LOS ANGELES, Oct 25 (AFP) - "Chicago" filmmaker Rob Marshall is shooting a movie version of the best-selling novel "Memoirs of a Geisha" with an all-star Asian cast that includes Chinese actress Gong Li and Malaysia's Michelle Yeoh.
Marshall, whose musical "Chicago" won the 2003 best picture Oscar, has begun shooting Arthur Golden's Japanese-themed romantic epic "Geisha" in Los Angeles, before shifting production to Japan, producers said.
Chinese actress Ziyi Zhang, who starred in Oscar-winning Taiwanese movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and in China's "Hero," plays the title role of Sayuri Nitta in the movie about a young woman in pre-war Japan who enters a geisha house in Kyoto and goes on to achieve fame in her work.
Chinese beauty Gong Li, who rose to international fame after her role in "Raise the Red Lantern," also has a role in the movie along with James Bond girl and "Crouching Tiger" star Yeoh.
The movie, produced by Steven Spielberg, Lucy Fisher, Douglas Wick for release by Columbia Pictures, marks Gong Li's first leading role in a major Hollywood film. She play's Suyuri's wicked rival.
Yeoh's film credits include the 1997 Bond film "Tomorrow Never Dies," in which she played a Chinese spy opposite Pierce Brosnan as the British superspy.
Japanese actor Ken Watanabe, who was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor in 2003's "The Last Samurai," also has a leading role in the ensemble cast as the powerful man who wins Sayuri's heart.
"Memoirs of a Geisha" is due for release in North America in the last quarter of 2005.
10/25/2004 18:23 GMT - AFP