From left: Christian Kane, Arthur Acuna and Samantha Richelle star in 'Almost Paradise.'
The Philippines and Filipino actors are going to be introduced to US audiences in the new adventure series Almost Paradise, which will debut Monday, March 30. Starring Christian Kane (The Librarians), who plays Alex Walker, a former US DEA agent who has been forced into early retirement.
He chooses to retire in Cebu, the Philippines, a tropical paradise with the requisite palm trees, blue waters and palm trees. (Picture Hawaii before it became a tourist mecca.) The show also introduces Filipino actors Samantha Richelle and Arthur Acuña as costars. Richelle plays Kai Mendoza, the youngest person ever to make detective in the Cebu police force. She’s a woman to be reckoned with who has worked tirelessly to get where she is and must constantly fight to prove herself. When Alex enters the picture, Kai views him as an entitled know-it-all, but as they grow closer, they realize their commonalities. Acuña stars as Ernesto Almares, Kai’s partner and the soul of the law-enforcement team. Buencamino plays Ike Ocampo, chief of the Cebu Police Department, and Quesada is Cory, the manager of the hotel where Alex is staying.
The synopsis: Wagner was once the DEA’s most resourceful undercover operative. The combination of his partner’s betrayal and a life-threatening battle with hypertension has sent him as far from the madness as he can go… a small tropical island in the Philippine Archipelago. He now runs the gift shop at the island’s luxury resort hotel, gets his disability payments at the nearby US Air Force base, and generally manages his transition from Jason Bourne to Jimmy Buffett. BUT, the island’s luxury resorts attract rich, powerful, and sometimes criminal elite from around the world, often on a collision course with Alex. Despite his best efforts to begin a tranquil new life, he’s pulled back into a world of dangerous people and deadly situations, either through his friends in the local police department or running into people from his old life. And the problem is: he likes it. The beautiful tropical setting of the island of Cebu will play an important role, according to Filipino American executive producer Dean Devlin, who is better known for his big-budget spectaculars filled with special effects (Godzilla, Independence Day and the Stargate franchise). “We’re trying to show the Philippines to people from the United States and around the world in a way that they’ve never seen before,” said Devlin. Almost Paradise airs on WGN America, Mondays at 10 p.m. EST/PST. Check here for local channels.
Yifei Liu stars in the live-action movie 'Mulan,' debuting in March.
We need to come up with a name for March, which will be a huge month for launching Asian American projects on American television. We dubbed" Asian August" for the 2018 debut of Crazy Rich Asians with its all-Asian cast, the John Cho starrer Searching and on TV the YA romcom To All the Boys I Ever Loved with Lana Condor in the lead. Those projects opened the doors and eyes of Hollywood to the profitability and acceptability of Asian-led or Asian-themed movies and series. March might not be as historic but it could be equally entertaining as Asian August was in 2018. March has two films and four TV projects being launched that could cement the idea of Asian and Asian American storylines and actors taking the lead. As an exclamation point to #RepresentationMatters, the South Korean movie Parasite won the Oscar for Best Picture this year and is doing boffo business at the US box office despite having subtitles and an all-Korean cast.
Mulan, March 27
EDITOR'S NOTE: Since this post was first published, the release of Mulan has been delayed because of the coronavirus.
Let's start with the biggest event: the long-awaited release of the live-action Mulan. The Disney film, the telling the ancient Chinese legend, is set to premiere on March 27, over 20 years after the release of the original animated hit film featuring the studio's first Asian "princess." We've written about the upcoming movie in previous posts as it developed.A lot is riding on the film with a budget north of $100 million. Here are some of the major changes:
It won't be a musical so actors won't be breaking into the iconic songs associated with the animated version. Instead, we'll hear the familiar notes as background music;
Mushu the dragon, originally voice by Eddie Murphy, won't be in the new pic even though it was one of the most beloved characters in the animated version;
Li Shang, Mulan's commanding officer and the romantic interest in the original, has been eliminated in the wake of #MeToo movement, according to director Niki Caro;
New characters have been added: Gong Li plays a sorceress with magic powers,
The movie is starting in the hole after lead actress Yifei Liuvoiced her support of the Hong Kong police, anti-government demonstrators vowed to boycott the film; In addition, the fears of the coronavirus may dampen box office expectations in China
Other well-known cast members include, Jet Li, Gong Li, Donnie Yen, Jason Scott Lee, Tzi Ma and Rosalind Chao, It was five years in the making but, at last, the live-action Mulan is finally here -- coronavirus or not!
Devs, March 5
The Sonoya Mizuno (Crazy Rich Asians, Ex Machina) limited series Devs will premiere March 5 on streaming network Hulu. In Devs, an FX limited series, a young software engineer, Lily Chan, investigates the secret development division of her employer, a cutting-edge tech company based in Silicon Valley, which she believes is behind the murder of her boyfriend. Devs stars Sonoya Mizuno as “Lily Chan;” Nick Offerman as “Forest,” the CEO of Amaya; Jin Ha as “Jamie,” Lily’s former boyfriend; Karl Glusman as “Sergei,” Lily’s boyfriend; Zach Grenier as “Kenton,” Amaya’s Head of Security; Stephen McKinley Henderson as “Stewart,” one of the top minds working in Amaya’s secret development division; Cailee Spaeny as the young, brilliant “Lyndon;” and Alison Pill as “Katie,” the gifted quantum physicist and second in command at Amaya. Alex Garland writes, directs and serves as executive producer of Devs along with Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich of DNA TV, Scott Rudin, Eli Bush and Garrett Basch. The series is produced by FX Productions.
Go Back To China, March 6
Youtube influencer Anna Akana stars in Go Back to China, director Emily Ting’s follow-up to her 2015 movie, “Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong.” Akana will portray a Chinese American party girl who blows through most of her trust fund and is forced by her father to go back to China and work for the family toy business. Through her journey, she gets a much needed dose of reality check and comes to terms with her estranged family.
Even though Akana has over 2-million subscribers on her Youtube channel, this may be her big break as a leading woman. Advance reviews give the comedy a thumbs-up.
Family Karma, March 8
The Family Karma premieres Sunday, March 8 at 9/8c on Bravo. The Miami-based reality show centers on a group of Indian American friends and their families. Beautiful rich people in sexy Miami says Bravo might have a hit on it's hands. Arranged marriages, mixed couples, etc. Expect a lot of culture clashes between the parents and the young adults.
Mira, Royal Detective, March 20
Mira, Royal Detective will premiere in the U.S. on Friday, March 20 (11 a.m. EDT/PDT on Disney Channel and 7 p.m. EDT/PDT on Disney Junior). A cast of Indian American stars from Dev Patel to Jameela Jamil provide the voices for the characters. Brown Asian American kids will finally see characters that look like them.
Almost Paradise, March 30
Philippine-based Almost Paradise debuts on Monday, March 30, 10 p.m. on the WGN America network. Created by Filipino American producer Dean Devlin, who has a score of box office hits, including Independence Day, Godzilla, The Librarian series, the Stargate franchise. Shot on location in the Cebu, Philippines, stars The Librarian star Christian Kane. The 10-episode action series hopes to make the most of the Hawaii-like appeal of the tropical island setting. Almost Paradise centers on Alex Walker (Kane), a former US DEA agent who was forced into early retirement. Once the DEA’s most resourceful undercover operative, the combination of his partner’s betrayal and a life-threatening battle with hypertension has sent him as far from the madness as he can go… a small tropical island in the Philippine Archipelago. Despite his best efforts to begin a tranquil new life, he’s pulled back into a world of dangerous people and deadly situations, either through his friends in the local police or running into people from his old life. And the problem is, he likes it.
Naturally, the show will give the opportunity for breakout roles for lot of Southeast Asian talent, especially Samantha Richelle, a real-life Brunei princess, who portrays Kai Mendoza, a new detective in the local police force.
Back to my original question at the top of this post. Asian March? MarchAsian? Asian Spring? Help me out, readers. Any suggestions?
Dean Devlin, left, and 'Off Tropic' star Christian Kane on the set of 'The Librarians.'
A new TV series intended for US audiences will be shot in the Philippines with a Filipino cast Heading the project is Filipino American executive producer, Dean Devlin, who will write the first two episodes and direct the finale of Off Tropic, a 10-episode crime drama series. Devlin has huge Hollywood cred producing movie blockbusters such as Independence Day, Godzilla and The Patriot. His best known TV series is the adventure fantasy, The Librarians. The star of The Librarians, Christian Kane, will play the lead in Off Tropic.
The series, part crime drama and part travelogue, is set mostly in Cebu and will air in the United States via the cable company, WGN America. Devlin, head of Electric Entertainment, will be partnering with the Philippines' media giant, ABS-CBN, which will be making it’s first foray into Hollywood television production.
“It’s a lifelong dream to get do something here, I wish my mom was alive to see it… I haven’t spent much time here and now we get to do a show here,” said Devlin during his contract signing last month with ABS-CBN International.
“We’re trying to show the Philippines to people from the United States and around the world in a way that they’ve never seen before,” added Devlin who shared the series will be filmed in several locations all over the Philippines. Filming will begin in November.
Off Tropic, originally titled Almost Paradise, centers on Alex Walker (Kane), a former US DEA agent who was forced into early retirement. Once the DEA’s most resourceful undercover operative, the combination of his partner’s betrayal and a life-threatening battle with hypertension has sent him as far from the madness as he can go … a small tropical island in the Philippine archipelago. He now runs the gift shop in the island’s luxury resort hotel.
The island’s luxury resort has attracted rich, powerful, and sometimes criminal elite from around the world, often on a collision course with Alex. Despite his best efforts to begin a tranquil new life, he’s pulled back into a world of dangerous people and deadly situations, either through his friends in the local police or running into people from his old life. And the problem is, he likes it.
“This is a first of many strategic partnerships and collaborations with partners from all over the world and we are very thrilled that we are partnering with a formidable team, Electric Entertainment, to line produce the US series for them,” said Ruel S. Bayani, ABS-CBN head of international production and co-production division.
ABS-CBN’s international co-production division has other partnerships and collaborations with other companies from all over Southeast Asia, the United States, and Europe.
“We chose to partner with ABS-CBN because they have been so instrumental in the development of talent here both in front and behind the camera. I think they have the most experience and they have just been amazing partners. This is going to change the way people perceive the entertainment business in the Philippines,” Devlin said.
“It’s great to be back, I love this country, there’s so many great people, so many colors here, it’s going to be fun," said Kane. "I don’t think the US has seen anything like this on TV before and we’re so excited to bring it home."
DEAN DEVLIN is the latest Asian/American director/producer to helm a Hollywood blockbuster costing millions of dollars and tons of special effects. Dean Devlin, who usually is the behind-the-scenes producer of movies like Independence Day or Gonzilla, has taken the director's chair for his latest effort Geostorm, which hits the screens Friday (Oct. 20).
In the last few years, a few AAPI directors have earned the opportunity to create havoc onscreen in big-budget films, including: Thor: Ragnorok, which will be released next month, was helmed byTaika Waititi of New Zealand; Justin Lin directed the well-received Star Trek Beyond; and Gemini Man, directed by Ang Lee was released earlier this month.
Geostorm is set in the near future where scientists have developed space stations that can manually control the weather, The hero, played by Gerard Butler is tasked with saving the day when the satellites go haywire, causing all kinds of natural disasters to be unleashed, creating a horrendously demolished planet.
Eath ends up resembling a three-vehicle pile-up of Devlin's other blockbustersSan Andreas, The Day After Tomorrow and Independence Day. While not all critically acclaimed, Devlin's productions are wildly entertaining and end up making tons of money, which is why his latest venture reportedly cost $100 million.
Devlin started shooting in 2014, and it took two years to wrap filming. Responses of the test audiences were horrible so extensive script rewrites and additional scenes were shot to try and salvage the production.
Oct. 20 was picked as the release date prior to the natural disasters caused by Hurricanes Maria, Irma and Harvey.
As reported by Mashable, the Geostorm tagline seems slightly distasteful in light of the hundreds of people killed by natural disasters of late, leading Warner Bros to release the following statement: “We want to be sensitive to everyone who are being [sic] and have been affected by the horrible storms, including families that may live in unaffected areas."
“I don’t think these weather conditions are going to get better on their own,” Devlin noted to Variety. “We used to call them the storm of the century but now we’re seeing what happens if we don’t act fast enough — and real human beings are suffering because of that. This is a popcorn movie but I do think the underlying message has never been more relevant.”
It is not all special effects and worldwide calamities for the Filipino/American director/producer. Devlin’s Electric Entertainment has acquired all North American rights for director Rob Reiner’s “LBJ,” starring Woody Harrelson as President Lyndon Johnson, which is set for general release Nov. 10.
