Upcoming movie Sky on Fire (冲天火) is causing much hype on China’s social media. With its all-star cast and action galore, Sky on Fire already is one of the most anticipated Chinese movies of 2016.
Upcoming movie Sky on Fire (冲天火) is causing much hype on China’s social media. With its all-star cast and action galore, Sky on Fire already is one of the most anticipated Chinese movies of 2016.
With its A-list actors cast, China’s upcoming movie Sky on Fire (冲天火) is already attracting much attention on China’s social media (#电影冲天火#). On June 11, the first news conference about this film was held in Shanghai, where the movie’s teaser trailer and film posters were also released. Director Ringo Lam (林岭东) attended the event with the film’s cast, starring Daniel Wu (吴彦祖), Zhang Ruoyun (张若昀), Zhang Jingchu (张静初), Amber Kuo (郭采洁) and Joseph Chang (张孝全).
Sky on Fire was previously mentioned in English media under the name ‘Battle of Life’, but the film poster that was released on June 11 featured the film as ‘Sky on Fire’.
The movie revolves around a new type of drugs developed by Hong Kong scientists, that can prolong one’s life. These drugs become the focus of a war on how to use them – for justice or for evil.
Poster for Ringo Lam’s SKY ON FIRE (formerly ‘Battle of Life’), with Daniel Wu, Zhang Jingchu & Joseph Chang: pic.twitter.com/dQJoCJTL51
— Asian Film Strike (@AsianFilmStrike) June 11, 2016
Hong Kong director Ringo Lam is celebrated for making films with much action and suspense, such as the 1987 City on Fire (龙虎风云) or the 2015 film Wild City (迷城).
According to Netease, Sky on Fire will also be filled with action, which even made the filming process somewhat dangerous at times – actor Daniel Wu reportedly even fainted after his nose was hit during the second day of filming.
Daniel Wu is one of the film’s leading stars. The Hong-Kong based American actor also starred in popular movies such as Go Away Mr. Tumor (滾蛋吧!腫瘤君) and stars in the current mega blockbuster Warcraft (魔獸). Sky on Fire’s entire cast consists of A-list stars, who also have a great fanbase on Sina Weibo.
[rp4wp]
Daniel Wu (aka Wu Yanzu) (@吴彦祖) currently nearly has 8 million fans on Weibo. Zhang Ruoyun (@张若昀) has got 5.4 million Weibo fans. With 24,5 million Weibo followers, Taiwanese singer and actress Amber Kuo (@郭采洁) is the film’s most popular Weibo celebrity.
With 24.5 million Weibo fans, Amber Kuo is the biggest Weibo celebrity of Sky on Fire.
Although Sky on Fire officially is a mainland film, it is a greater China production. While its director is from Hong-Kong, leading actors Amber Kuo and Joseph Chang are Taiwanese. Zhang Jingchu and Zhang Ruoyun both are from mainland China.
It is especially young actor Zhang Ruoyun that many netizens are looking forward to seeing in the film – not so much because of his acting skills but more for his handsome looks. “Just look at the look in his eyes,” one male netizen writes. “Look like that again and I will take you to bed,” another Weibo user comments.
Actor Zhang Ruoyun scores high points on the film’s ‘attractive index’.
“Attractive, strong, acting skills, you’ve got it all!”, one fan says: “I hope one day the whole world will know who you are!”
There are also netizens referring to the huge success of the Warcraft movie in China, hoping that this one will break even more box office records.
Sky on Fire is expected to come out in December 2016. Check out the teaser trailer, released by the Hong Kong cinema channel, here:
Manya Koetse is the founder and editor-in-chief of whatsonweibo.com. She is a writer, public speaker, and researcher (Sinologist, MPhil) on social trends, digital developments, and new media in an ever-changing China, with a focus on Chinese society, pop culture, and gender issues. She shares her love for hotpot on hotpotambassador.com. Contact at manya@whatsonweibo.com, or follow on Twitter.
The gruesome murder of the 28-year-old Hong Kong socialite and model Cai Tianfeng (蔡天鳳), better known as Abby Choi, has been all the talk on Chinese social media this week.
The Hong Kong influencer went missing on Tuesday. Just a week ago, Choi was featured on the cover of the magazine L’Officiel Monaco.
On Saturday, South China Morning Post and Hong Kong Free Pressreported that Choi’s partial remains, including her dismembered legs, were found cooked and stored inside the freezer at a village house and that four people had been arrested for murder.
The village house at Lung Mei Tsuen in Tai Po was allegedly set up as a “butchery site” equipped with a choppers, hammer, an electric saw and a meat grinder that had been used to mince human flesh.
Choi was entangled in a financial dispute with her ex-husband’s family over luxury property in Hong Kong’s Kadoori Hill. The persons arrested in relation to her murder are her ex-husband named Alex Kwong, his elder brother, his mother and his father, who reportedly is a retired police officer.
Abby Choi and Alex Kwong had two children together, a daughter and a son.
Cho was last seen in Fo Chun Road in Tai Po on Tuesday afternoon. CCTV footage captured her before she went missing. Choi was supposed to pick her daughter up on Tuesday together with Kwong’s elder brother, who drove her. She was reported missing after she did not show up to collect her daughter.
While earlier media articles reported that some of Choi’s remains had still not been found, news came out on Sunday that the decapitated head had been found in a soup pot. Seeing over 300 million views, the topic went trending on Weibo (#蔡天凤头颅在一大汤煲中找到#), where many people have closely been following the latest developments in the case. Later on Sunday night, the topic hashtag was taken offline.
Local police disclosed that the head remained “intact” although it is believed that someone tried to “smash” it. Some of Choi’s ribs were also found.
“Reality is more gruelsome than fiction,” some top comments said. “What a terrifying family,” others wrote, calling them “inhuman” and “devilish.”
Another topic related to the case also went trending on Sunday, namely that Choi’s ex-husband and his family allegedly had been planning the murder for a month (#蔡天凤前夫家1个月前开始布局#, 180 million views).
Some Weibo bloggers said the case reminded them of another well-known and gruesome Hong Kong murder case, namely the 2013 murder of Glory Chau and Moon Siu. At age 63, the couple was murdered by their own 28-year-old son Henry Chau Hoi-leung and his friend. After killing them, the two chopped up Chau’s and Siu’s bodies and cooked their remains and stored them inside the refrigerator. The 2022 crime film The Sparring Partner (正義迴廊) was based on this story.
About the Kwong family, some Weibo users write: “Too bad that Hong Kong law does not have the death penalty.” Capital punishment in Hong Kong was formally abolished in 1993.
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The South Korean actor Yoo Ah-in (刘亚仁) has become a trending topic on Chinese social media for getting caught up in a drugs scandal in his home country.
Yoo Ah-in (1986) is an award-winning actor who is known for starring in various well-known dramas and renowned movies, such as Voice of Silence, Burning, and Hellbound.
Yoo is currently being investigated for alleged illegal, habitual use of the anesthetic drug propofol and has been banned from overseas travel.
On Thursday, the hashtag “Yoo Ah-in Admits to Using Drugs” (#刘亚仁确认吸毒#) received over 310 million views on Weibo, where several accounts reported that Yoo allegedly started using propofol in 2021.
Yoo issued a statement via his management, saying he is cooperating with the police in the investigation. He also apologized for causing concern among his fans and followers.
The drug scandal also has consequences for the actor’s activities in China. Liu was the brand ambassador for the Chinese men’s clothing brand Croquis (速写), but Croquis immediately removed him as their representative after the scandal.
Croquis issued a statement saying the company has been closely following the latest developments regarding the investigation into the actor’s alleged drugs use, and stated that they have “zero tolerance” when it comes to drug use and therefore would temporarily take all content offline in which Yoo represents their brand.
South Korean media reported on Feb. 9 that Yoo is among a group of 51 people that is part of an illegal drug use investigation initiated by the Food and Drug Administration, which found that Yoo went doctor hopping and “hospital shopping” to obtain multiple prescriptions.
Propofol is a sedative that is widely used by anesthetists for the induction and maintenance of general anesthesia and for long-term sedation. Over recent years, the abuse of propofol in South Korea has been getting more media attention.
Although propofol is classified as a controlled substance in South Korea since 2011, the recreational use of the drugs has been a problem and various celebrities have previously been charged for illegally using the drugs.
On Weibo, some people say that there indeed should be “zero tolerance” for drug abuse among celebrities and artists, but there are also those who think Yoo Ah-in’s drug abuse is a result of his alleged (mental) health problems, and that he needs help instead of punishment.
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