ZHANG ZIYI: FACT OR FICTION?

The two-fisted story of Zhang Ziyi signing a 3-film deal with The Weinstein Company and TWC being involved in a remake of SEVEN SAMURAI (one of Zhang's 3 films) popped up on the internet, was widely reposted, and then debunked. Now it's been picked up by Variety and ScreenDaily and who knows if this is a sign that it's true, or a sign that an internet rumor is worming its way into the real world.

Both ScreenDaily and Variety agree that the deal isn't final yet, but that it's in talks and not just talks but "final talks" (Variety) and they are "close to three-picture deal" (ScreenDaily). Both rags agree that the MULAN picture that's supposed to be part of the deal is the one from Meridian Pictures, a new company run by David Dong, a Chinese multimillionaire with an unfortunate name. It's being written by CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON's and BATTLE OF RED CLIFF's Wang Hui-ling. According to Variety the budget is $20 million, but that can't be right if TWC and Zhang Ziyi get involved.

The most interesting factoid comes from ScreenDaily which says that these movies won't be part of TWC's "Dragon Dynasty" label. Of course not, these movies have a "real" star in them. Which says to me that Dragon Dynasty is going to be the straight-to-video ghetto for TWC's library and the prestige pictures that get a release and a marketing budget will be Weinstein Company movies.