First off, Twitch has brought online the first footage from Ning Hao‘s The Host 2 after we were all tricked over four years ago when someone cut a commercial French electric company to look like a teaser trailer for the long-gestating sequel to Bong Joon-ho‘s 2007 creature feature that generated worldwide acclaim (though I wasn’t a huge fan).
There is no word on what direction the sequel will go, but the charm of the original was in that it managed to wedge in some social and political commentary while entertaining audiences with an all-out monster flick. The monster aspect, however, can certainly be confirmed as this first look at The Host 2 is all visual effects and includes a breakdown of said effects after the clip plays.
Al Young at Twitch writes: “The CG effects were produced domestically by Macrograph, the VFX company behind R2B: Return to Base (aka Soar Into the Sun), A Chinese Ghost Story and Stephen Chow’s upcoming Journey to the West.”
Check out the clip below. As of now there is no release date set for The Host 2.
Secondly, I recently featured an international trailer for Kar Wai Wong‘s long-delayed The Grandmaster, which looks like an absolute visual feast from the director of Chungking Express (read my thoughts on that film here) and In the Mood for Love (read my thoughts on that film here).
Now the same trailer for the film has come online only this time with English subtitles.
Starring Tony Leung Chiu Wai in the lead role and co-starring Zhang Ziyi, Chen Chang and Hye-kyo Song, The Grandmasters is set to hit theaters in China on December 18 while Annapurna Pictures has not yet struck a distribution deal for the film domestically, though I’ve been told we can expect an update on that soon.
Check out the subtitled trailer below.
