6-Year-Old YouTube Dance Sensation Cast as Lead in Major Chinese Film

HONG KONG – Psy might be the internet sensation of the year, but Wang Yiming is now ready to reclaim his throne now.

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The Chinese boy who went on the US talk show Ellen two years ago on the strength of a YouTube video of his Michael Jackson-aping dance moves will soon be making his big-screen debut as the lead in Angry Kid, a co-production between Hong Kong’s Emperor Motion Pictures and Beijing Happy Picture Cultural Communications.

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In the film, Wang, now 6, is the hero who “comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress and brings the bad guys to justice with the help of his formidable family,” according to Emperor’s press release about the film and the company’s slate at the American Film Market this year.

Emperor’s other hot property at the AFM this year is That Demon Within, the new cop thriller by Dante Lam (Beast Stalker, Stool Pigeon). The film stars Nick Cheung Ka-fai, the star of both of Lam’s previous two hits, as an escaped convict confronting a mentally askew detective played by Daniel Wu. Principal photography will begin this winter, and is expected to unspool next summer.

Making up Emperor’s AFM slate is Triad, a completed US $1 million film released in Hong Kong on November 15, about the rise of a college graduate’s efforts to defy his elders and transform his underworld clan into collaborators with the police.

There’s also The Midas Touch, a debt collector who struggles with his new toy – a modeling agency – until a star manager comes in to save the day. Starring comedian Chapman To and pop chanteuse Charlene Choi, the film is in production and is penned in for release in the first quarter of 2013.

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Emperor will also be repping The Last Supper, Lu Chuan’s period epic which premiered at Toronto. The company is also pushing for sales for thriller The Bullet Vanishes and teen-pop drama Diva.

“The diversity of this slate and the coming productions we hope to announce soon demonstrates Emperor Motion Pictures’ aim to produce quality Chinese-language productions that will appeal to all levels of Chinese-language film fans,” said Albert Lee, Emperor Motion Pictures’ CEO.