Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation star Rebecca Ferguson has come attached to Ruth Harkness biopic The Lady and the Panda.
Billed as a UK/Chinese co-production, we understand that filming is due to commence next month in China, with locations including the foothills of the Himalayas. Justin Chadwick will direct from a script penned by Laura Bickford and Holly Gent Palmo.
A 1930s New York socialite, Ruth Harkness stole headlines left, right, and center after becoming the first person to transport a live panda from China to the United States. Doing so wasn’t easy, of course. Soon after the passing of her wealthy husband, Harkness took over his planned expedition to China and, after partnering with local guide Quentin Young, the two travelled down the famous Yangtze river before coming across an orphaned baby panda that they later called Su Lin.
It’s a story that went on to become a nationwide sensation (“Pandamonium!
Billed as a UK/Chinese co-production, we understand that filming is due to commence next month in China, with locations including the foothills of the Himalayas. Justin Chadwick will direct from a script penned by Laura Bickford and Holly Gent Palmo.
A 1930s New York socialite, Ruth Harkness stole headlines left, right, and center after becoming the first person to transport a live panda from China to the United States. Doing so wasn’t easy, of course. Soon after the passing of her wealthy husband, Harkness took over his planned expedition to China and, after partnering with local guide Quentin Young, the two travelled down the famous Yangtze river before coming across an orphaned baby panda that they later called Su Lin.
It’s a story that went on to become a nationwide sensation (“Pandamonium!
- 10/28/2016
- by Michael Briers
- We Got This Covered
Rebecca Ferguson is attached to star as Ruth Harkness, the first person ever to bring a live giant panda out of China, in the Justin Chadwick-directed film The Lady And The Panda. Chadwick co-wrote the script with Laura Bickford and Holly Gent Palmo, and the film is set to being production in the foothills of the Himalayas in China next month. The film is based on Ruth Harkness' original detailed correspondence. When the 1930's New York socialite loses her wealthy husband…...
- 10/28/2016
- Deadline
The Exchange CEO Brian O’Shea has announced casting on the UK-China co-production ahead of the Santa Monica market next week.
Ferguson will play the lead Ruth Harkness In The Lady And The Panda as a 1930s New York socialite who ventured into the Chinese interior and became the first person to bring a live giant panda out of the wild.
Justin Chadwick will direct and co-wrote the original screenplay with producer Laura Bickford and Holly Gent Palmo based on Harkness’s original detailed correspondence.
Bickford produces with Michelle Qi of Europe China Picture Group, while executive producers are Joe Simpson of Miscellaneous Entertainment, Andrew Mann, Fiona Druckenmiller, Justin Brodle and Christopher Brough of Pandamotion Picture Company.
Production is scheduled to begin in the Sichuan region in the foothills of the Himalayas in China in November.
Ferguson will soon be seen in Sony’s Life starring Ryan Reynolds and Jake Gyllenhaal and co-stars alongside Michael Fassbender in Universal...
Ferguson will play the lead Ruth Harkness In The Lady And The Panda as a 1930s New York socialite who ventured into the Chinese interior and became the first person to bring a live giant panda out of the wild.
Justin Chadwick will direct and co-wrote the original screenplay with producer Laura Bickford and Holly Gent Palmo based on Harkness’s original detailed correspondence.
Bickford produces with Michelle Qi of Europe China Picture Group, while executive producers are Joe Simpson of Miscellaneous Entertainment, Andrew Mann, Fiona Druckenmiller, Justin Brodle and Christopher Brough of Pandamotion Picture Company.
Production is scheduled to begin in the Sichuan region in the foothills of the Himalayas in China in November.
Ferguson will soon be seen in Sony’s Life starring Ryan Reynolds and Jake Gyllenhaal and co-stars alongside Michael Fassbender in Universal...
- 10/28/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
CEO Brian O’Shea announced the new signing on Monday ahead of next week’s Afm in Santa Monica.
Justin Chadwick will direct The Lady And The Panda, a UK-China co-production that Laura Bickford and Europe China Picture Group CEO Michelle Qi are producing.
The story centres on 1930s New York socialite Ruth Harkness, who ventured into the Chinese interior after the death of her explorer husband and rescued an orphan panda.
Production is scheduled to begin in November all over the Sichuan region in the foothills of the Himalayas in China.
Chadwick, Bickford and Holly Gent Palmo wrote the screenplay based on Harkness’ detailed correspondence.
Joe Simpson of Miscellaneous Entertainment, Andrew Mann and Fiona Druckenmiller serve as executive producers.
Chadwick directed the upcoming Tulip Fever, as well as Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, The First Grader and The Other Boleyn Girl.
The Exchange’s sales line-up includes documentary Gleason, A Street...
Justin Chadwick will direct The Lady And The Panda, a UK-China co-production that Laura Bickford and Europe China Picture Group CEO Michelle Qi are producing.
The story centres on 1930s New York socialite Ruth Harkness, who ventured into the Chinese interior after the death of her explorer husband and rescued an orphan panda.
Production is scheduled to begin in November all over the Sichuan region in the foothills of the Himalayas in China.
Chadwick, Bickford and Holly Gent Palmo wrote the screenplay based on Harkness’ detailed correspondence.
Joe Simpson of Miscellaneous Entertainment, Andrew Mann and Fiona Druckenmiller serve as executive producers.
Chadwick directed the upcoming Tulip Fever, as well as Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, The First Grader and The Other Boleyn Girl.
The Exchange’s sales line-up includes documentary Gleason, A Street...
- 10/24/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The Mark Gordon Company and The Koch Company are partnering with Chinese studio Pegasus Media Group and China Film Group on the English-language Edge Of The World.
David Seidler and Jacqueline Feather wrote the action-filled transcontinental love story based on events from the 1930s when New York socialite Ruth Harkness went to China in search of her missing fiancé.
Seidler won the Oscar in 2011 for writing The King’s Speech.
Pegasus and China Film Group will finance the project and Gordon, Hawk Koch, and Jianjun “Jay” Sun will serve as producers.
Jeff Aghassi is on board as executive producer. Production is anticipated to start in China later this year.
CAA’s Jonah Greenberg brokered the project.
David Seidler and Jacqueline Feather wrote the action-filled transcontinental love story based on events from the 1930s when New York socialite Ruth Harkness went to China in search of her missing fiancé.
Seidler won the Oscar in 2011 for writing The King’s Speech.
Pegasus and China Film Group will finance the project and Gordon, Hawk Koch, and Jianjun “Jay” Sun will serve as producers.
Jeff Aghassi is on board as executive producer. Production is anticipated to start in China later this year.
CAA’s Jonah Greenberg brokered the project.
- 4/6/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
China: Panda Adventure
Family audiences won't be disappointed by this feature-like Imax production based on the true story of Ruth Harkness, who in 1938 introduced the world to panda bears.
Destined to tumble around large-format venues for many moons, "China: The Panda Adventure" is nonetheless no great artistic leap forward and gives only glimpses of the potential for dynamic storytelling many have longed for in an Imax film.
Beginning with her arrival in China to collect the remains of her deceased husband, the story of Harkness (Maria Bello) is shortchanged for maximum exploitation of the locales. Playing a remarkably innocent and seemingly always smiling heroine who strives to prove her husband's claims that pandas are peaceful and friendly, Maria Bello ("Coyote Ugly") is far too contemporary in her approach and ultimately far from believable.
Even less convincing are Xia Yu as her husband's endlessly resourceful Chinese friend who helps Harkness travel to the Min Valley and Xander Berkeley as a heartless white hunter also in search of the giant panda. By river and on foot, with the help of women handlers at a crucial moment, Harkness undergoes a few unpleasant scares but mostly smiles her way into the stunningly beautiful mountain realm of the pandas.
Munching bamboo and otherwise proving hospitable, the pandas, including a mother and two cubs, are deservedly the stars of the production.
Unfortunately, the plot calls for Berkeley's de facto villain to race Harkness to the lair of the legendarily ferocious creatures. He shoots first, of course, but the film's poignant moments will upset only the most empathetic young viewers.
With a simplistic script and Randy Edelman's overblown orchestral score, "China" predictably satisfies only in terms of transporting one to the Min Valley. Like many an Imax travelogue in the past, it's essentially an unchallenging, thinly realized cinematic experience. The situation of the endangered pandas is the subject of an educational voice-over wrap-up during the end credits.
CHINA: THE PANDA ADVENTURE
Imax Corp.
Director: Robert M. Young
Screenwriter: Jeanne Rosenberg
Producers: Antoine Compin, Charis Horton
Executive producer: Andrew Gellis, John Wilcox
Director of photography: Reed Smoot
Editor: Jonathan Shaw
Music: Randy Edelman
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ruth Harkness: Maria Bello
Dakar: Xander Berkeley
Quentin Young: Xia Yu
Running time -- 48 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Destined to tumble around large-format venues for many moons, "China: The Panda Adventure" is nonetheless no great artistic leap forward and gives only glimpses of the potential for dynamic storytelling many have longed for in an Imax film.
Beginning with her arrival in China to collect the remains of her deceased husband, the story of Harkness (Maria Bello) is shortchanged for maximum exploitation of the locales. Playing a remarkably innocent and seemingly always smiling heroine who strives to prove her husband's claims that pandas are peaceful and friendly, Maria Bello ("Coyote Ugly") is far too contemporary in her approach and ultimately far from believable.
Even less convincing are Xia Yu as her husband's endlessly resourceful Chinese friend who helps Harkness travel to the Min Valley and Xander Berkeley as a heartless white hunter also in search of the giant panda. By river and on foot, with the help of women handlers at a crucial moment, Harkness undergoes a few unpleasant scares but mostly smiles her way into the stunningly beautiful mountain realm of the pandas.
Munching bamboo and otherwise proving hospitable, the pandas, including a mother and two cubs, are deservedly the stars of the production.
Unfortunately, the plot calls for Berkeley's de facto villain to race Harkness to the lair of the legendarily ferocious creatures. He shoots first, of course, but the film's poignant moments will upset only the most empathetic young viewers.
With a simplistic script and Randy Edelman's overblown orchestral score, "China" predictably satisfies only in terms of transporting one to the Min Valley. Like many an Imax travelogue in the past, it's essentially an unchallenging, thinly realized cinematic experience. The situation of the endangered pandas is the subject of an educational voice-over wrap-up during the end credits.
CHINA: THE PANDA ADVENTURE
Imax Corp.
Director: Robert M. Young
Screenwriter: Jeanne Rosenberg
Producers: Antoine Compin, Charis Horton
Executive producer: Andrew Gellis, John Wilcox
Director of photography: Reed Smoot
Editor: Jonathan Shaw
Music: Randy Edelman
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ruth Harkness: Maria Bello
Dakar: Xander Berkeley
Quentin Young: Xia Yu
Running time -- 48 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 7/8/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
China: Panda Adventure
Family audiences won't be disappointed by this feature-like Imax production based on the true story of Ruth Harkness, who in 1938 introduced the world to panda bears.
Destined to tumble around large-format venues for many moons, "China: The Panda Adventure" is nonetheless no great artistic leap forward and gives only glimpses of the potential for dynamic storytelling many have longed for in an Imax film.
Beginning with her arrival in China to collect the remains of her deceased husband, the story of Harkness (Maria Bello) is shortchanged for maximum exploitation of the locales. Playing a remarkably innocent and seemingly always smiling heroine who strives to prove her husband's claims that pandas are peaceful and friendly, Maria Bello ("Coyote Ugly") is far too contemporary in her approach and ultimately far from believable.
Even less convincing are Xia Yu as her husband's endlessly resourceful Chinese friend who helps Harkness travel to the Min Valley and Xander Berkeley as a heartless white hunter also in search of the giant panda. By river and on foot, with the help of women handlers at a crucial moment, Harkness undergoes a few unpleasant scares but mostly smiles her way into the stunningly beautiful mountain realm of the pandas.
Munching bamboo and otherwise proving hospitable, the pandas, including a mother and two cubs, are deservedly the stars of the production.
Unfortunately, the plot calls for Berkeley's de facto villain to race Harkness to the lair of the legendarily ferocious creatures. He shoots first, of course, but the film's poignant moments will upset only the most empathetic young viewers.
With a simplistic script and Randy Edelman's overblown orchestral score, "China" predictably satisfies only in terms of transporting one to the Min Valley. Like many an Imax travelogue in the past, it's essentially an unchallenging, thinly realized cinematic experience. The situation of the endangered pandas is the subject of an educational voice-over wrap-up during the end credits.
CHINA: THE PANDA ADVENTURE
Imax Corp.
Director: Robert M. Young
Screenwriter: Jeanne Rosenberg
Producers: Antoine Compin, Charis Horton
Executive producer: Andrew Gellis, John Wilcox
Director of photography: Reed Smoot
Editor: Jonathan Shaw
Music: Randy Edelman
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ruth Harkness: Maria Bello
Dakar: Xander Berkeley
Quentin Young: Xia Yu
Running time -- 48 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Destined to tumble around large-format venues for many moons, "China: The Panda Adventure" is nonetheless no great artistic leap forward and gives only glimpses of the potential for dynamic storytelling many have longed for in an Imax film.
Beginning with her arrival in China to collect the remains of her deceased husband, the story of Harkness (Maria Bello) is shortchanged for maximum exploitation of the locales. Playing a remarkably innocent and seemingly always smiling heroine who strives to prove her husband's claims that pandas are peaceful and friendly, Maria Bello ("Coyote Ugly") is far too contemporary in her approach and ultimately far from believable.
Even less convincing are Xia Yu as her husband's endlessly resourceful Chinese friend who helps Harkness travel to the Min Valley and Xander Berkeley as a heartless white hunter also in search of the giant panda. By river and on foot, with the help of women handlers at a crucial moment, Harkness undergoes a few unpleasant scares but mostly smiles her way into the stunningly beautiful mountain realm of the pandas.
Munching bamboo and otherwise proving hospitable, the pandas, including a mother and two cubs, are deservedly the stars of the production.
Unfortunately, the plot calls for Berkeley's de facto villain to race Harkness to the lair of the legendarily ferocious creatures. He shoots first, of course, but the film's poignant moments will upset only the most empathetic young viewers.
With a simplistic script and Randy Edelman's overblown orchestral score, "China" predictably satisfies only in terms of transporting one to the Min Valley. Like many an Imax travelogue in the past, it's essentially an unchallenging, thinly realized cinematic experience. The situation of the endangered pandas is the subject of an educational voice-over wrap-up during the end credits.
CHINA: THE PANDA ADVENTURE
Imax Corp.
Director: Robert M. Young
Screenwriter: Jeanne Rosenberg
Producers: Antoine Compin, Charis Horton
Executive producer: Andrew Gellis, John Wilcox
Director of photography: Reed Smoot
Editor: Jonathan Shaw
Music: Randy Edelman
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ruth Harkness: Maria Bello
Dakar: Xander Berkeley
Quentin Young: Xia Yu
Running time -- 48 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 9/20/2001
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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