Father Geek here once again with the AICN Asian gang (Darius25, Scott Green, Ye Meng, AccSpy, and pigmon). More great Asian film news from India, Japan, China, and the world of Anime in this weeks Thursday column. Buuuuuut first before I get to Darius' regular report here's some hot news straight from Ye Meng by way of Geek World Headquarters in Austin, Texas...

Ye is here!

MonkeyPeaches just posted a short interview of Zhang Ziyi. She has confirmed both Jet Li and her involvement in the upcoming historic epic Hero (previously translated as The Qin Assassination). The $12 million US budget film will be directed by Zhang Yimou, the one discovered Zhang Ziyi, and shooting will start in June.

Furthermore, Zhang Ziyi also mentioned Wan Kar-Wai's 2046. She will reunited with Cheng Chen, played Lo in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, approximately in September.

For the complete interview and tons of Zhang Ziyi photos on the set of Rush Hour II, go to MonkeyPeach And Click Here

If you want to know mistakes of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, go here: And Just Click

Ye Meng

Father Geek back, now on to Darius and the Regular Asia-AICN column...

Asia-AICN

Hey all. We have a yet another packed report for you this week including news on Vidhu Vinod Chopra ("Mission Kashmir")'s new film, Running Out of Time 2, some rather wicked new pics from the set of Rush Hour 2, and a Japanese-French co-production written by Luc Besson and starring Jean Reno! Here's the latest from Asia.

INDIA

- Director Mahesh Manjrekar has been hired to direct a film for producer Firoz Nadiadwala. The film, titled "Kutumb" requires a massive starcast. Amitabh Bachchan has been cast in the one of the main leading roles while additional roles remain to be cast.

- One of Aishwarya Rai's new films will pair her against model Arjun Rampal. The upcoming film will be directed by Naresh Malhotra and will be written by Ash's mom, Vrinda Rai. The film, which has yet to be titled, is expected to start shooting in August.

- Bobby Deol has agreed to make a cameo for his brother Sunny Deol's film, "Indian". The mega-action film also stars Shilpa Shetty, Raj Babbar, Om Puri and Rahul Dev.

- After the success of Mission Kashmir, Vidhu Vinod Chopra has chosen to direct a romance-drama titled "One Plus One". The film is set to star Sanjay Dutt and Karisma Kapoor.

- Director Ramesh Sippy has signed Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai to star in his next film. This will be the first film featuring both mega stars as a pair.

- A production company named Channel Nine has spilled the beans on its next project - "Agni Varsha (Firestorm)". The film is set to star Amitabh Bachchan, Jackie Shroff, Nagarjuna, Prabhu Deva, Raveena Tandon and Sonali Kulkarni. It will be directed by newcomer Arjun Sajnani.

- Sanjay Dutt has been signed as the villain for director Sohail Khan's "Maine Dil Tujko Diya (I've Given My Heart to You)". Khan also stars as the main hero opposite newcomer Sameera. Sohail's brother, Salman Khan, is expected to make a cameo in the film along with Aishwarya Rai.

- Some new stills were released from producer K.C. Bokadia's new film "Hum Aapke Hain Sanam (You Are Mine)". The film stars Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit and is slated to release in June.

Here's a pic of SRK and Salman Khan: To View Click

Here's pic of Madhuri Dixit and SRK: Just Click to See

- Two films were released on last Friday. The first film was the long-in-making "Censor", which was directed by legendary actor Dev Anand. Anand stars in the satire as a director whose film (a gentle romantic comedy) is having many troubles being released due to India's ratings committee. The film eventually winds up being smuggled to the US, where it gets nominated for (and wins) several Oscars (!). Anand then decides to sue the ratings board for the film's delay and makes a rather long lecture on the role that films play in today's society. The film has a solid script - the idea may not be new, but it's still miles different from the majority of recent films (Bollywood or Hollywood) and you have to at least give Anand props for that. The acting is decent - Dev Anand is still in fine form as he was in the 60s and 70s while the rest of the celebrities are ok in the minor roles. Jackie Shroff and Amrish Puri were solid as members of the ratings commission while Rekha was disappointing as the head of the board. The direction was pretty decent and the film's pacing was ok - it flowed naturally at a constant pace (not too slow and not too fast). The songs should have been removed as they weren't really necessary to the plot. All in all, "Censor" is a decent look at Bollywood and its many troubles with the ratings board. I wouldn't exactly pay to see it in the theatres, but it makes a fine DVD rental.

- The other film released last week was "Rahul (the name of the title character)", which was produced by Subhash Ghai and directed by Prakash Jha. The film tells the story of a 5-year old boy (Rahul) who makes many attempts to reunite his divorced parents. The story is relatively simple - parents break up, find happiness with other partners, and eventually reunite for the sake of the child. The acting is pretty good. Yash Pathak is very good in the title role and it was a wise decision for Prakash Jha to tell the story through his eyes. He is neither too cute nor annoying and manages to act pretty well, especially in the dramatic scenes. The majority of the cast is made up of newcomers who play their parts without any major complaints. The songs are actually good this time, and do fit in rather nicely for a romantic comedy. The direction is standard for a dramedy - not really exceptional, but there were no dragging moments or unnecessary sub plots. All in all, Rahul provides a pleasant time in theatres - you won't be disappointed.

CHINA/HK

Here is AccSpy's weekly column:

- Jackie Chan celebrated his 47th birthday on the set of Rush Hour 2 and here are some pics from the night:

Here's one with Jackie and Zhang Ziyi: Go Here

Here's a pic with Jackie, Ziyi and Chris Tucker (I wish I was Tucker right now - D25): Click to View

Ziyi looks REALLY happy in this one: Just Click Here

Here's one with Jackie getting Ziyi drunk: Click to See

Finally, here's one with Ziyi doing a stunt: Just Click

- Director Johnnie To, now filming "You & I (aka Fulltime Hitman)" in Malaysia, confirmed that the script of "Running Out of Time 2" is currently in progress. Sean Lau Ching-wan will reprise his inspector role in this sequel to 1999's blockbuster while Ekin Cheng will replace Andy Lau as this installment's new villain. The film is expected to shoot this fall.

- Meanwhile, Ekin Cheng and Cecilia Cheung are in Las Vegas shooting "God's Forbidden Area (lit. title)". The HK/USA co-production is directed by Jeff Lau Chun-Wai (Stephen Chow's "A Chinese Odyssey" and the bizarre comedy "The Eagle Shooting Heroes"), which is filming entirely in Las Vegas. Ekin plays a casino staff who travels back to the past to solve a mysterious crime.

- Candy Lo("Time & Tide"), who recently nabbed three nominations at the HK film awards, will star in two action movies this summer, including "Angels in the Dust" with Cecilia Cheung, Shu Qi and Coco Lee which is being directed by Corey Yuen. The other film will be directed by actor/stunt choreographer Chin Kar Lok.

- Last weekend, Tsui Hark produced "Master Q 2001" scored huge with $5.5 million opening in 4 days, easily topping the BO chart, while Robert DeNiro's "15 minutes" came in second with $2.5 million. Master Q has already passed the total BO gross of Hark's last film, "Time and Tide". "Traffic" returned to no.3 while Leon Lai and Cecilia Cheung's "Everyday is Valentine" entered at no.4 with just a sneak peek showing this week, collecting $0.5 million in the process. The film will open wide next weekend, along with Ekin Cheng's "Goodbye Mr. Cool" and "The Emperor's New Groove".

JAPAN

Here's some info on a French-Japan co-production (written by Luc Besson!), courtesy of Pigmon:

A French project named "Wasabi", which was produced and penned by Luc Besson while being directed by Gerafd Krawczyk (of "Taxi" fame), is about to start shooting in Paris right now. The production moves to Japan by the end of May where they will shoot in Tokyo and Kyoto for a couple of weeks. Jean Reno and Japanese actress Ryoko Hirosue have the leading roles in this film, which will be released in France this December.

ANIME

From the desk of Scott Green...

ADV DVD Dates

ADV has unveiled the dates for the release of some of their science fiction series. The seventh volume of Neon Genesis Evangelion, and the fifth volume of Martian Successor Nadesico will be released 5/29. Nadesico combines series drama and character development with comic homage to various mecha, and romance anime series. The series follows the eccentric crew of the Nadesico, a corporate battleship employed by the military to stop in invasion of Earth. The previously delayed indefinitely fifth volume of Gasaraki will be released 6/19. Gasaraki has been called a Shinto version of Evangelion about a young man (not a teenager this time) piloting a mecha for people whose agenda is not clear. The series is praised by many for having a truer edge to its science, political maneuvering and character interactions that many other series in the mech genre.

Unique New Anime Shots

This May, Japanese newtwork SkyPerfecTV will start airing "Animated Cartoon Theater X" featuring Figure 17 Tsubasa And Hikaru, a new show from the creators of behind Steel Angel Kurumi and To-Heart. The show will air monthly hour long episodes for a year, and reportly featuring near theatical quality animation. Heading the project are sci-fi bishoujo wizards director Takahashi Naohito (Kurumi) and character designer Senba Yuriko (Kurumi). Opening theme is "Boy" performed by The Alfee. Broadcast premiere is set for Sunday, the 27th of May at 22:00. Plan is by GENCO, Monster Mechanical designs are by Yasuhiro Nishinaka, Sound Supervisor is Atsushi Watanabe, Sound Production is by HALF HP STUDIO, Animation production is by OLM. Voice cast includes Yashima Akiko, Tomiko Orikasa and Kikuko Inoue. Broadcast is scheduled to run through May of 2002.

The US rights to Steel Angel Kurumi have been acquired by ADV Films.

Bandai Announcements

Bandai has announced the release of the first volume of Big O, exclusively on DVD for a June 19th release. The DVD will animated interactive menus, a bilingual language track (English/Japanese), English subtitles, trailers, textless openings, creator commentary, and staff interviews. The four episode volume will retail for $24.98. Many like or dislike the series due to its Batman-like animation and characters. Roger Smith is the Negotiator, pilot of the mysterious mech known as Big O, and the protecter of Paradigm City, a place whose resident suffer from amnesia after "The Event". Angel Links will be released exclusively on DVD starting June 5th. The series takes place is the same setting as the action/science fiction Outlaw Star, but the series only overlap with cameos. Meifon, the captain of the starship Angel Links is the head of a much larger operation that the small band in Outlaw Star. She heads a private security force that is charged with handling the threat of pirates. The DVD release features animated interactive menus, English, Japanese language tracks, English subtitles, trailers, and bonus clips. The three-episode disc will retail for $29.98. Bandai also announced the third and final DVD collection of Saber Marionette J for a release on June 19th. The DVD features animated interactive menus, English, Japanese, and Spanish language tracks, English subtitles, an exclusive Saber Marionette J music video, and trailers with eight episodes on two discs. Escaflowne - "Light and Shadow" and "Forever and Ever" on VHS and DVD (the 7th and 8th volumes). (JUNE 5, 2001). The DVD releases feature animated interactive menus, English, Japanese language tracks, English subtitles, staff interviews, Club Escaflowne, Esca PSX animation footage, concert clips, and trailer from the upcoming movie.

Upcoming Media Blasters Releases

Media Blasters has announced a number of upcoming releases for July 31st. Volume 10 of Rurouni Kenshin, entitled "Between Life & Death" will be released on dubbed VHS, and subtitled VHS. The episodes in this release feature Kenshin's reunion with his master Seijuro Hiko, who he left to be become the hitokiri battousai assassin, and an alliance between Kenshin's adversary Shishio, and one of Kenshin's former opponents, as the fan favorite "Kyoto Arc" continues.

Episodes 5 and 6 of Magic Users Club (Maho Tsukai Tai) will be released of dubbed VHS, subtitled VHS, and bilingual DVD. These two episode will conclude the six episode comedy OAV series about a high school magic user's club that is try to save the work from inquisitive, but seemingly benign aliens.

Voogies Angel will be released on a bilingual DVD. The OAV series from Masami Obari, known for work on the Fatal Fury anime, is based on a radio drama about a guerilla strike force fighting off aliens that have conquered Earth.

Utena News

Justin Sevakis, Production Associate, Central Park Media has released a statement about the release of Utena on Anime on DVD's forum. CPM had announced that they had obtained the rights to the remainder of the television series that they had not released because their contract gave them the rights, and intended to begin release preparations immediately upon receipt of materials from our licensor.

From the statements "We made this statement because our contract gives us these rights. However, our licensor has demanded that we renegotiate the terms of our existing contract. Although we consider this to be a breach of our contract, we have been willing to be flexible in order to continue the release. Discussions have been underway for a long time, and are likely to continue for a long time, due to the nature of the consensus decision making process."

The rights to the Utena movie were licensed from a different source. As a result CPM will be progressing with its translation and release.

"While we are disappointed that we are unable to continue the television series in a timely manner, we hope that you will enjoy the movie version in the mean time. In addition, we are flying the original series and movie director, Mr. Kunihiko Ikuhara, to New York City this month so that he can personally oversee the production of the English version. The subtitled version was written by his hand-picked translator, and Mr. Ikuhara himself will be on hand to autograph copies after the film's English language premiere at Big Apple Anime Fest this October."

Cowboy Bebop Site Redesign

The official Cowboy Bebop site at Cowboy Bebop.com has been redesigned. An English edition is forthcoming, but the Japanese version is worth a look for a great interface that captures the tone of the series. The site has been divided into section for "news", there is new information about movie tickets for the movie and upcoming merchandise, "Heaven's Door" with characters shots of Spike, Faye, Jet and Ed for the movie, "Original Sessions" about the tv series, "Bebop U.T", "Big Shots" with creator spot lights, insights, and diaries modeled after the series' bounty hunter show within a show with Punch and Judy, and "YMCA: Youngman's Cowboy Association" which is the site forums, featuring cowboy wannabe Andy. A section dedicated to the series' Japanese DVD release will be up on 4/15.

Fixed Tylor DVDs

While no date has been set yet for when the corrected version of Tylor Vol. #4 will ship, Anime on DVD has gotten word on how to tell the two versions apart. On the plus side, it's really easy. On the minus side, it's on the disc itself. The artwork on the bad Tylor #4 has a sketch of the Empress Azalyn. The upcoming corrected version will have both her and a sketch of Tylor himself.

Jin-Roh Theatrical Information

Jin-roh will premiere on the 28th of May in Long Beach. Mamoru Oshii will be attending (and potentially many anime-fan celebrities such as James Cameron). Full rollout will begin at the end of June in New York and Seattle. This will be a limited release initially; if it does well it may be expanded. Viz will be handling the theatrical release while Bandai does the home release. Jin-Roh is a dark tale of a dystopian Japan about a band of police known as the Wolf Brigade (Jin-Roh) going against anti-government guerillas. The official Jin-Roh Website will feature more information about dates & locations for the screenings when it goes online. http://jin-roh.net/

According to the Anime Grapevine a flyer at the recent Fanime Con was promoting the 2nd Annual Japanese Animation Festival (May 25-27, 2001) to be presented at The Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center, California State University, Long Beach. The three day event will feature "more than 1,000 plush seats, dolby digital sound, video and film projection capabilities, and a 21' x 50' movie screen" and screening on Jin Roh and Escaflowne the Movie.

There will be special appearances by: Mamoru Oshii (Jin-Roh author, Ghost in the Shell director), Hiroyuki Okiura (Jin-Roh director, Ghost in the Shell character designer) and Mitsushisa Ishikawa (Production I.G. President) Other showings will include Cowboy Bebop, Perfect Blue, Ghost in the Shell, Ninja Scroll, and more. For a full listing of the schedule here http://www.carpenterarts.org/2000/jaf.html

New Vampire Hunter D Trailer

A good trailer for the Vampire Hunter D movie can be found at http://www.hunterd.com/mov/vhd_320.mov From the Jury of the 19th Brussels International Festival of Fantasy, Thriller & Science Fiction Film, Vampire Hunter D received Special Mention of the Jury 2001 for Artistic Direction.

New Dangaiou TV Series

The new series from AIC, makers of Tenchi Muyo, El Hazard and many other seriesm has started airing its series, Avex . Avex is a revamp of the decade old Haja Taisei Dangaiou OAV series. The debut episode of the new series was broadcast on April 6, in the 3:44 - 4:14 am timeslot. Staff includes Director Shunki Hirano (Shin Vampire Princess Miyu (TV) / Rayearth), Character Designs by Masaki Yamada ( Bubblegum Crisis TOKYO 2040), Mechanical Designs by Gorou Murata and Go Ogawa and Concept Design by Kenji Teraoka. The series is another version of the child piloting mech tale.

Lupin III DVD Release in Japan

The first Lupin III TV series will be released on DVD on July 4th in Japan. The series from 1971 includes 23 episodes, which will be digitally remastered for the releases. Production has been limited to 30,000 sets. Episodes 7-23 were co-directed by Hayao Miyazaki (of Princess Mononoke fame). Lupin III is the grandson of French literary gentleman thief Arsène Lupin. He is accompanied in the series by his accomplishes, the somber gunman Jigen, the stoic samurai Goemon and his love/rival Fujiko, as well as the Interpol agent tracking him, Zenigata. The series was a large influence on anime that followed it. Cowboy Bebop could easily be called an updated version on Lupin III.

'Lupin III' DVD-BOX - First TV DVD-BOX VPBY-11902 - 575 minute est. running time - July 4 release - 22,000 Yen Retail 5 DVD set - Specially-made storage case - Gorgeous booklet - Limitation of production to 30,000 sets - Production By TMS - Sale By VAP

Buena Vista Entertainment's Japanese release of Studio Ghibli / Hayao Miyazaki's Animation adaptation of Monkey Punch's Lupin III Castle Of Cagliostro will be released April 26th at 4,700 Yen. The film's video is reportedly remastered from high-definition telecine.

Cartoon Network Toonami News

Dragonball Z: The World's Strongest will air on Friday, April 13 2001 during In-Flight Movies rather than the scheduled Sailor Moon R because Cartoon Network could not obtain the rights to it According to www.dragonballz.com Dragon Ball will begin airing on Cartoon Network June 4. Dragon Ball will run in time slot immediately after Dragon Ball Z, at 5:30pm Eastern Standard Time. Dragon Ball was originally scheduled to hit Cartoon Network on May 7, but that date has been moved to June 4. The first 28 episodes of DB will air through the month of June. These episodes will contain the original music from the Japanese series. The current version of Toonami's online schedule shows that with the arrival on Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon will be leaving Toonami's schedule. These plans should not be considered written in stone. Sailor Moon R: The Movie airs during In-Flight Movies on Friday the 13. According to an online chat at Moltar's Hub: Toonami Chat with a Cartoon Network representative, the transcript of which was online, but was subsequently removed Cartoon Network may be developing a mature block for their Toonami Midnight Run, but don't have an official statement about it. The amount of viewers of the Midnight Run does not just heavy expenditures for acquiring series. Cowboy Bebop was a titled bantered around, but nothing definitive was stated. Lodoss War was a title that Cartoon Network was interested in, but past negotiations did not go well.

Evangelion DVD Movie Extra Info

A message was posted on The Madman Entertainment Fourm (Australian distro for ADV, manga and Funimation titles) that was reply letter from Tiffany Grant, an English dub Evangelion voice actress. In the letter she stated at Fanime Con in San they began recording the first ofmany interviews that will appear on the DVD - including herself & Gainax co-counder, Mr. Yamaga (co-producer of the Neon Genesis Envangelion series & movies). The post can be read at http://www.madman.com.au/madboard/Forum10/HTML/000131.html

Upcoming DVDs

Angel Sanctuary will be released on DVD 7/10. Angel Sanctuary is a three episode OAV adaptation of a manga series about a fallen angel sentenced to be continually reincarnated as humans with short, tragic lives.

The Maze TV series box set with 625 minutes for a price of $129.99. The series is a Slayers-like fantasy/comedy take on the genre gets transports to mystical land genre.

The English dub translation of Battleship Yamator, Starblazers Vol. #4 will arrive on 5/1. The 100 minute disc contains episodes 14-17 will retail for $29.95.

Pioneer's 5/22 release of Kishin Corps has been repriced from 24.95 to 34.95, likely due to the series being put on two discs rather than one. Kishin Corps and is science fiction tale set in War World II with invention of steam tech mecha, and an alien invasion.

Darius 25 back to say goodbye. Remember, if you have information regarding any film industry in Asia, please contact our Asia-AICN offices at atshrivas@home.com. See you all next week.

Darius25