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Takeshi Kaneshiro Reportedly Feuded With The Director Of This Movie, Which Had Its Release Delayed For 2 Years

There was allegedly a lot of bad blood between the cast and the director.

There was allegedly a lot of bad blood between the cast and the director.

There was allegedly a lot of bad blood between the cast and the director.

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After his much-lauded appearance in the 2017 rom-com, This Is Not What I Had Expected, enigmatic Taiwanese-Japanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro has more or less disappeared from the spotlight. But according to Taiwanese media, the 46-year-old heartthrob actually has another project up his sleeve — a crime thriller film directed by Hongkong singer-director Juno Mak. The movie, titled Sons of The Neon Night, boasts an all-star cast, that also includes A-listers like Tony Leung Ka-fai, Louis Koo and Gao Yuanyuan.

However, the movie has yet to be released even though filming wrapped two years ago in 2018. Sons of The Neon Night was initially scheduled for a 2019 release as Juno, who used to date Hongkong star Gillian Chung, had promoted the film at 2018's Hong Kong FilMart, which is Asia’s largest film rights sales market.

Now, reports are claiming that the reason behind the long delay is because the film had exceeded its budget by a whopping HK$200mil (S$35.26mil).

1 of 3 Juno Mak and Richie Jen

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. According to these reports, Juno didn’t exactly have the best relationship on-set with his actors. The 36-year-old reportedly locked horns with a number of his stars, including Tony, Takeshi, and Taiwanese singer-actor Richie Jen.

For one particular scene, Richie had to be suspended in the air by a steel wire. While Richie had informed Juno that the end-result might not match up to his expectations, Juno insisted on going ahead with the scene. In the end, despite multiple re-shoots, they weren’t able to achieve the results Juno was hoping for. Richie even sustained an injury to his hands as a result, causing the actor, who’s known for being Mr. Nice Guy, to flare up in anger.


  • 2 of 3 The set photos look mighty promising, though

    According to reports, Richie left the project immediately after he fulfilled the terms of his contract. Similarly, Takeshi allegedly feuded with Juno as well, leading to tensions running high on set. It's said that Takeshi also left the production as soon as he completed his scenes that were stipulated in the contract. He then refused to return to shoot additional scenes, even at the behest of Juno, citing his busy schedule as a reason.

    The reports also shared that Juno was known for disappearing in the middle of filming, choosing to retreat into his director’s tent, while the actors waited for him. This led to even more dissatisfaction amongst the actors. Sources say that Louis was known as the actor who “lasted the longest”, as he only left the project when filming was about to wrap.


  • 3 of 3 So... 2021 release?

    When reached for a comment, the movie's producer didn’t exactly deny the reports. “The director has very high expectations, and he always seeks perfection. Since he often insists to press on with filming, it’s natural that differences in opinions will arise between the actors and director. However, [Juno] doesn’t have much experience when it comes to directing, so he still needs to accumulate more experience.”

    At the end of the day, it appears that there’s still hope for fans, though. According to the producer, while they did exceed the budget, the movie is in its final stages of post-production, and is expected to be released next year, at the earliest.

    Photos: PBE Media, Juno Mak/YouTube

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