Director Lai wasn’t joking when, after hitting ratings gold with his craptastic drama adaptation of the wuxia novel The Magic Blade, he announced that he was setting his sights even higher and remaking Louis Cha‘s masterpiece Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils. Apparently the ninja assassins I sent to kidnap him and brainwash this idea out of his head didn’t work, as the cast and crew commenced filming for the fourth drama adaptation of DGSD this weekend in the high desert plains of Central China. DGSD is one of the most sprawling novels written by Louis Cha, with three parallel story lines with three male leads that dovetail in the middle and form this epic narrative that barrels forward to a thunderous ending. As such, the first half of the drama will have the three male leads pretty much filming independently of each other so its no surprise that we only see main male lead Qiao Feng (Xiao Feng) played by Wallace Chung in costume. I seriously needed a moment to peel myself off the floor with from laughing too hard when I saw Wallace’s get up as the Leader of the Beggar Sect. I’m sorry? Did you change clothes with an ancient Tibetan/Mongolian monk on your way to beg for alms? Otherwise why are you dressed like that, Wallace!?!? This is clearly better than his atrocity of a look in The Magic Blade, but I swear that the heroic Qiao Feng is not supposed to look like an unkempt bum. Knowing this is coming from Director Lai’s hands already has me steeling myself for the myriad unintentional laughs, the jawdropping deviations from the novel canon, and the hamming it up on the acting front from all the leads. Aside from Wallace, the other confirmed leads are Kim Kibum as Duan Yu, Zhang Meng as Wang Yu Yen, and Jia Qing as Ah Zhu. Let the countdown begin! Continue reading →