The Chow-styled humor will also be present in this film. Wang said audiences are in for a good laugh from beginning to the end.
A sequel to the Monkey King saga is highly possible, Chow said, "It will be such a waste if the story were to end here." Even the title gives a hint as it reads "Journey to the West: Fell Monsters Chapter", implying there will be more chapters. "'Journey to the West' is a most fascinating novel to dig into," Wang added, "Stephen Chow carries his version in his heart, and he is the best director to take the novel from its pages to the big screen."
According to previous reports, Derek Kwok is co-directing and the cast includes Shu Qi, Huang Bo, Wen Zhang and Show Lo.
Lauded as one of China's "Four Great Classical Novels," "Journey to the West" has inspired operas, a string of cinema hits dating back to the 1940s, cartoons and popular online games.
It will be the third time Stephen Chow has used it as material for a film. He once played the lead of Monkey King Sun Wukong in a pair of 1994 films "A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora's Box" and "A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella," directed by Jeffrey Lau, which are loosely based on the Chinese classic and combine slapstick comedy, Kung Fu adventure and a love story. "A Chinese Odyssey" films became a cult classic among young adults on Chinese mainland.
It will vie against another film adaption version of "Journey to the West" to be screened next year, featuring heavyweights Chow Yun-fat and Donnie Yen in the Cheang Pou-Soi directed 3D epic "The Monkey King," costing an estimated 400 million yuan (US$64.16 million) and which is currently also in post-production.
Landmark building should respect the public's feeling