(Photo : Fan Bingbing and Leon Lai)

"Yang Guifei", the film once starred an ensemble cast and held a press conference at the 16th Busan International Film Festival in 2011, will be refilmed this September. However, the casting of the reshooted film is quite different from the one announced two years ago.

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Fan Bingbing remains on the casting list

At the 16^th Busan International Film Festival in 2011, Korean director Kwak Jae-Yong announced his upcoming film "Yang Guifei". Chinese actress Fan Bingbing was going to play legendary Chinese imperial concubine Yang Guifei and actor Lee-hom Wang was going to play the poetic genius Li Bai. It was reported that Japanese star Shun Oguri has already been practicing horse riding for this film. However, according to the latest news, only Fan Bingbing remains on the casting list.

Leon Lai to act in the reshooted film

It was reported that Leon Lai was seen in a movie base on Monday. After that, word spread out that Leon Lai was preparing for the cast photo for film "Yang Guifei". According to ESA Cultural Investment (Beijing) Co., Ltd, one of the investors for "Yang Guifei", Leon Lai is going to act in this reshooted film. The company didn't officially announce the role Leon Lai was going to play. The public speculated that Leon Lai would play either Emperor Xuanzong of Tang or An Lushan. According to his look, Leon Lai is expected to be chosen for the role of Emperor Xuanzong.

Tian Zhuangzhuang to replace Kwak Jae-Yong

According to the ESA Cultural Investment, the investment amount for "Yang Guifei" remains the same after two years, which is 20 million US dollars. Although Tristone Entertainment Inc has exited investments, China Film Group Corporation and ESA Cultural Investment remain to be the investors. However, the director Kwak Jae-Yong will be replaced by Chinese director Tian Zhuangzhuang.

ESA Cultural Investment further explained the reason for choosing Kwak Jae-Yong at first. It is said that, Han Sanping, chairman of China Film Group Corporation, appointed Kwak Jae-Yong as the film director. Kwak Jae-Yong is well known for his popular hit "My Sassy Girl" and "The Glassic" in China, Japan and South Korea. Although the film "Yang Guifei" is based on Chinese history, he once expressed his confidence in interpreting the legend of Yang Guifei according to his long-term study on Chinese culture.