Category: Films

The Climbers First Trailer

A teaser trailer for The Climbers was just released during the 22nd Shanghai Film Festival.

The Hollywood Reporter shared some details.

The actor, China’s reigning box-office king thanks to mega-blockbusters Wolf Warrior 2 and The Wandering Earth, bounded to the stage at a packed gala hosted by Shanghai Film Group to unveil the first official trailer for his next action spectacle.

The Climbers dramatizes the real-life expedition of Chinese mountaineers Wang Fuzhou, Gonpo and Qu Yinhua, who made a historic ascent up Mount Everest’s North Ridge in 1960. The Chinese team was the first to successfully climb Everest’s north side, which is known to be especially perilous. The trio famously left a small statue of Chairman Mao atop the summit before returning midway down the mountain to heroically rescue a fourth member of their team who was unable to complete the mission.

The filmmakers also unveiled the release date for The Climbers. The film has lined up a nationwide release on Sept. 30, prime positioning on the eve of China’s patriotic National Day holiday period from Oct. 1-Oct. 7, which is expected to generate a box-office bonanza.

2019 Weibo Movie Awards

Ziyi was still in Shanghai tonight to attend the 2019 Weibo Movie Awards. Her movie The Climbers won the award of the Most Anticipated Film while Ziyi accepted the prize of the Most Influential Actress.

22nd Shanghai Film Festival

Yesterday and today, the cast and the crew of The Climbers attended the 22nd Shanghai International Film Festival. The director Daniel Lee, the producer Tsui Hark and the cast members Wu Jing, Hu Ge, Zhang Yi, Jing Boran and Ziyi walked the red carpet of the opening ceremony of the festival.

Earlier today, once again joined the cast and crew of The Climbers for a press conference during the festival.

A few videos of these two events were also uploaded.
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Ziyi in Bunshun Weekly

To promote both Chopard and Godzilla: King of the Monsters in Japan, Ziyi is appearing in the japanese magazine Shukan Bunshun (周刊文春) on the June 20th edition.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters Tokyo Premiere

Ziyi just arrived in Japan in attend the premiere of Godzilla: King of the Monsters in Tokyo. She was photographed with the director Michael Dougherty, her co-star Ken Watanabe and Godzilla…

Some videos were also posted on Japanese news websites.
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Rendez-vous with Zhang Ziyi

The special event at the Cannes Film Festival Rendez-vous with Zhang Ziyi was just uploaded on the official website of the festival. You can watch the original version here and the version with English dubbing here. Some gorgeous pictures were added to the gallery.

Ziyi shared a lot yesterday during this masterclass, about her career and herself. She mainly talked about working of films like 2046, The Grandmaster, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but a few others too. Some highlights of the interview were transcribed on the official website of the Cannes Festival.

About her fighting spirit:
I was born into a very traditional family. My mother worked in a maternity hospital and my father was an economist for the government. I didn’t grow up in luxury. My parents worked hard to bring us up and we did not have many activities. I don’t remember my parents encouraging me a lot or saying “I love you.” They have always been demanding with me even though I have won many awards in my career. This has taught me to be demanding of myself. Most of the roles I have interpreted have this perseverence as a a common theme.

On the filming of Yi dai zong shi (The Grandmaster):
This film shoot was the most demanding of my whole career up until now. I was in a very anxious and melancholy period of my life. I remember asking for a day off in the middle of the filming, which was complicated because it would cost a lot of money. But Wong Kar-wai agreed. He knew that I was not feeling well and he showed himself to be very understanding. Today he is a very close friend. I could play any role for him.

Cannes Film Festival – Day 3

The third day of Ziyi at Cannes this year started with an amazing news. She attended a short press conference to announce her participation at the 3nd Tokyo Film Festival, starting on October 28 and closing on November 5. She will serve as the chairman of the jury of this prestigious film festival. Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige and Gong Li were also chairmen in the past, making Ziyi the fourth Chinese to occupy this high position.

Hollywood Reporter reported the news and included some worth mentioning details from the press conference.

TIFF director Takeo Hisamatsu called Ziyi “one of the leading actresses in the world” and said her performance in legendary Japanese director Seijun Suzuki’s final film Princess Raccoon (2005) had “earned her many Japanese fans.”

Zhang recalled her first trip to Tokyo with her first feature, Zhang Yimou’s The Road Home (1999), which went on to win a Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. “I was immensely touched by the warmth of the reception and witnessed first-hand the love and passion that Japan has for the art of moviemaking,” she said.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters LA Premiere

Ziyi was turning all heads yesterday in Los Angeles when she attended the premiere of Godzilla: King of the Monsters. She made quite a surprise appearance in the United States between Beijing events and her participation in Cannes this year. Tons of pictures are now in the gallery. You can watch a video of the red carpet below.

Ziyi talked to Reuters during her stay in Los Angeles. (Source)

Chinese mega-star Zhang Ziyi, who made her name internationally in Oscar-winning Director Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon,” said working on such a special effects-heavy movie was a new experience. “Yeah I think for me it is very new to only act with nothing but a green screen so everything you have to imagine,” she told Reuters at the premiere.

A huge name in Chinese and world cinema, Zhang said she had avoided making movies in Hollywood in recent years because of a lack of good parts for Chinese actresses. “That’s why I haven’t been back in Hollywood for so long because I often get scripts (but) they are not so … the characters are not so rich but this one is different,” she said, of her role in “Godzilla: King of the Monsters.” “That’s why I’m very happy about this offer and the director really respected me and gave my character a lot of emotions,” she added.