Nearly 29 years after China's state broadcaster CCTV presented the first TV drama series adaptation of the classic novel "Journey to the West," Chinese company Ruyi Xinxin Film Investment will co-produce with America's film studio, television production company and motion picture distributor Paramount Pictures a 3D film remake of the Chinese classic literature.
The upcoming film will be top-billed by Liu Xiao Ling Tong, Chi Chongrui and Ma Dehua, the original casts from the 1986 TV drama series. They will play together with Liu Dagang, who is from the 1999 adaptation of the novel.
The announcement was released on Wednesday by the film organizers at a press conference in Beijing, which was attended by Ruyi Xinxin president Ke Liming, Paramount's executives and vice chairman Rob Moore.
Ke stated at the conference that the "Journey to the West" drama series was part of his childhood and he is honored to be in the project as it was made with love and respect for the drama.
Although details regarding the director and scripts were not finalized yet, the organizers said that they will stick to the original novel as much as possible, China Daily reported.
On the other hand, Oscar's foreign-language committee chair Mark Johnson has already signed to produce the film.
Through the years, "Journey to the West" had various remakes, but some are sadly too far from the original novel.
"Although I hope culture can bloom all-together, the classic story is nothing to be joked upon," Liu Xiao Ling Tong, who will portray the character of Sun Wukong or the Monkey King, told China Daily.
Classic literature must be followed and detours from the original story must be avoided, said Ke as he agreed with Liu's statement.
Ke added that with Hollywood's technology, storytelling and special effects, innovations in action and visual technology would be seen in the upcoming film.
"Journey to the West" is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century and was written by Chinese novelist and poet Wu Cheng'en during the Ming Dynasty.
The story revolves around the legendary journey of the Buddhist monk Xuanzang during the Tang's Dynasty. The monk traveled to the western regions to obtain sacred texts called sūtras and returned to China after the many trials he met along the way.