Ronny Yu begins SAVING GENERAL YANG

Production began this week on Ronny Yu's RMB 200 million epic family drama SAVING GENERAL YANG, starring Adam Cheng and Louis Koo as the patriarch and first son respectively. Based on a hugely successful series of books and plays, the film has twice been adapted for television in Hong Kong and so anticipation for a big screen version is expected to be high.

Vic Chou, Chun Wu, Raymond Lam, Fu Xinbo and Yu Bo round out the cast and filming has kicked off in Henan province, China. This promises to be a grand action epic, detailing four generations of the same family and the tested loyalties therein, and could yield exciting things in the hands of Ronny Yu, whose last film - Jet Li starrer FEARLESS - more than delivered on the martial arts front.

Curiously, the project was originally going to be an against-convention all-female affair when it was announced last year, but it appears that that particular idea has been quashed. Was it for lack of funding, inability to cast it suitably or uproar against changing such a beloved text, one can but wonder, though I must say I'm curious as to who they would have cast in an all-girl action romp.