Two Taiwanese comic books are to hit the screens as live-action adaptations, as part of a program to promote adaptations of works by local artists.
Veteran animation and visual effects director Kent Chang (張永昌) has always dreamed of creating a fantasy, he said, adding that he had had his eyes set on Scrolls of a Northern City (北城百畫帖, Pei Cheng Pai Hua Tieh) by comic book artist AKRU, otherwise known as Shen Ying-chieh (沈穎杰).
The graphic novel is a romantic fantasy set in a coffee shop in Japanese colonial-era Taipei during the reign of Japanese Emperor Showa, he said.
Photo courtesy of Kent Chang
Taking a multidisciplinary approach, Chang wants to turn the comic into a live-action movie, he said, adding that he has received about NT$4 million (US$137,231) in grants from a Ministry of Culture program that supports such projects.
Taiwanese actors Chang Ting-hu (張庭瑚) and Lee Chia-ying (李佳穎) are to star in the film, Chang said.
The main challenge of adapting the comic into a film lies in recreating the Japanese-era scenery, he said, citing his experience filming a pilot for the film.
Photo provided by Kent Chang
For example, careful archival research was needed to revive Taiwan’s first department store, the Kikumoto Department store on the intersection of what are now Taipei’s Hengyang (衡陽路) and Boai (博愛路) roads, Chang said, adding that 3D modeling the buildings is very expensive and Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) teachers had to be brought in to help the actors learn their lines.
All of this was done in the hopes of recreating the original setting, he said.
The team has finished filming the pilot and is awaiting funding to turn its dream into reality, he said.
Photo courtesy of Yuan-Liou Publishing Co
Meanwhile, Sanlih E-Television (SET) has announced that it has purchased the rights to Ruan Guang-min’s (阮光民) Yong-jiu Grocery Store (用九柑仔店) and plans on turning the comic book into a television series.
Yong-jiu Grocery Store depicts old customs and practices in rural Taiwan, and last year won the Golden Comic Awards for Best Comic for Young Adults and Comic of the Year.
In the comic, young protagonist Chun-lung (俊龍) returns to the countryside to take over a grocery store from his ailing grandfather, and reconnects with the land and his childhood memories.
The television series is to be produced by Lin Chih-chin (林知秦) and adapted into a screenplay by Chen Chieh-ying (陳潔瑩), the TV network said.
Ruan looks forward to what the comic will look like on screen because the people in the story “originally only lived on paper,” he said.
Filming is expected to begin at the end of the year, with the series to be screened from next year.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about