Filming on a new Chinese fantasy/romance film project headed by Chinese cinematographer Zhao Xiaoding and Hollywood special effects artist Anthony LaMolinara is about to begin.

Announced Tuesday afternoon in Beijing, the film will adapt the popular 2008 novel Sansheng Sanshi Shili Taohua (Lit: three lives, three generations and ten miles of Peach Blossom), which depicts the romance between a 140 thousand-year-old white fox spirit and a 50 thousand-year-old black dragon spirit that takes place over three life times.

Seeing the popularity of the book among young adults, especially young girls, Zhang Qiang, CEO of Alibaba Pictures, believes this vast fanbase will ensure the film's success.

"A sales volume of over 1.1 million copies in various languages, 190 million search results on Baidu and 174 times longer than other stories in this genre," Zhang Yibai, executive producer of the film, pointed out the book's advantages at the announcement.

Although this will be the first time either Zhao or LaMolinara have directed a film, the two expressed confidence at the press conference.

"I'm very interested in making this attempt," said Zhao, who is known for his work in films such as Hero (2002, director Zhang Yimou) and House of Flying Daggers (2004, director Zhang Yimou). He also added that he has found that the world's top box office hits have all been visual blockbusters, which he promised this new film will be.

Having worked all over the world, LaMolinara said that he has long been interested in China. According to the special effects artist, he believes there is "going to be a Chinese renaissance much like the European renaissance" in the film market. A movement he feels honored to be a part of.

Global Times