Japanese action star Rina Takeda (High-Kick Girl!), Singapore’s Desmond Tan (The Truth Seekers) and Rebecca Lim (The Dream Job), and Mirror singer Anson Lo (Ossan’s Love), who was the most Googled Hong Kong celebrity in 2021, have signed on to star in the action horror thriller Chungking Mansions, which is being promoted as “Hong Kong’s biggest zombie film ever”.
The film will tell the story of
a disparate group of people from across the globe who must climb the iconic Chungking Mansions building amidst a zombie outbreak in Hong Kong. Centered around an American seeking to rescue his pregnant wife, the action moves between people of all nationalities across the city who are undergoing their own journeys to survive.
Coming to us from Phoenix Waters Productions, AMM Global, and Salon Films Japan, Chungking Mansions will also star Hong Kong-Canadian actresses Selena Lee (Blood and Water) and Jeannie Chan (Cold War), Korea’s Choi Si-Hun (I Ate Well Today) and Hong Kong actor Louis Cheung (Yip Man 3).
Deadline previously reported that Korean actress and model Go Joon-hee (Intimate Enemies), Hong Kong actress Wiyona Yeung (We Are Legends), and London-based actor Kevin Leslie (The Curse of Hobbes House) were in the cast as well, but they’re not mentioned in the latest report, so it’s not clear if they’re still involved or not. They did say that the primary language in Chungking Mansions will be
English, but we’re told the film will feature a number of languages including Japanese, Cantonese, and Korean to reflect the multi-cultural nature of both the production and Chungking Mansions itself.
They also shared some character details: “Go Joon-hee would play a high profile model attending the launch of a new fashion campaign when the zombie outbreak occurs. Wiyona Yeung plays a wellness guru caught up in the chaos that ensues. Desmond Tan would play a hustler helping an American locate his family. Kevin Leslie will be a British backpacker seeking his girlfriend. Rebecca Lim is in talks to play a blademaster and right-hand woman of the man behind the outbreak. Rina Takeda would be cast as a Special Agent from Japan seeking those responsible. Anson Lo will play a young professional who joins a tour group when the outbreak begins. Jeannie Chan and Selene Lee play sisters caught up in the disaster. Louis Cheung’s character must transport a high value prisoner in the midst of the outbreak. Choi Si-Hun plays the manager of a fashion model attending a campaign launch.”
Director-producer Bizhan M. Tong provided the following statement:
Chungking Mansions contributes to the evolving tapestry of zombie lore while paying tribute to the socially charged narratives of George A. Romero, bringing it closer in tone to Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Us.”
This project sounds interesting to me, so I will be keeping an eye on it as it continues to move forward.