L.O.R.D. Legend of Ravaging Dynasties (Movie)

It's unlikely to follow Ice Fantasy without catching wind of L.O.R.D. 爵迹, an upcoming CGI animated film starring an ensemble cast led by none other than the reigning queen of c-cinema, Fan Bing Bing (Empress of China). 

Both adaptations are the brainchild of Guo Jingming who authored the novels that have turned into classic fantasy literature. In an attempt to do justice to the story, Guo Jingming was heavily involved in the making of L.O.R.D. as writer and director.

Motion capture is a technique often seen in Hollywood, think Avatar, Gollum and the Hulk's man-cancelling suit as stated by Mark Ruffalo himself. L.O.R.D will be the first of its kind for the Chinese entertainment industry, generating much hype due to the magnitude of its ambition. 

However, it is undeniable that most of the buzz has to be from its extremely high-profile cast that include Fan Bing Bing, Kris Wu (EXO), Chen Xue Dong (Tiny Times), William Chan, Amber Kuo (Tiny Times), Lin Yun (The Mermaid), Kevin Yan Kuan, Roy Wang (TF Boys) as well as special appearances by Yang Mi and Aarif Rahman. Each and everyone of them will be acting via motion capture that it has become a test of wit to try and identify who is who.

L.O.R.D. is scheduled to hit theaters on Sept 30, 2016 in 3D.

Source: YXDown

The Legend of Flying Daggers Stills Released

A mainstay in my top wuxia listings, the 2016 version of The Legend of Flying Daggers is a TV adaptation based on the novel written by Gu Long.

Hawick Lau stars as the protagonist Li Huai who is a kind-hearted misfit roaming the streets. In the previous adaptation that I saw, he was the neglected illegitimate son of the Li family, a revered martial arts clan known for the Flying Daggers technique.  He falls in love with Yang Rong's character Xue Cai Yue, a cold-hearted assassin yet the pair are fated to be star-crossed lovers.

Flying Daggers is brought to us through the combined efforts of three production companies as it seeks to come out with yet another fantasy wuxia due to the genre's immense popularity with the younger crowd. After 3 months of arduous filming, the drama is now in its final stages of editing and is slated for a summer release. Considering the fact that there are no monsters or demons in the martial arts world of Gu Long, I am not sure how well a fantasy wuxia adaptation will play out. Hope they don't ruin it.

For 2016 chinese drama recommendations, click here.

Sources: 3Lian, Sina