One of the nation’s best-selling authors, Giddens Ko (柯景騰), also known as Jiu Ba-dao (九把刀), confirmed yesterday that a major studio in the US has purchased the rights to produce a screenplay based on his work, marking possibly the first time a local author’s story has been adapted into a Hollywood film.
The Killer Who Never Kills, a novel first published in 2005 that sold more than 100,000 copies nationwide, consists of two stories.
One of those stories has been sold to Hollywood, Ko said.
“If I could have a say on who plays the lead role of my novel, I would say Jay Chou (周杰倫), but obviously I am not the one making that decision,” Ko said, referring to the Taiwanese pop singer and actor who plays Seth Rogen’s sidekick in The Green Hornet.
The story sold to Hollywood follows the life of a killer who actually never kills anyone, but instead uses deceit to give the appearance that he has fulfilled his mission.
Ko refused to disclose any details of the deal, citing a confidentiality agreement.
Ko’s noted achievements include writing up to 5,000 words per day and publishing 14 novels in as many months. His prolific career started when he wrote a short story as part of his application to get into a local graduate school. It was then that he discovered his talent for writing.
At the age of 32, Ko has already published 56 novels, many of which have topped the best-seller charts. Some have been adapted for television soap operas, comic books and video games.
He has never experienced “writer’s block,” he said, adding that he thinks writing a novel is a process of talking to himself, a journey he finds “extremely lonely.”
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
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
The annual Taipei Summer Festival, which starts today, is to tone down its fireworks displays, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said on Monday. Fireworks displays are to be held at the riverside site in Datong District’s (大同) Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area on four days at this year’s festival, with the first today, and then on Wednesday next week, July 31 and Aug. 10, the department said. There were eight displays last year, with the reduction aimed at minimizing inconvenience to local residents, it said. The first three shows, which are all on Wednesdays, are to last for five minutes, while the final