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."
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
The government would cancel kendo practitioner Su Yu-cheng’s (蘇郁程) nationality if he is confirmed to have represented China in the World Kendo Championships in Milan, Italy, last week, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. “We have consulted the Sports Administration and were told that athletes participating in the championships must have the nationality of the country that they represent. They must also present their passports as proof,” council spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a weekly news conference. “If Su indeed represented China in the championships, we suspect that he has obtained Chinese nationality.” The Act Governing Relations Between the People of the
FATAL ILLNESS: Untreated symptoms can rapidly worsen to complications such as high fever, seizures and loss of consciousness, and can be life-threatening, a doctor said Hospitals have been reporting dozens of people with heat-related illnesses every day over the past week, given continuous high daytime temperatures, so recognizing the early signs of heatstroke is crucial in preventing serious complications, a Taipei City Hospital emergency physician said. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a heat alert for 19 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures in New Taipei City, Miaoli County and Pingtung County likely to exceed 38°C, and temperatures in 12 cities and counties likely to exceed 36°C for three days straight. More than a dozen people were taken to hospitals for heat-related illnesses every day from