If Song Seung Hoon has not appeared in a k-drama lately, that's partly because he has been busy filming in China. Filming there gave him the chance to co-star with popular Chinese stars such as actress Liu Yifei. And in his next Chinese film he will co-star with a popular American star, Bruce Willis.
Song's next film is the big budget war drama "Da Hong Zha," which means "The Bombing." The film portrays the suffering endured by the Chinese population during the five years that Japan bombed the city of Chongqing, beginning in 1938. The raids killed 11,000 people, mostly civilians.
The Chinese had planes at the time but there were not enough trained pilots to fly them. They needed American volunteers to teach candidates how to fly. That's where the character played by Bruce Willis comes in. Song Seung Hoon plays a Chinese trainee pilot and Willis plays the man who teaches him how to fly. According to his agency Better ENT, Song will film scenes in both China and Korea.
The film's production costs are estimated at $90 million, which will make it one of the most expensive Chinese films every produced. Filming has already begun and the movie is scheduled for release in the latter half of 2016. Da Hong Zha" is being released to roughly coincide with the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
While Bruce Willis is popular in China for his "Die Hard" films, Song is well-known Hallyu star there, known for acting in k-dramas such as "East of Eden" and "When A Man Falls In Love."
It's his second Chinese production in a year. In his last film, "The Third Way Of Love," he played a wealthy man who falls in love with an idealistic lawyer. That 2014 Chinese-Korean co-production was based on the 2007 bestselling novel "Di San Zhong Ai Qing." Chinese actress Liu Yifei played an attorney who goes to work for a corporation after her sister attempts suicide. There she meets Lin Qi Zheng, played by Song Seung Hoon. He's the ambitious heir to the corporation about to be engaged to a wealthy girl. The two start out at odds but fall in love. "The Third Way of Love" also starred miss A's Jia in the role of Liu Yifei's suicidal sister.
As Chinese films are more actively recruiting actors from both Korea and the U.S., such collaborations are expected to increase.
