GeneChing
02-11-2009, 11:10 AM
Next up from Jeeja Yamin, starlet of Chocolate (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=49620)
Rumors of leading man for Jeeja Project (http://thaifilmjournal.blogspot.com/2009/01/rumors-of-leading-man-for-jeeja-project.html)
That the next movie for Chocolate star Jeeja Yanin Vismistananda would have a romantic angle was mentioned awhile back, and as the film, for now tentatively titled simply Jeeja Project, is being readied for release this year (probably around mid-year), more details are emerging.
Rashane Limtrakul, who directed the highly stylized Joop (Kiss) segment of the recent 4 Romances omnibus, is helming Jeeja Project, with Prachya Pinkaew as producer. Jeeja will play an ordinary young woman and display a fuller range of dramatic emotions than she did as the autistic Zen in Chocolate. Heck, she'll even get to speak!
That much is confirmed.
But rumors have it that the leading man in the movie will be French-Vietnamese martial-arts stuntman Kazu from the French martial-arts trio Tri-X, which have been working with stunt guru Panna Rittikrai for several years now.
In an interview on TV station Modernine (here's a subtitled clip on YouTube), Rashane is asked about the rumor, which he neither confirms nor denies.
Kung Fu Cinema has more about Tri-X and the Jeeja Project rumor. Head on over and have a look.
Update: Twitch weighs in as well.
Kung Fu Cinema has some nice vids
French trio join Jeeja for Rittikrai’s latest? (http://www.kungfucinema.com/?p=4650)
By Mark Pollard on January 21, 2009
Throughout 2008 there have been quiet rumblings of a new film project that Thailand’s top action director has been working on. At least two members of France’s Team Tri-X stunt team have been in Thailand training with ONG BAK action director Panna Rittikrai for what looks to be CHOCOLATE star Jeeja Vismitananda’s second action film.
Team Tri-X is made up of Eric Cullet (aka “Newik”), Alaa Oumouzoune (aka “Alaa”) and “Kazu.” It is the latter fellow, a Vietnamese-Frenchman who is rumored to be starring opposite Jeeja in an as yet untitled Panna Rittikrai film that is described as a “romantic action movie.” ONG BAK director Prachya Pinkaew is producing. The news broke on our forums courtesy of member “king hades” who translated a TV report from MCOT News.
It’s worth taking a look at these three French stunt actors. After the team made a memorable TV appearance with Jet Li while the martial arts legend was promoting UNLEASHED in France (see video), Newik and Alaa were picked up by Pinkaew to appear in the Thai superhero actioner MERCURY MAN (2006) which was action choreographed by Rittikrai. The pair, along with Kazu must have made a good impression on Rittikrai because he has been training with them ever since.
Rittikrai is well known for taking an unusually long time to train his stunt actors for fighting roles. Tony Jaa had worked under him for years before emerging as the star of ONG BAK. Jeeja spent at least two years training with him. The Tri-X members have been training with Rittikrai for this new film for several years already. Kazu, Newik, Rittikrai and other members of his stunt team were featured on a TV program in early 2008 to offer a preview of some of the stunt work that we can expect in this new film.
What is remarkable is that all of Rittikrai’s star stunt actors have proven they have sufficient skill to perform rehearsed choreography for TV and live audiences. In the following video except taken from a guest appearance on a Taiwanese TV program to promote CHOCOLATE, Jeeja displays some of her impressive screen fighting skills. I should offer a word of caution regarding this video though. Most of it consists of some very obnoxious comedy from several young gentlemen. I have set the video to start four minutes into the clip and Jeeja’s fighting only lasts about 80 seconds. I recommend skipping the rest of the video.
Twitch has a news report
CHOCOLATE’s Jeeja Yanin Returning To The Big Screen in 2009! (http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/chocolates-jeeja-yanin-returning-to-the-big-screen-in-2009/)
Posted by Todd Brown at 10:55am.
Now, while I am of the opinion that Prachya Pinkaew’s most recent martial arts film Chocolate is a deeply flawed piece of work, there is no doubt whatsoever that it’s star - Jeeja Yanin - is a huge talent, one who can go as far as she wants to with her martial arts skills. But can she act? We’re about to find out ...
Word is out in Thailand that Yanin has been quietly working on her sop****re feature. Already in production, very little is known about this one so far - not even the proper title - but the film is apparently deep enough into the process that a mid-2009 release date is being projected. All that is being said so far is that the film - referred to for the time being as the Jeeja Project - is an action romance featuring a mixed-race male star (a rarity in Thailand, where foreign influence can still be an issue) and that she will be called upon to show a great deal more range in her performance.
What is most surprising here is how quiet production company Sahamongkol Film has been keeping this. With the European Film Market right around the corner you would expect this to be plugged in all of their current mailings but there hasn’t been a single mention of it so far. Have the extensive production delays with both Chocolate and Ong Bak 2 taught Sahamongkol to play their cards a little close to the chest this time? More details as we get them ...
You can check a Thai news report about the film below the break.
We here at KungFuMagazine.com, we're running a sweepstakes for Chocolate (http://www.kungfumagazine.net/index.html), which was released on DVD yesterday. :cool:
Contest ends 6:00 p.m. PST on 02/24/09. Good luck everyone!
Rumors of leading man for Jeeja Project (http://thaifilmjournal.blogspot.com/2009/01/rumors-of-leading-man-for-jeeja-project.html)
That the next movie for Chocolate star Jeeja Yanin Vismistananda would have a romantic angle was mentioned awhile back, and as the film, for now tentatively titled simply Jeeja Project, is being readied for release this year (probably around mid-year), more details are emerging.
Rashane Limtrakul, who directed the highly stylized Joop (Kiss) segment of the recent 4 Romances omnibus, is helming Jeeja Project, with Prachya Pinkaew as producer. Jeeja will play an ordinary young woman and display a fuller range of dramatic emotions than she did as the autistic Zen in Chocolate. Heck, she'll even get to speak!
That much is confirmed.
But rumors have it that the leading man in the movie will be French-Vietnamese martial-arts stuntman Kazu from the French martial-arts trio Tri-X, which have been working with stunt guru Panna Rittikrai for several years now.
In an interview on TV station Modernine (here's a subtitled clip on YouTube), Rashane is asked about the rumor, which he neither confirms nor denies.
Kung Fu Cinema has more about Tri-X and the Jeeja Project rumor. Head on over and have a look.
Update: Twitch weighs in as well.
Kung Fu Cinema has some nice vids
French trio join Jeeja for Rittikrai’s latest? (http://www.kungfucinema.com/?p=4650)
By Mark Pollard on January 21, 2009
Throughout 2008 there have been quiet rumblings of a new film project that Thailand’s top action director has been working on. At least two members of France’s Team Tri-X stunt team have been in Thailand training with ONG BAK action director Panna Rittikrai for what looks to be CHOCOLATE star Jeeja Vismitananda’s second action film.
Team Tri-X is made up of Eric Cullet (aka “Newik”), Alaa Oumouzoune (aka “Alaa”) and “Kazu.” It is the latter fellow, a Vietnamese-Frenchman who is rumored to be starring opposite Jeeja in an as yet untitled Panna Rittikrai film that is described as a “romantic action movie.” ONG BAK director Prachya Pinkaew is producing. The news broke on our forums courtesy of member “king hades” who translated a TV report from MCOT News.
It’s worth taking a look at these three French stunt actors. After the team made a memorable TV appearance with Jet Li while the martial arts legend was promoting UNLEASHED in France (see video), Newik and Alaa were picked up by Pinkaew to appear in the Thai superhero actioner MERCURY MAN (2006) which was action choreographed by Rittikrai. The pair, along with Kazu must have made a good impression on Rittikrai because he has been training with them ever since.
Rittikrai is well known for taking an unusually long time to train his stunt actors for fighting roles. Tony Jaa had worked under him for years before emerging as the star of ONG BAK. Jeeja spent at least two years training with him. The Tri-X members have been training with Rittikrai for this new film for several years already. Kazu, Newik, Rittikrai and other members of his stunt team were featured on a TV program in early 2008 to offer a preview of some of the stunt work that we can expect in this new film.
What is remarkable is that all of Rittikrai’s star stunt actors have proven they have sufficient skill to perform rehearsed choreography for TV and live audiences. In the following video except taken from a guest appearance on a Taiwanese TV program to promote CHOCOLATE, Jeeja displays some of her impressive screen fighting skills. I should offer a word of caution regarding this video though. Most of it consists of some very obnoxious comedy from several young gentlemen. I have set the video to start four minutes into the clip and Jeeja’s fighting only lasts about 80 seconds. I recommend skipping the rest of the video.
Twitch has a news report
CHOCOLATE’s Jeeja Yanin Returning To The Big Screen in 2009! (http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/chocolates-jeeja-yanin-returning-to-the-big-screen-in-2009/)
Posted by Todd Brown at 10:55am.
Now, while I am of the opinion that Prachya Pinkaew’s most recent martial arts film Chocolate is a deeply flawed piece of work, there is no doubt whatsoever that it’s star - Jeeja Yanin - is a huge talent, one who can go as far as she wants to with her martial arts skills. But can she act? We’re about to find out ...
Word is out in Thailand that Yanin has been quietly working on her sop****re feature. Already in production, very little is known about this one so far - not even the proper title - but the film is apparently deep enough into the process that a mid-2009 release date is being projected. All that is being said so far is that the film - referred to for the time being as the Jeeja Project - is an action romance featuring a mixed-race male star (a rarity in Thailand, where foreign influence can still be an issue) and that she will be called upon to show a great deal more range in her performance.
What is most surprising here is how quiet production company Sahamongkol Film has been keeping this. With the European Film Market right around the corner you would expect this to be plugged in all of their current mailings but there hasn’t been a single mention of it so far. Have the extensive production delays with both Chocolate and Ong Bak 2 taught Sahamongkol to play their cards a little close to the chest this time? More details as we get them ...
You can check a Thai news report about the film below the break.
We here at KungFuMagazine.com, we're running a sweepstakes for Chocolate (http://www.kungfumagazine.net/index.html), which was released on DVD yesterday. :cool:
Contest ends 6:00 p.m. PST on 02/24/09. Good luck everyone!