Chinese Title: 画皮

Director: Gordon Chan Kar Shan

Genre: Action Thriller/Fantasy

Cast:
Donnie Yen Chi Tan
Zhou Xun
Vicky Zhao Wei
Chen Kun
Qi Yu Wu
Betty Sun Li

There are 4 main leads: Chen Kun, Zhou Xun, Vicki Zhao & Donnie Yen.

Synopsis: (credits: imdb) The movie will focus on the demise of the scholar Wang (Chen Kun) when he meets the beautiful ghost (Zhou Xun) and also the secret love story between the scholar's wife (Vicki) and his brother (Donnie Yen).

This big budget movie of about US$10 million will be directed by Gordon Chan.

AF GALLERY : PAINTED SKIN

OFFICIAL WEBSITE : http://huapi.ent.sina.com.cn/

ooh, this could be good.... but $10 million US isn't really a lot to spend on a movie these days... plus they are doing an ancient China type of movie, so they might go over...
or, the movie might suck because they are trying to keep within the budget... however, Vicki might be the key here... she was decent in Warriors of Heaven and Earth, even though her role was limited... if they expand Vicki's role here, it could be an unequivocal success

Actually, this movie is going to be released on Sep 28 of this year. I want to see it because I love all of the main cast, especially Vicki, Zhou Xun, and Chen Kun. They're all great and they're best friends! I've always wanted Vicki and Chen Kun to do a movie and now they are!!

http://news.cnhubei.com/ctdsb/ctdsbsgk/ctd...81083021278.jpg

new news:


Stills of Chinese mainland actress Zhou Xun, who plays a ghost in the thriller "Huapi," or "Painted Skin" were released during the 11th Shanghai International Film Festival on Sunday, June 15.

Over 100 stills from the movie "Huapi," or "Painted Skin," were released Sunday during the 11th Shanghai International Film Festival, according to a report from Nanfang Daily.

The Gordon Chan movie has amassed many big-name performers, including Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen and mainland actresses Vicky Zhao, Zhou Xun and Betty Sun, and actor Chen Kun.

"Painted Skin" is a thriller centering on a vampire-like woman who eats the skin and hearts of her lovers. The film is adapted from the ancient novel "Liaozhai Zhiyi," or "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio," written by Pu Songling in the Qing Dynasty.

Actresses Zhou Xun and Betty Sun came out to promote the movie at the festival on Sunday. Zhou Xun, the ghost woman in the story, has dozens of costume changes throughout the film. Betty Sun, who challenges Zhou in her role as a swordswoman, takes on a more masculine look in a black hat and coarse cloth.

Betty Sun said she had to practice hard to master the martial arts required by the plot. Zhou Xun was spared the effort, as many special effects were used to show off her witchcraft.

The production crew of "Painted Skin" has bumped the release up to September 28 this year.

Source: CRI

CRIENGLISH.com

An official Web site for Gordon Chan's new movie, "Painted Skin," opened Sunday night, in an effort to warm up the climate for its September release, Beijing Times reported Monday.

Gordon Chan started the launch ceremony with a group of spooky stills, representative of the elements of the breathtaking thriller.

Fans who log onto the site can view the plot, character analyses, video clips and other details on the star-studded production.
Actress Zhao Wei and actor Chen Kun were present at the launch. Zhao, who usually takes on strong characters, challenged a traditional feminine role in the film. She has tried hard to change her style, and said at the press conference that she felt good about her new image in the film.

"Painted Skin" is adapted from the ancient novel "Liaozhai Zhiyi," or "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio," written by Pu Songling in the Qing Dynasty.

The movie will be released on September 28.

I got it from the AF news.

some posters :



visit Af gallery : http://gallery.asianfanatics.net/index.php...bs&aid=3509

TRAILER: Gordon Chan’s ‘Painted Skin’
Wednesday August 13, 2008 China



By Mark Pollard

A trailer is out for Donnie Yen’s new movie PAINTED SKIN. It’s the latest screen adaptation of author Pu Song-ling’s Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, a Qing-era collection of supernatural stories previously adapted by numerous Hong Kong filmmakers including King Hu.

Directed by Gordon Chan, the $10 million costume thriller stars Donnie Yen and Zhao Wei (SHAOLIN SOCCER) in a macabre tale set in the 18th century about a vampire-like woman who eats the skin and hearts of her lovers.

Gordon Chan’s PAINTED SKIN opens in China and surrounding territories on September 28th.

Kung Fu Cinema

looks interest looking forward to see this one!

Vicky, Chen Kun, Donni Yen...yeahhhh...add to must watch movie list...hehe..

theme song sung by Jane Zhang

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H39zbFcW_70

trailer for the movie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd7NGlCgyyE

oh!Finally it is out i'm waiting for so long.The poster really attract me especially vicki with the white fair.

RECENT ARTICLES :

Yen For Laughs Sep 26, 2008
Chinese Fairy Tale, Documentary Films Hope for Oscars Sep 24, 2008
When Love Goes Horribly Wrong Sep 25, 2008

I have to say, I am HIGHLY disappointed with this movie.



Zhou Xun's role isn't a ghost, actually. She's more like a demon.

I like the ending theme song.

张靓颖 Jane Zhang 画心(Painting Heart)

Okay, just watched the movie and I liked it mainly because it is very different from the original storyline. I did not like the original story because it is too unrealistic to believe, although I know it's a ghost story. But this story has a lot more substance. It has a love story that is believable. People should know from the very beginning that this remake is not really a thriller but more of a romance story, as the director and the entire cast stated, so I was not disappointed.

Disappointments:
1) The filming wasn't that great, I thought the editing could have been better. I expected better choreographed fight scenes.
2) Donnie Yuen's role was sort of distracting because of how he was portrayed. Donnie has always been a fighting hero so in this movie he was very much overshadowed. Sun Li was very awkward in this role. I love her, but her character was easily overlooked.

What was great:
Zhao Wei and Zhou Xun were superb! The movie was held together by the two of them. I expected Zhou Xun to pull off this role to perfection, and she did, because let's be honest, she's a great actress and playing the role of the demon is by far not difficult compare to all the other roles she have had. Zhao Wei delivered a surprisingly superb performance. Playing the role of a submissive wife without annoying the audience is hard because we are so culturally used to watching movies with strong women. But she nailed this role to perfection. I loved watching Zhao Wei and Zhou Xun together, I thought they complemented each other perfectly. They by far dominated the entire movie, more so in Zhao Wei's case because of her surprising performance in a role no one thought she could actually pull off so beautifully.

So if you are looking forward to watch something more on the romantic side (love) without the typical cliche of modern movies (boy meets girl, then sleep with girl, blah blah blah or boy hires girl to be girlfriend and turns out to fall in love with the girl blah blah blah...) then this movie will be enjoyable. It's very touching. Again don't expect it to mirror the original because it's not.

CAN SOMEONE PLZ GIVE ME SOME SPOILERS?! I don't know how long it will be until I see this movie and I'm really anxious to know what happens? THANKS! And just to clear something up, did Chen Kun and Zhou Xun's characters sleep together?

And OMG! I still can't believe that Vicki and Chen Kun had a love scene. lol

LOL. Sorry dear, you should definitely watch the movies. You don't want any spoiler. What happens or what didn't happen between Chen Kun and Zhou Xun, and what happened or what didn't happen between Chen Kun and Zhao Wei, you should definitely try to find out.

OH COME ON!!! lol I want to find out so badly, but I can't because idk if it will even come to cinemas or come out on DVD here in the US.

i really want to watch this movie!!
jane zhang's song is so pretty.

here's an interview with vicki & chen kun, old classmates, talking about their past collaborations in school.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8oxXNjaGYo

http://sg.movies.yahoo.com/Box+Office/gate/

Painted Skin was No. 1 in singapore box office for the week of 21/9 - 28/9.


http://malaysia.movies.yahoo.com/Box+Office/gate/

Its also No. 1 in Malaysia for week of 21/9 - 28/9.






According to the Liao Zhai story from which this movie was adapted from, her role was that of a fox demon, not a ghost.

I just watched this movie today at theater. I LOVEEEEEEEEEEE this movie.....!!!!

I personally really enjoyed this movie from the very first motion till the end..
great casts, great story.
I cried for some parts of this movie. really touching.

Well, i did not read the original story so i can not compare...but i will put this movie on my list as one of my fav chinese movies.

Vicky is sooooooo awesome....

I love every part of this movie. Though a lil bit confused to put what genre this movie should be..but well, mixed of romantic story, action kungfu, and horror in this movie was so nice…

Vicky, Zhou Xun, Chen Kun, Donnie, Betty…they all great stars….terrific performance.
Love them all….

Personal taste…but I really love this movie so much…
And i hope this movie hit the box office because its worth of it...

i thought both vicki and zhou xun were excellent in here. sun li did pretty well.
chen kun and donnie yen were kind of awkward in their roles. definitely not a horror movie, more of a drama. i didn't really see the 'love' between the characters of zhou xun and chen kun develop. otherwise, the movie was ok

i'm gonna watch this movie in my country soon.
it's looks good

FILM REVIEW : "Painted Skin"
Written by Derek Elley
Saturday, 04 October 2008

"Painted Skin"
("Wa pei")
(Hong Kong/ China)

A Golden Sun Films (in Hong Kong)/Eastern Mordor (in China) release of a Golden Sun Films (H.K.)/Ningxia Film Studio, Shanghai Film Group (China)/MediaCorp Raintree Pictures (Singapore) production, in association with Dinglongda Intl. Media, Beijing Eastern Mordor Film Co., Wuhan Hua Qi Film & TV, Beijing New Film Assn. (International sales: Eastern Mordor Film Co., Hong Kong.) Produced by Gordon Chan. Executive producers, Kathy Lan, Yang Hongtao, Ren Zhonglun, Daniel Yun. Co-producers, Wang Ruojun, Wang Baoxia, Liu Guangmei, Wei Jian. Directed by Gordon Chan. Co-directed by Andy Chin, Danny Ko. Screenplay, Lau Ho-leung, Abe Kwong, Chan, based on the short story in the collection "Strange Stories From a Chinese Studio" by Pu Songling.

With: Donnie Yen, Zhou Xun, Chen Kun, Vicki Zhao, Sun Li, Qi Yuwu, Jiu Song.
(Mandarin dialogue)

Dubiously billing itself as "the first Eastern supernatural movie from China" -- what about "The Promise," for starters? -- costumer "Painted Skin" weighs in as an off-the-shelf drama-actioner that would have seemed much better 20 years ago. Assembled by a largely Hong Kong tech crew, but starring mostly Mainland thesps, yarn about a mysterious femme who's actually a flesh-eating fox-devil is the third and weakest pic version of the famous classical short story in the past 40 years. Opening across East Asia in late September, film scored good opening numbers in China but likely will be an ancillary item in Western markets.

Surprisingly selected as Hong Kong's submission for the foreign-lingo Oscar category, pic was originally slated for helmer Wilson Yip but ended up in the hands of vet Gordon Chan, plus journeymen co-directors Andy Chin and Danny Ko. Hong Kong star Donnie Yen, as a general-turned-ghostbuster, is eclipsed by his Mainland femme cast (Zhou Xun, Vicki Zhao, Sun Li), though the raggedy script and by-the-numbers direction don't give the thesps much chance to shine.

Story is one of hundreds collected by Qing dynasty scribe Pu Songling, best known in English as "Strange Stories From a Chinese Studio" but also as "Strange Stories of Liaozhai." (King Hu's "A Touch of Zen" came from the same collection.)

Original short story features just three characters -- husband, wife, mysterious house guest. It was best adapted in the 1966 Hong Kong production "The Painted Skin." A 1993 version by Hu, like the present item, stirred in a whole host of added material to enlarge its scope.

Setting is the Yuan dynasty: Soldiers rescue beautiful orphan Xiao Wei (Zhou) from desert bandits. This baffling opening, only explained much later in flashback, also sketches the character of Gen. Pan Yong (Yen), who's resigned his post and ended up a drunken vagrant.

Film starts to gain focus as Xiao Wei is taken in by Gen. Wang (Chen Kun) and his wife, Peirong (Zhao), who both dote on the excessively courteous young woman. But three months after she is adopted, the city is terrorized by an unknown killer who rips out human hearts.

Peirong, who's become less enamored of Xiao Wei than her hubby, suspects she may be a demon in human disguise, and asks Pan, who served with her husband, for his help. Meanwhile, Pan has become buddies with tomboy ghostbuster Xia Bing (Sun, in pic's most larky perf), who's been on the trail of Xiao Wei for years for killing a relative.

One of China's most versatile actresses, Zhou ("Suzhou River," "The Banquet") is good at switching between Xiao Wei's evil and goody-goody sides, but the jerky script, which shows signs of cutting, doesn't develop any dramatic steam between the characters, apart from a minimal face-off between Xiao Wei and Peirong near the end. As Peirong, Zhao seems constricted, though not as much as Chen, as her husband, again miscast in a macho role.

Action sequences are '80s-style Hong Kong fare, with an opening desert battle and a nighttime rooftop chase that are just OK. Visual effects are ditto. Color on print caught had a washed-out look.


Camera (color, Panavision widescreen), Arthur Wong; editor, Chan Ki-hop; music, Ikuro Fujiwara; production designer, Bill Lui; art director, Liu Jiuping; costume designer, Ng Po-ling; sound (Dolby Digital/DTS Digital), Lu Ke, He Wenfu; sound designer, Kinson Tsang; action director, Tung Wai; visual effects supervisors, Ng Yuen-fai, Stephen Ma; assistant director, Janet Chun. Reviewed at APM Broadway Cinema 7, Beijing, Sept. 26, 2008. Running time: 103 MIN.

http://varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/7118/1/

I'm still waiting on someone to give me spoilers.

Wait, I just saw the movie and it was awesome! I won't tell how though. I feel bad that I watched it the way I did but I was really anxious. But I loved the plot and Chen Kun's character! Vicki and Zhou Xun all did great, as well as Betty!

I've just watched this movie today.
The music are all beautiful.
I really enjoyed the movie. I think everybody should know that this isn't a horror movie. If you check carefully, the director is actually trying to bring out the message about his opinion on 'love'. Thus I don't think you should get disappointed just because there isn't any scary part. There isn't supposed to be that much.

Anyway, this movie made me realise the power of love (: To change a demon's heart for sacrifices. Truly touching and I almost cried.
I love Vicky and Chen Kun together, great acting. Zhou Xun acted very well too. I just cannot deny that Vicky and Chen Kun looked really like couple lollllll. Furthermore they were friends for 12 years?

Hahaha watch it everyone, it's worth it if you are into romance type + action movies.

Yeah..... I also love this movie....... Chen Kun was so love Vicky until the end....
So romance.... make me sad and cry when it goes to the end.......

great movie, music s awesome and love Vicky and Chen Kun

I enjoyed the movie. It was a real nice love story. Was great to see how deep love can overcome anything. Was real sad towards the end and nearly made me cry but was good all ended well. Makes the demon seem not so bad after all.

i liked the movie pretty well, thought there would've been more fighting but o well it will still good

Actually i found that this movie quite boring. maybe i don't like this kind of movie.

the front part is pretty okay but the middle part sort of like drags alot and makes the whole movie kinda boring. but the ending is okay though

It's a slow moving movie i would say. But the msg that it wants to convey is quite clear. Loving someone doesnt mean that you got to possess the person, sometimes sacrificing oneself is also an expression of your love.

I'm going to try watching this. Seems like it has a pretty creepy storyline...I mean, a ghost feeding on people's hearts....=O And I'm really satisfied with the cast!

I just so the movie today and it wasn't quite what I expected but I really enjoyed it! ^^ I found it really good and the end was surprising. I totally recommend it!!!!

Just wathed this movie last night, thought it was quite good. Good cast and storyline, must watch guys.....

Yes, yes....just finished it the other day. It's definitely recommended. I think it's way better than the one in the Strange Tales of Liao Zhai...that one was just confusing. o_O This one was touching and sad, and very beautiful as well.

Zhao Wei made a great passive housewife but I couldn't sense any solid chemistry between Zhao Wei and Chen Kun. I felt more chemistry between Chen Kun and Zhou Xun. Donnie was such a filler character, his role wasn't important at all besides killing Qi Yu Wu, quite a sad ending. Zhou Xun's highlighting scene was clearly the ending, it was amazing especially when she screeched, they way her eyes never left Chen Kun, all of her pain and sorrow, it was just awesome. Zhou Xun outshines everyone, she's just so great at acting, without that scene or Zhou Xun, this movie would have never passed as decent since it was a bit slow in the beginning. Chen Kun, didn't feel much, he was quite bland and lacked emotions. I also recommend this movie too.

I was kinda scared to watch it becuz she was a "ghost", but I finally watched it with my cousins and we thought it was pretty good.. the ending was sad but it was one of those things where it was sad but you understand why it was that way... overall, it was good.

Great performance of the 2 main actresses Vicki and Zhou Xun, especially Vicki with the crying scenes!!

I thought this movie was okay. I'd give it a 8/1o. But I like how they expressed the quality of love and sacrafice. I love Vicki, and she has done an amazing job...but the film moved very fast. Either it's just me or the youtube cut vids, but the movie was quick to the end. One sacraficed for another..how sweet. Nice film. Worth watching. Donnie was weird but sweet. hahah

This movie is really good. I watched last night and its woo. At first it was kind of boring, not knowing what's going on but after you know than it get exciting. Overall i give 9/10 for this movie.

I love this movie. Vicki and Zhou Xun both did a great job in it. The first part maybe a bit slow, but the latter part is exciting and touching too.
oh and I love the song 'Painted Heart' too.

this movie is good..i watch it twice but still like it...the song "painted heart" is good too...the beginning is kind of draggy but from the middle to the end was touching especially the end...

Zhang Liangying sings the "Painted skin" theme song live.

i watched this last night with the gf and its not all a bad film, ok there are some serious annoying parts and film doesnt really pick up pace till the end

you know the more i think about it the more i am starting to wonder if it really is a good film as there are several main characters but only one of them fights. the rest just die in seconds no fight scenes at all with them. Rather than letting it drag on at the end about the demon they should have done it earlier on and atleast shown what the demon meant when he said "you have not finished your training"

I though the computer animation in this film was pretty bad, especially the part where Zhou Xun took off her painted face.

Other than that, the film was very entertaining. Donnie Yen and Betty Sun had great lines and chemistry and stole the show from the main love triangle.

I want to watch this movie. I heard the song in a tv channel and have lots of preview. I love the song. And I want to see if this is the same story as the 1 I watch before.

I didn't really like it... it was pretty slow and draggy through out...