Sony backs Zhang film

Source: Agencies  |   2009-8-2  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THE art house division of Sony Pictures Entertainment says it has invested in Chinese director Zhang Yimou's first film since he designed the Beijing Olympics' opening and closing ceremonies last year.

Sony Pictures Classics said on Friday it had formed a "production partnership" with Zhang for his adaptation of the Coen brothers' 1984 movie "Blood Simple."

It has bought distribution rights in North America, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand.

Sony publicist Bebe Lerner declined to say how much the company was investing.

The comedy-thriller is about the owner of a Chinese noodle shop whose plan to kill his cheating wife and her lover "spins out of control after the introduction of a gun into the lives of characters more accustomed to knives and swords," Sony Pictures Classics announced.

Beijing New Picture Film Co publicist Ping Xue said Zhang's adaptation - starring Chinese actor Sun Honglei, comedian Xiao Shenyang and actress Yan Ni - was currently being filmed in Beijing and would be released in December.