Post by Bartwald on Aug 26, 2004 12:01:01 GMT -5
So Steven Spielberg's long-delayed project is no longer his; Rob Marshall (the director of Chicago) is going to be at the helm and shooting starts next year.
Cast details:
After the kind of drawn out development hell that can lead even the most zen-like of producers to break down and join the circus, the much-delayed Memoirs of a Geisha has finally found its cast. And what a cast it is. Oscar-nominated Last Samurai actor Ken Watanabe has officially signed on in a leading role – not, we're assuming, as the geisha herself though as that would just be plain weird.
Set to join Watanabe and the previously announced Michelle Yeoh are Crouching Tiger and Hero star Zhang Ziyi, as well as Shall We Dance's Koji Yakusho, Raise The Red Lantern's Gong Li and Youki Kudoh from Snow Falling on Cedars.
An alarming array of talent to be sure and no more than we'd expect from the adaptation of Arthur Golden's expansive novel, a book more than 10 years in the making, which probes every corner of archaic Japanese courting rituals with style, compassion and an unparalleled understanding. This Dickensian story spans the entire life of the titular geisha, from her childhood as an orphan in 1929 to a wizened old age, reminiscing about her life.
Due to be filmed way back in 2000 with Steven Spielberg at the helm, Memoirs of a Geisha found its start date pushed back time and again until Spielberg released the project (he remains in a producing role though) and Spike Jonze had his turn at the trough. That also failed to see the wheels set in motion and it wasn't until Chicago director Rob Marshall came on the scene that all the pieces began to fall into place.
Filming begins in Japan this year for a scheduled 2005 release.
(from Empire)
Cast details:
After the kind of drawn out development hell that can lead even the most zen-like of producers to break down and join the circus, the much-delayed Memoirs of a Geisha has finally found its cast. And what a cast it is. Oscar-nominated Last Samurai actor Ken Watanabe has officially signed on in a leading role – not, we're assuming, as the geisha herself though as that would just be plain weird.
Set to join Watanabe and the previously announced Michelle Yeoh are Crouching Tiger and Hero star Zhang Ziyi, as well as Shall We Dance's Koji Yakusho, Raise The Red Lantern's Gong Li and Youki Kudoh from Snow Falling on Cedars.
An alarming array of talent to be sure and no more than we'd expect from the adaptation of Arthur Golden's expansive novel, a book more than 10 years in the making, which probes every corner of archaic Japanese courting rituals with style, compassion and an unparalleled understanding. This Dickensian story spans the entire life of the titular geisha, from her childhood as an orphan in 1929 to a wizened old age, reminiscing about her life.
Due to be filmed way back in 2000 with Steven Spielberg at the helm, Memoirs of a Geisha found its start date pushed back time and again until Spielberg released the project (he remains in a producing role though) and Spike Jonze had his turn at the trough. That also failed to see the wheels set in motion and it wasn't until Chicago director Rob Marshall came on the scene that all the pieces began to fall into place.
Filming begins in Japan this year for a scheduled 2005 release.
(from Empire)
- Zhang Ziyi are good cast news, too!
