Chilam Cheung (張智霖) and Chrissie Chau (周秀娜) have been cast in an upcoming Hong Kong romantic film temporarily titled Billionaire Demon Falls in Love with Me <千億惡魔愛上我>, an adaptation of the 1990 American romantic comedy film Pretty Woman, which starred Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. Reports say that Chilam will star as Richard Gere’s character, an extremely wealthy Casanova who always has his ways with women. He will not hesitate in giving his girlfriends a planet ticket to Japan so they can try out a local ramen delicacy, or even travel all the way to Paris so the women can purchase the latest luxury handbags. Chrissie Chau will portray an ordinary Mongkok girl, a role inspired by Julia Roberts’ prostitute character, Vivian Ward. In the film, Chilam will hire Chrissie as his escort so he can make his ex-girlfriend jealous. Producer Stephen Shiu Jr. (蕭定一) admitted in a recent interview that his production company is currently working on the film project and the script is going through rewrites. Asked if Chilam and Chrissie would have passionate scenes, he said, “They’re unavoidable. It will be similar to the performance by Richard Gere and Julia Roberts.” Chrissie became a fan of Chilam after watching his 2000 drama Return of the Cuckoo <十月初五的月光>. She was also very captivated by his popular pilot role in last year’s Triumph in the Skies 2 <衝上雲宵II>, and anticipates their project together. The film, budgeted at over $50 million HKD, is expected to shoot at locations in Japan, Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, and Mexico. Patrick Kong (葉念琛) is slated to direct. A slew of major film projects have lined up for Chilam ever since he signed with Stephen Shiu Jr.’s One Dollar Production as a management artist. Stephen Shiu Jr. expressed that he intends to promote Chilam as a leading actor in the Hong Kong film industry. Creds: Oncc
