China's largest-budgeted production to date, Master of the Crimson Armor has been picked up by the WeinsteinCo. for distribution in North America, where they will almost certainly be looking to awards season and a potential foreign-language film Academy Award nomination at the minimum.
The fantasy epic is set in ancient China's underworld. A beautiful princess (Cecilia Cheung) finds herself intriguing a duke (Nicholas Tse) with her loveliness. As these stories always seem to go, though, she can't simply capture the attention of only one man. Complications have to ensue. Along with the duke, a general (Hiroyuki Sanada) and a slave (Jang Dong-Gun) also become obsessed with the princess.
Director Chen Kaige has previously found some cross-over success with the North American release of Farewell My Concubine. He also directed an English-language film known as Killing Me Softly, with Heather Graham and Joseph Fiennes as its primary stars. (Kim Hollis/BOP)
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