Zhang Ziyi is bringing Disney heroine Mulan to life in a new, live-action adaptation of the ancient Chinese legend, according to reports. The actress, who will also produce the film, has been leading the drive to secure funding and is said to have personally approached bosses at Disney, who agreed to invest $100 million (£67 million) in the project. Zhang will take on the title role of the brave female warrior, who disguises herself as a man to join an all-male army in her elderly father’s place to fight off an invasion of her homeland. The Mask director Chuck Russell has come on board to helm the English-language 3D film, which follows Disney’s 1998 animated version. Production is scheduled to begin in China in October, reports ChannelNewsAsia.com. Source: Contactmusic

I’m REALLY sorry for neglecting this site once more. Truth is, school is taking it’s toll on me and I just can’t steal some time to sit down and update my sites. That’s why I’m putting this site on a short hiatus. Don’t worry, it’s not for too long. In early August everything’s over and I can add all those goodies I have saved for you guys. See you in August! :)

The love saga of China’s fave screen darling has taken another turn. Rumours surfaced last month that Zhang Ziyi’s fiancé, Vivi Nevo, is a hardcore online gaming fanatic and even dabbles in web dating. Now, it seems something got brewing between him and an unknown girl online to the extent he has broken off his engagement with actress Ziyi. Several netizens have claimed that the Israeli multi-millionaire is in love with a fellow forum user. Vivi and Ziyi, who were first spotted as an item in Jan 2007, confirmed their engagement in July the following year, but have repeatedly delayed their wedding multiple times last year. The low-profile Vivi is a venture capitalist by occupation and a major shareholder in media giant Time Warner, while Ziyi is known for her international appeal, having acted in Chinese, Hong Kong, Korean, Japanese and Hollywood movies. Source: Msn.com

The love saga of China’s fave screen darling has taken another turn. Rumours surfaced last month that Zhang Ziyi’s fiancé, Vivi Nevo, is a hardcore online gaming fanatic and even dabbles in web dating. Now, it seems something got brewing between him and an unknown girl online to the extent he has broken off his engagement with actress Ziyi. Several netizens have claimed that the Israeli multi-millionaire is in love with a fellow forum user. Vivi and Ziyi, who were first spotted as an item in Jan 2007, confirmed their engagement in July the following year, but have repeatedly delayed their wedding multiple times last year. The low-profile Vivi is a venture capitalist by occupation and a major shareholder in media giant Time Warner, while Ziyi is known for her international appeal, having acted in Chinese, Hong Kong, Korean, Japanese and Hollywood movies. Source: Msn.com

Movie star Jackie Chan has topped this year’s Forbes Chinese celebrity list. Taiwan pop singer Jay Chou and Hong Kong movie star Andy Lau were second and third, respectively, behind Chan, who earned 206 million yuan in the entertainment industry last year, according to the Chinese version of Forbes magazine. Basketball superstar Yao Ming, who topped the list for the past six years, slipped to fourth, followed by Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi. The Forbes Chinese celebrity list is released in March or April every year and ranks 100 Chinese celebrities based on their personal income, public influence, estimated commercial value and the amount of media coverage and web traffic they generated during the previous year. “It’s the first time we’ve had Hong Kong and Taiwan celebrities on the list,” said Echo Yang, the producer of the list and features editor with the magazine. “We added them since most them make the majority of their income from the mainland market.” She said one-third of China’s commercial performance income was generated in Beijing last year, and predicted the capital will soon be the center of the country’s entertainment and cultural industries. Celebrities from Hong Kong and Taiwan are also now demanding much higher fees for working in the capital, said several industry insiders. “A company with a 10-million-yuan annual advertising budget can no longer sign these superstars,” said Tao Lei, president of Ogilvy China, an advertising company.Source: AsiaOne.com

Zhang Ziyi and Hong Kong actor Aaron Kwok will play a couple suffering from AIDS in director Gu Changwei’s first-ever feature film tackling the issue, entitled The Era of Magic. Aaron Kwok was spotted on the set in Beijing with a bearded and weary look, the Beijing News reports. The film, adapted from a novel, tells a tragic love story between two AIDS-afflicted lovers. Kwok plays a primary school teacher who is sent from the city to teach in the countryside, but contracts AIDS and develops a crush on Zhang Ziyi’s character, also an AIDS patient. Director Gu Changwei insists Zhang Ziyi as the right actress for the lead, despite her recent embroilment in a slew of scandals about her personal life and alleged donation fraud. Gu thinks the internationally famous Zhang will ensure a box office cache for the upcoming film. Reportedly, award-winning actress Jiang Wenli, wife of director Gu, was cast in a supporting role. Other big names joining the cast for very little pay include Pu Cunxin, Cai Guoqing, Li Xuejian and Li Danyang – all ambassadors of an anti-AIDS public campaign, the paper says, citing unnamed sources.

Director Ronnie Yu will bring together top Asian actresses Gong Li, Zhang Ziyi, Zhou Xun, Tang Wei and Michelle Yeoh for his upcoming film The Lady Generals of the Yang Family. The movie tells of how the women from the Yang family of Song dynasty stepped onto the battlefield to avenge the deaths of their warriors husbands, who died while fighting the invading Xia army after being sold out by a traitorous Song official. The story will reportedly depart significantly from the series of novels it is based on and does not focus too much on the themes of loyalty. Instead, it will focus on the heroism of the titular Lady Generals.