New Xi You Ji - Journey to the West (Zhang Ji Zhong 2009/2010 version)
There has been numerous reports that Zhang Ji Zhong is putting this project on hold due to its complexities from a filming and adaptating standpoint and that it may not commence until after filming his new adaptation of "Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre". However, in spite of those rumors, a recent news article at Sina suggested that Zhang Ji Zhong is planning to start filming his next big project "Xi You Ji" (Journey to the West) sometime after August of 2008. Rumors are speculating that Huang Xiao Ming will play the Monkey King, Liu Yi Fei will play the Goddess of Mercy Guan Yin, and Fan Bing Bing will be cast as the Iron Fan Princess. But when Zhang Ji Zhong was asked about this rumor, he simply laughed and said "Do you think these actors will be willing to put in 8 months' worth of their time just to do this production? They can make a lot more money and much more quickly doing other projects within those 8 months than following me around". Filming this new "Xi You Ji" is expected to take 8 months and probably won't be released to the public until at least 2 years later. This series is expected to span 60 episodes, with a 2 million chinese yuan budget per episode. Zhang Ji Zhong said that he would like to cast all of the popular actors/actresses that have worked with him before in small roles that only require several days of filming. I personally hope this project gets the greenlight and start production as soon as possible.