Merrick here...
The Weinstein Company is backing two titles through its recently established Asian Film Fund. The first film produced with these resources, THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM, opens this Friday.
SHANGHAI will be directed by Mikael Hafstrom (1408) and will reunite him with John Cusack. It'll also star Gong Li and Ken Watanabe. The story is set in 1941 China - it shoots in May for a Christmas release (wanna bet that release date changes?)
SEVEN SAMURAI will roll later this year for release sometime next year - no director has been announced yet. This is a remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 film, which later inspired THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN and the Roger Corman-produced BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS among other titles. BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS rocked; I'm still in love with that titty ship.
