AFM 2012: James Cameron Doc 'Imperial City Beijing' Seeks Hollywood Support

The Chinese producers of Imperial City Beijing, a 3D docudrama set partly in Beijing’s Forbidden City and co-produced by James Cameron, have brought the project to AFM to try and secure more Hollywood backing.

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“The six studios have always wanted to make films in the Forbidden City but they found it very difficult to do that without getting a permit from the government. This is a good opportunity for them to do so,” said Wang Haiyi, head of business development and international departments for Pegasus & Taihe Entertainment International, which is co-producing Imperial City Beijing with Cameron's Pace Group.

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Imperial City Beijing has already received official blessing in the form of China Film Group coming on board as a co-producer as well as backing of the Chinese cultural ministry, the Beijing Municipal Government and the State Administraion for Radio, Film and Television.

The project, which was announced on August 8 when Cameron launched the Chinese arm of his Cameron Pace Group in Beijing, revolves around the changes of the Chinese capital in the past 800 years, with a focus on its architectural landmarks.

It will be made with different versions for domestic and international distribution, Wang said.

“The domestic version will be more like a feature film with the participation of major Chinese film stars. As foreign audiences are not that familiar with them, the international version will be more like a docu-drama with the former palace being more prominent,” said Wang.

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Meanwhile, Wang also told The Hollywood Reporter that their latest action thriller, Switch, will have its world premiere at Dubai – where parts of the film were shot – in early January.

Directed by Jay Sun and featuring 3D technology overseen by Avatar’s visual effects specialist Chuck Comisky, the film (which is co-produced by Hong Kong’s Media Asia) will then be simultaneously released across Asia at the end of that month. The film revolves around a Chinese hero (Andy Lau of Infernal Affairs fame) fighting off Japanese Yakuzas and British mercenaries vying for a valuable Chinese historical scroll.

Wang said the 160 million yuan (US $25.6 million) film has already been acquired by Southeast Asian distributors, and his company is looking at inking a deal for South Korea at AFM.

Discussion with Japanese companies, he said, have been thrown into doubt after the escalation of the Sino-Japanese political dispute over the sovereignty of a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, as the film features Japanese villains taking a heavy beating from the film’s lead character.