The decision by the National Communications Commission to rebuke and fine local cable news station TVBS has had unexpected repercussions, with the future of a Hollywood docudrama depicting the life and times of dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) now looking uncertain.
The hush-hush project, jointly financed by TVBS, US-based Fox Atomic and a number of undisclosed financiers, was set to start filming this summer in Guangzhou Province, southern China.
However, the production has been thrown into disarray, with US-based partners of the under-fire broadcaster unnerved by the bad publicity the station received over a recent hoax gangster video.
Taipei Times sources discovered that the project was in the advanced stages of planning, with James Cameron penciled in as director and a stellar cast lined up.
Cameron was said to have been attracted to what he reportedly called an "epic of titanic proportions, worthy of my vision" and the script, apparently vetted by former KMT chairman Lien Chan (
Patrick Stewart, of Star Trek and X-Men fame, has already been cast in the lead role, with Shanghai-born actress Joan Chen (
The Taipei Times has learned that Chinese superstar Gong Li (
Japan's Ken Watanabe was to play Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), with Bob Hoskins lined up for the role of T.V. Soong (宋子文), Madame Chiang's brother-in-law and the Generalissimo's long-time financial henchman, and David Hasselhoff as US secretary of state John Foster Dulles.
A TVBS insider, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Taipei Times that "the management is seriously concerned about the project's future, and it may die unless the government is willing to step in and help out financially."
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
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