After a two-month long shoot, director Teddy Chan's 'Bodyguards and Assassins' has opened to the media.

 

'Bodyguards and Assassins' producer Peter Ho-Sun Chan (C) opened the old door to the film set in Songjiang, Shanghai, on Monday, June 16, 2009. [yule.sohu.com.cn]

Meanwhile, the magnificent replica of the 1905's Central of Hong Kong, built up in Songjiang, the western suburb of Shanghai, has wowed audiences.

Heavyweights for this action flick made an intriguing appearance after producer Peter Ho-Sun Chan opened the old door to the big film set.

Leading man Donnie Yen was escorted in by rickshaw while actors Hu Jun, Eric Tsang and Fan Bingbing arrived on horseback. Singer Li Yuchun who also landed a role in the film arrived gracefully in a traditional sedan chair. Wang Xueqi and Wang Bojie also made flashy appearances.

Danny Boyle who headed the jury for the 'Golden Cup' Awards (or Jin Jue) at the Shanghai film festival also made an appearance alongside other jury members.

Peter Chan joked, "Though it's the first time the film set - the Hong Kong Central in 1905- has been opened to the media, I've shown friends and special visitors around several hundred times as a tourist guide."

Reportedly, it took about one year and 43 million yuan to build the set, which is almost as big as ten football fields. It vividly represents the Central, downtown Hong Kong in 1905, also the most active business area back then, by clustering exotic colonial-style buildings, gothic architecture and south Asian flavoured arcades.

The film 'Bodyguards and Assassins' tells the story of a group of people protecting Sun Yat-Sen against assassination when he was in Hong Kong raising funds on October 15, 1905.

The power cast includes Hong Kong action stars Donnie Yen, Leon Lai, Tony Leung Ka-Fai, mainland popular actress Fan Bing Bing, veteran actor Wang Xueqi and Hu Jun, and singer Li Yuchun.

The film, which cost around 150 million yuan to make, will be released in December 2009.

 

The cast members of 'Bodyguards and Assassins'. [yule.sohu.com.cn]