CHINA: Movie "Inseparable" starring Hollywood star Kevin Spacey finishes shooting in China

Record ID: 450174

  • Title: CHINA: Movie "Inseparable" starring Hollywood star Kevin Spacey finishes shooting in China
  • Date: 19th March 2010
  • Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (MARCH 17, 2010) (REUTERS) COMPUTER SCREEN SHOWING CLIP OF "INSEPARABLE" "INSEPARABLE" PRODUCER DAVID LEE AND COLLEAGUE TALKING IN FRONT OF COMPUTER COMPUTER SCREEN SHOWING CLIP OF "INSEPARABLE" DAVID LEE TALKING COMPUTER SCREEN SHOWING A CLIP OF "INSEPARABLE" DAVID LEE, PRODUCER, "INSEPARABLE", LOOKING AT COMPUTER IN POST-PRODUCTION STUDIO
  • Embargoed: 3rd April 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Reuters ID: LVA7ZK4M56ZV1EKUY2Q6M07U3Z69
  • Story Text: Two-time Academy Award-winner Kevin Spacey has wrapped up shooting of the black comedy "Inseparable" in southern China.
    The Hollywood Reporter said he is "the biggest Hollywood actor to work in a feature film nearly fully-financed by a local Chinese backer".
    "Inseparable" was written and directed by Chinese-American director Dayyan Eng, and co-stars Hong Kong actor Daniel Wu and mainland actress Gong Beibei.
    The movie was shot in Guangzhou, the provincial capital of Guangdong province from January 8 to March 6, with over 70 percent of the dialogue in English.
    The movie recounts the friendship between a young and troubled Chinese engineer (Wu) and a mysterious American expatriate (Spacey) and their adventures. Gong plays Wu's wife, an investigative reporter.
    David Lee, one of the producers, said China had become such a big film market that it lures talents like Spacey.
    "People want to go where growth is, and China clearly - with over 30 percent growth every year in box office - that sort of growth a lot of people are looking at. So, talent, filmmakers, musicians, artists - they want to be known here, they want to have a brand here. And they want to think of ways of coming over here," he said.
    Lee said "Inseparable" was a Chinese film with a foreign star, which distinguished it from other foreign films which only used vast country as a "backdrop".
    "And most of them are coming here would be making foreign movies. So, when you have a foreign movie, you basically have a foreign producer going to a foreign agency, saying: 'Hey, why don't you come to make a move with us in China?'. Whereas for us, we are Chinese producers and filmmakers and we went to him and his people, his team, in particular his management, they saw that opportunity, said we believe in these guys, we think these people can deliver, we're going to go on this journey with you. I think it can really pay back, because we talked to Kevin, if you talk to him now, he said it's one of the best experiences he's ever had commercially," he said.
    "Inseparable" could help take China's film industry onto a new level, he added.
    "Film producers, film makers in China can make a broad range of films right now that are all very good, all very commercial - in China - and very big budget productions. The challenge that everyone is kind of facing right now is how do you cross over. If you're only doing martial arts, crossing over - it's been done before, over the past 30 years, since Bruce Lee. But what is the next level, how do you cross over if you're not doing period, martial arts. That's what we want to do with 'Inseparable'".
    The movie will be screened first in China later this year, then be shown globally, Lee said.
    Spacey first won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for "The Usual Suspects" in 1995, followed by a Best Actor win for "American Beauty" in 1999.
    He also starred in movies including "LA Confidential" and "Seven", and is currently the artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre in London.
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