look at Donnie Yen's character, Chu Zhao Nan, in Tsui Hark's THE SEVEN SWORDS (movie version). Chiu Mun Chok plays Chu Zhao Nan in the TV series version of THE SEVEN SWORDS.

Here's a look at Charlie Young's character, Wu Yuan Ying, in Tsui Hark's THE SEVEN SWORDS (movie version):

Picture © ent.sina.com.cn

October 2004

I found more details about the characters from THE SEVEN SWORDS TV series:

Chiu Mun Chok as Chu Zhao Nan. Chu Zhao Nan attempts to free a slave girl.	Ray Lui as a warlord. In a scene, he has a duel with The Seven Swords.	Ma Jing Wu as Master Hui Ming. Ma is the only actor who is involved in both TV and movie productions of THE SEVEN SWORDS.
Chiu Mun Chok as Chu Zhao Nan, who wields the 'Roving Dragon' Sword. He ultimately betrays members of The Seven Swords	Yu Cheng Hui as Fu Qing Zhu, one of The Seven Swords.	Master Hui Ming and Fu Qing Zhu.

All info scooped from ent.sina.com.cn
All pictures copyright ent.sina.com.cn

- Actress Charlie Young reportedly fell from her horse while shooting a scene for THE SEVEN SWORDS movie. Her manager has acknowledged the accident but the production company denied the accident took place. (In any case, I hope she's alright. Health is wealth.)

- Hong Kong martial arts choreographer, Yuan Bin, has been roped in for THE SEVEN SWORDS TV series.

- For the filming of THE SEVEN SWORDS movie and TV series, Tsui Hark has insisted that all actors and actresses sleep with their assigned swords. Tsui extolls that the sword is not merely a weapon, it is also a symbol of martial chivalry. Tsui wants the actors and actresses to forge a 'bond' between them and their swords. Interesting...

- Tsui Hark spent his free time sketching character and weapon designs. All his sketches will have an influence on the production of the movie, the TV series, the computer game as well as the comic adaptation. Below is a characters design sketch by the wizard himself:

All info scooped from ent.sina.com.cn
All pictures copyright ent.sina.com.cn

August 2004

L to R: Lu Yi, Liu Chia-liang, Charlie Young, Tsui Hark, Leon Lai, Sun Hong Lei and Kim So-Yeon on the extreme right with her interpreter (ent.sina.com.cn)

This was reported in a local newspaper:

THE NEXT GONGFU HERO

HONG KONG - Leon Lai may have missed out on the success of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2000, when he turned down the lead role of Li Mubai which went to Chow Yun-Fat.

But he is set to redress the oversight by starring in The Seven Swords, director Tsui Hark's long-awaited adaptation of the wuxia novel by Liang Yusheng.

Also in the cast are Charlie Young and Donnie Yen, who replaces Korean actor Song Seung Hun. Korean actress Kim So-Yeon co-stars in the movie.

Its stunt scenes will be choreographed by gongfu star Liu Chia-liang, it was announced in Beijing on Sunday, said Hong Kong reports.

Shooting will start in Urumqi, in the north-western Chinese region of Xinjiang, tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I found a coverage of the press conference with loads of photos with over 1 hour of footage at ent.sina.com.cn: