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Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on May 15, 2014 15:28:47 GMT -6
variety.com/2014/tv/news/joan-chen-joins-netflix-series-marco-polo-1201181788/Joan Chen has joined the cast of Netflix’s “Marco Polo” series. Chin Han and Claudia Kim have also joined the cast. She joins Lorenzo Richelmy, Benedict Wong and Zhu Zhu. John Fusco and Harvey Weinstein are executive producing the Weinstein Co. drama and “Kon-Tiki” helmers Joachim Ronning & Espen Sandberg are directing the first two episodes. Story follows a young Marco Polo (Richelmy), who finds himself at the center of a brutal war between two empires in 13th century China, rife with close combat, romance and sexual intrigue, religious tension, political skullduggery and spectacular battles. Chen will play Chabi, empress of of the Yuan Dynasty. This marks her return to television after appearing in “Twin Peaks” for several seasons. Chen’s past credits include “Hemingway and Gellhorn” and “Lust, Caution.” She is repped by Inphenate and attorney Stuart Rosenthal. The 10-episode series will bow on Netflix in late 2014.
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Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on May 20, 2014 13:29:06 GMT -6
variety.com/2014/film/news/cannes-egyptian-star-amr-waked-joins-marco-polo-cast-exclusive-1201187109/Egyptian multihyphenate Amr Waked (“Salmon Fishing in the Yemen,” “Lucy”) has joined the cast of “Marco Polo,” the TWC/Netflix TV series about the famed 13th Century explorer, currently shooting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Waked, who is Egypt’s biggest international star, will play a loyal advisor to Mongol King Kublai Khan, and therefore a highly influential figure. “Marco Polo” is set in China, amid a world “replete with astonishing martial arts, sexual intrigue, political skullduggery and spectacular battles,” according to the producers. Executive producer and creator of the nine-episode series is John Fusco (“Young Guns,” “Hidalgo”). The directors and executive producers are Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg (“Kon-Tiki,” “Max Manus: Man of War”). Young Italian actor Lorenzo Richelmy plays the title role. Netflix has said it will make the entire series available to subscribers, in all territories worldwide, sometime late in 2014. Waked will be soon be seen by international auds in Luc Besson’s sci-fi actioner “Lucy,” alongside Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, and South Korea’s Choi Min-sik (“Old Boy”). In “Lucy,” which Universal will release August 5 in the U.S., Waked plays a French cop. Meanwhile, Waked’s production company ZAD is in post on Egyptian director Ibrahim El Batout’s Cairo-set organ trafficking thriller “The Cat,” which will ready to screen for international fest programmers in June.
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