Easily one of the most eagerly anticipated films to hit the big screen next year is the action thriller THE VIRAL FACTOR, directed by action auteur Dante Lam and starring two of the hottest male stars in Asia- Nicholas Tse and Jay Chou. With a budget of over $200mil RMB, the movie which co-stars Li Peng, Bai Bing, Andy On and Lan regular Liu Kai-Chi is currently in the post-production stage. Two character posters featuring Chou and Tse were unveiled today, depicting the tense atmosphere in the movie.
Chou and Tse play two brothers, who due to family circumstances, are led down different paths in life- one of them a recalcitrant criminal and the other an Interpol agent. Lam also took the opportunity to explain the significance of the film's Chinese title, which he says is meant to portray the struggles, obstacles and challenges we face every day and the fighting spirit we ought to possess to overcome them. This is also a theme in his previous award-winning movies THE BEAST STALKER and THE STOOL PIGEON, but Lam says that this film deals with the subject in a much bigger and more spectacular scale.
Of the action sequences, Lam describes them as a breakthrough in his career, and perhaps the most difficult that he has done so far. He adds that the on-location shooting in Jordan, Hong Kong and Malaysia has added an element of mystery to the exhilarating action on screen, and hopes that his audience will find the action in what he calls his dream project just as refreshing.
THE VIRAL FACTOR opens in cinemas 19 Jan 2012, and will be distributed in Singapore by Clover Films and Golden Village Pictures.