Journey to the West, the classic Chinese story of the Monkey King, has been adapted numerous times for the big screen, and next year will see the release of two more. One is The Monkey King which stars the great Donnie Yen, but the one that has my interest comes from famed filmmaker Stephen Chow, the guy behind Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle.
The first footage from his Journey to the West(formerly A Chinese Odyssey) has been released, along with the above poster image, and it already looks like epic stuff. Chow introduced the clip during a press conference, where he also revealed that his role is smaller than had been previously thought, as he decided to focus on co-directing the film with Derek Kwok. Starring Shu Qi(Tai Chi 0), Wen Zhang, and Bo Huang, the film is the first of a planned series as the sequel is already in development. Hopefully we'll get every single chapter here in America, otherwise it's time for me to start calling up my foreign import sources again. I've got to find the score they're using for this footage, also. It's been trumpeting in my head all morning.
Journey to the West will open during the Chinese Spring Festival next year, so hopefully we'll get it soon after. [MTime via Twitch]
