Wikimedia Commons CC-BY-SA-2.0/iDominick (Photo: Wikimedia Commons CC-BY-SA-2.0/iDominick)
Netflix has announced the start of production of its Chinese-language TV series "The Ghost Bride" in Malaysia. Based on a New York Times bestselling novel from author Choo Yangsze, the show's story has been adapted for television by an international group of writers from Hollywood and Taiwan led by American-Taiwanese scribe Wu Kai Yu ("The Flash").
According to the press release, "The Ghost Bride" will also have Malaysian directors Quek Shio Chuan and Ho Yuhang taking alternate duties to craft the story. Quek is best known for his work in 2018's award-winning movie about autism, "Guang." Ho, on the other hand, is a well-established director who made a mark in the 2009 flick "At the End of Daybreak."
Leading the diverse cast of "The Ghost Bride" are Golden Bell Awards Best Actor Wu Kang Jen ("Wake Up"). Joining him are Malaysian theater actor Kuang Tian and Chinese-Canadian heartthrob Ludi Lin ("Aquaman"). Newcomer Huang Peijia ("Roseki") is the lone female lead star in the series.
"The Ghost Bride" takes place in the 1890s, where a woman named Li Lan receives a marriage proposal from the Lim family who wishes for their deceased son to have a ghost bride. Her decision will ensure the payment of her family's debt but she has to make some sacrifices as her "husband" won't stop haunting her.
Li Lan, however, discovers a web of mysteries leading up to the truth about a murder. The cost of her sacrifice is much bigger than she expected and so she devises a plan to get out of this arrangement with the Lim family.
The streaming site has not yet announced when "The Ghost Bride" will arrive on the platform. It will likely be slated for a late 2019 release.
Meanwhile, Netflix has also recently acquired the black comedy film "Dear Ex" from Taiwan's Hsu Chih-yen and Mag Hsu. The movie centers on a widow and a gay man, who are fighting over an inheritance. The film stars Roy Chiu and Hsieh Ying-xuan and it won many awards at the recent Golden Horse ceremonies.
Netflix's push to acquire Chinese content is an indication that the streaming platform is still actively seeking to dominate the worldwide market despite the streaming service's inability to penetrate China. According to Variety, Netflix is actually barred from becoming a video-platform operator in the mainland. The leading streaming service in the Middle Kingdom is actually iQiyi.
