“We developed everything ourselves via an analysis of Shang objects, so even though it looks very antique, it’s actually all original.” “I wanted every piece to be museum-quality,” Wuershan says. Elaborately carved screens and lintels, delicate jade bowls, chariots, leather armor and weaponry fill the studio’s soundstages and storage rooms. The film’s meticulous aesthetic draws on Song dynasty landscape paintings, 16th-century Daoist art and elements from the Bronze Age Shang and Zhou eras. For six months, the actors trained 12 hours a day, six days a week, in horseback riding, martial arts, archery, drumming, ancient Chi-nese music and etiquette.
#MOJIN THE LOST LEGEND LANDSCAPE FULL#
In “Fengshen,” all the main stars are unknowns, since A-listers wouldn’t have been able to commit to blocking out two full years. It made just $7 million, becoming a notorious flop. Last year saw the release of “Asura,” a $113 million fantasy film that was also envisioned as the first installment of a trilogy and was likewise based on Chinese mythology.
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The project is undoubtedly a massive gamble. studios, including Disney, to discuss international distribution. “I’d like to use the Marvel universe method to delve into each character.” His team has approached major U.S. “It’s all one mythological world,” he says in an on-set interview with Variety. Wuershan wants to build on “Fengshen” to create a major franchise, giving different deities and warriors stand-alone movies, and has already charted out his next 30 years of films. Indeed, “LOTR” producer Barrie Osborne has been brought in as a production consultant. Wuershan (who goes by one name) hopes he is making China’s “The Lord of the Rings” and “ Iron Man” rolled into one. An epic battle rages to defeat him, involving gods, demons and other supernatural beings. It tells the story of the downfall of the last ruler of the Shang dynasty, King Zhou, who is bewitched by a fox spirit posing as his concubine and becomes an oppressive tyrant. The trilogy seeks to be a definitive retelling of the much-adapted 16th-century classic Chinese novel “Creation of the Gods,” a blend of history, folklore and mythology set more than 3,000 years ago. (The producer of “Fengshen,” Beijing Culture, has partnered with PMC, Variety’s parent company, to launch Variety China.)
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The films spring from the mind of director Wuershan, who is no stranger to blockbuster fantasy, thanks to his last two credits, “Mojin: The Lost Legend” (2015) and “Painted Skin: The Resurrection” (2012). Shooting on all three “Fengshen” movies is to be completed before the first installment hits theaters in 2022. With a crew of more than 2,000 and a planned budget of $445 million, the project is indicative of the Chinese film industry’s growing professionalization and its determination to become a world leader.
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