Wong Kar-Wai Sets ‘Blossoms Shanghai’ As His First TV Series
By Hoai-Tran Bui/Aug. 3, 2020 5:00 pm EST
Written by award-winning Shanghainese screenwriter Qin Wen and shot by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon cinematographer Peter Pau, Blossoms Shanghai is set to star Hu Ge (2019 Cannes darling The Wild Goose Lake) as an “enigmatic, self-made millionaire, Mr. Bao,” on “his journey of reinvention from a young opportunist with a troubled past to the heights of the gilded city of Shanghai. Set against the backdrop of massive economic growth in 1990’s Shanghai, the series unveils the glamour that follows his dazzling wealth and his entanglement with four fabulous women that represent the pursuits of his life: adventure, honor, love and innocence.”
Wong created and produced Blossoms Shanghai in homage to his birthplace, in a portrait of the city’s massive economic growth in the ’90s. Wong will also direct the pilot episode.
“Jin Yucheng’s landmark novel Blossoms has been the perfect backdrop to visualize and share my love for my birth city,” said Wong in a statement. “With the series, I would like to invite the audience to immerse in the intrigues of Shanghai and its inhabitants in the early 1990s, an exciting time that paved the way for the prosperity of modern Shanghai.”
Blossoms Shanghai will shoot in Shanghai. Wong’s Jet Tone is set to produce. Tencent Penguin Pictures has acquired the rights for China. Block 2 Distribution is handling international sales.
There is no word on whether this series adaptation of Blossoms will affect Wong’s planned feature film, but the filmmaker is hoping to return to the feature realm to save the Hong Kong industry, as one of the leading filmmakers working on a $33.5 million plan to boost the region’s filmmaking.
