edonline
07-27-2005, 01:08 PM
http://www.empireonline.co.uk/site/news/NewsStory.asp?news_id=16987
Charlie Chan Returns To The Screen (Or at least his granddaughter does)
27 July 2005
Remember Charlie Chan? He was the Orient's answer to Poirot, the sleuthing Chinese-Hawaiian detective who tackled more cases than Louis Vuitton. After a huge run of success in the '30s and '40s, Chan has fallen out of favour – but he, or rather his granddaughter, is about to return to the big screen, with Lucy Liu starring in and producting an untitled Charlie Chan update.
Liu will obviously not be playing the detective himself, but rather his granddaughter, who has followed in his sleuthing footsteps. We're guessing that her grandpappy turns up with a few wise words during the film, but that's all we know for now.
The original stories, by Earl Derr Biggers, are just one source being used by Dan McDermott, who's writing the screenplay. He's also writing John Moore's The Omen remake, The Omen 666, so let's hope that he knows how to revive a defunct series for the 21st century.
Chan has fallen from favour in modern times because his films all star a Caucasian actor in make-up (apart from one animated series, Chan has never been played by an actor of Chinese descent), which smacks, in these less-innocent times, of racism (although the baddies, and the dupes, were usually white, so it's not cut-and-dried caricature). With Liu in the lead and (presumably) an ethnically diverse supporting cast, expect this Chan to be rather more authentic.
We'll keep you up to date as we learn more.
Charlie Chan Returns To The Screen (Or at least his granddaughter does)
27 July 2005
Remember Charlie Chan? He was the Orient's answer to Poirot, the sleuthing Chinese-Hawaiian detective who tackled more cases than Louis Vuitton. After a huge run of success in the '30s and '40s, Chan has fallen out of favour – but he, or rather his granddaughter, is about to return to the big screen, with Lucy Liu starring in and producting an untitled Charlie Chan update.
Liu will obviously not be playing the detective himself, but rather his granddaughter, who has followed in his sleuthing footsteps. We're guessing that her grandpappy turns up with a few wise words during the film, but that's all we know for now.
The original stories, by Earl Derr Biggers, are just one source being used by Dan McDermott, who's writing the screenplay. He's also writing John Moore's The Omen remake, The Omen 666, so let's hope that he knows how to revive a defunct series for the 21st century.
Chan has fallen from favour in modern times because his films all star a Caucasian actor in make-up (apart from one animated series, Chan has never been played by an actor of Chinese descent), which smacks, in these less-innocent times, of racism (although the baddies, and the dupes, were usually white, so it's not cut-and-dried caricature). With Liu in the lead and (presumably) an ethnically diverse supporting cast, expect this Chan to be rather more authentic.
We'll keep you up to date as we learn more.