Stephen Chow’s 1995 film A Chinese Odyssey is getting a spinoff. Only, it’s going to be in the short drama format. The newest version of the beloved classic to be produced by Douyin will be filmed in collaboration with Stephen Chow himself. It’s their second collab after the success of the short drama Take Me Home. Meanwhile, actors Jiang Long and Zhang Tianai will be taking on the leading roles previously held by Stephen Chow and Athena Chu who played Zhizunbao and Zixia in the original films. Filming for the short drama is expected to kick off next month.
Interestingly, Jiang Long and Zhang Tianai will also be serving as first time producers in the micro drama. The 29-year-old Chinese actor who has his roots in comedy, previously portrayed a comedy version Sun Wukong so he’s right at home in the role of Zhizunyu in the project. The 35-year-old actress on the other hand first drew attention in the 2015 web drama Go Princess Go. In the remake, Zhang Tianai plays the heroine Yueguang.
Having spurred retellings and sequels, the micro drama version of A Chinese Odyssey 大话·大话西游 pays tribute to the story of Sun Wukong popularised by Stephen Chow. Taking place 500 years after the events of A Journey to the West, Zhizunbao is busy dealing with Pak Jingjing in a mountain hundreds of miles away. Meanwhile, the young carpenter Zhizunyu was identified by the fairy Yueguang as the reincarnation of Sun Wukong. The two set out on a journey to Huaguo mountain in search of their destiny.
Source: Jiang Long and Zhang Tianai / Douyin
