ASIA GOING MEGA-HIT MAD

After hearing about Terence Chang adding one more international co-production budgeted at a zillion dollars to his slate, yesterday, I was flabbergasted to see even more planet-sized productions getting the green light today.

First off, there's the Taiwanese-New Zealand epic version of MADAME WHITE SNAKE, budgeted at US$69 million and scheduled to be released in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics (if they happen). It will be live action, but a producer says they're "hitting it with the Peter Jackson stick."

And this one isn't planet-sized, but it involves Korea's Cineclick and Japan's Happinet (who have produced a few Kim Ki-Duk flicks) are getting together to produce the newest movie from Siddiq Barmak (Afghani director of OSAMA), THE OPIUM WAR, about two US soldiers (one white, one black) who stumble across a tank full of Afghanis in, of all places, Afghanistan.