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Hugh Jackman to lead, Zhang Ziyi quits
By Zhang Xuanchen | 2010-2-2 | ONLINE EDITION



AUSTRALIAN actor Hugh Jackman has confirmed he would come to China this month to lead in a film based on a Chinese-American writer's novel about love between two women in 19th century China.

The 42-year-old actor will join South Korean starlet Jeon Ji-Hyunand and actress Li Bingbing from Chinese mainland to take the leading roles in the film directed by Chinese-American filmmaker Wayne Wang.

The film, co-produced by Wendi Murdoch and Florence Sloan has kicked off yesterday in Hengdian, a large film studio in Zhejiang Province.

Wendi Murdoch is the wife of News Corporation chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch. Florence Sloan, a Malaysian-Chinese, is married to MGM chairman Harry Sloan.Li.

The film, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is adapted from novelist Lisa See's 2005 book of the same name depicting how two isolated women at that time found lifetime love through secretly writing poets on fans and embroideries.

Jackman, known from his role as Wolverine in the X-Men series, expected to arrive in Hengdian in mid-February to play.

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Hugh Jackman onboard Secret Fan with Li Bingbing

Hugh Jackman, Li Bingbing and Jeon Ji-Hyun. The lineup for the film Snow Flower and the Secret Fan has been finalized after some small problems.

The Forbidden Kingdom star Li Bingbing has been confirmed to replace Zhang Ziyi in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which will be directed by Chinese-American filmmaker Wayne Wang, the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post reported Tuesday.

Li has arrived in Hengdian, a large film studio near Shanghai where filming is slated to kick off Tuesday, the report says.

South Korean starlet Jeon Ji-Hyun, who was previously reported to have withdrawn along with Zhang Ziyi, still stays in the cast. She has also arrived on the set.

Australian heartthrob Hugh Jackman, the movie's male lead, will join the entourage in mid-February, the report says.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a film adaptation of novelist Lisa See's 2005 book of the same name, which is set in 19th century China and depicts a lifetime friendship between two women.

The English-language film was to be co-produced by Zhang Ziyi, Wendi Murdoch and Florence Sloan, before Zhang's surprising resignation as producer and lead actress in late January.

Wendi Murdoch and Florence Sloan will continue producing the film. China-born Wendi Murdoch is the wife of News Corporation chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch. Florence Sloan, a Malaysian-Chinese, is married to MGM chairman Harry Sloan.

Li Bingbing, who replaced Zhang Ziyi as lead actress, is well-known in China but didn't make her international debut until 2008, when she played a white-haired witch in the Jackie Chan-Jet Li film The Forbidden Kingdom.

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A language kept a secret for a thousand years forms the backdrop for an unforgettable novel of two Chinese women whose friendship and love sustains them through their lives.

This absorbing novel – with a storyline unlike anything Lisa See has written before – takes place in 19th century China when girls had their feet bound, then spent the rest of their lives in seclusion with only a single window from which to see. Illiterate and isolated, they were not expected to think, be creative, or have emotions. But in one remote county, women developed their own secret code, nu shu – "women's writing" – the only gender-based written language to have been found in the world. Some girls were paired as "old-sames" in emotional matches that lasted throughout their lives. They painted letters on fans, embroidered messages on handkerchiefs, and composed stories, thereby reaching out of their windows to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments.

An old woman tells of her relationship with her "old-same," their arranged marriages, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood—until a terrible misunderstanding written on their secret fan threatens to tear them apart. With the detail and emotional resonance of Memoirs of a Geisha , Snow Flower and the Secret Fan delves into one of the most mysterious and treasured relationships of all time—female friendship.

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Originally posted by martha s.:
I was shocked to read these news! Man, Hugh Jackman is he definition of the word unpredictable!!

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Originally posted by Team:
Pretty girls...
Deb, attention!

Oxana

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Originally posted by Kelly:
http://www.broadwayworld.com/a...t_Fan_Flick_20100202

Same story, from Broadwayworld.com

I would love to start a SPOILERS thread to go along with this general thread. Would love NOT to know the plot or details beyond general stuff when it is so hard to stay off this site.

He continues to take us by surprise, doesn't he?

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Originally posted by foxie:
All I can say Hugh you pick some strange choices-they better change the name of this or i cant see pople rushing out to see it no matter how good it is!