Manga inspiration draws Jay Chou

Taiwanese pop singer Jay Chou will be starring in a new movie called Initial D, a movie based on a Japanese manga comic strip. The comic is all about boys and their toys - that is, car racing on the twists and turns of a mountainside. Reason enough for it to have a huge following in Asia. Playing other leading roles will be Edison Chen Koon-hei, Stephen Fung Tak-lun and a yet-to-be-chosen Korean actress.

The movie will be directed by Tsui Hark, famous for his Wong Fei-hung chop socky films, with shooting to begin in March. According to Tsui's wife, Nansun Shi (spokeswoman for Film Workshop, Tsui's production company): 'The budget is big; around US$6 million, we expect it to be a worldwide release so we are doing a lot of preparation work. We want to film the movie in Japan, and we are currently looking for the right car sponsor for the movie.' Media Asia Group will be the Asian distributor, and the film is likely to be released next year.