Tony Leung Lines Up Johnnie To Film and Serial Killer Series

Thespian Tony Leung Chiu-wai has three productions in the pipeline: a film to be directed by Johnnie To, a separate India-set project and a six-or-seven-episode streaming series in which he will play a serial killer.

The Hong Kong screen legend disclosed the projects while speaking to Variety ahead of his role as jury president of the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival.

The To project is awaiting a completed script. The India film is unlikely to shoot this year due to the monsoon season, which runs through September. The serial killer series is currently in script fine-tuning and will confirm its shooting schedule once Leung’s jury duties in Shanghai conclude. Further details of the three projects are under wraps at the moment.

“It is a pleasure and a great honor,” Leung says of the jury role. “I recall participating in the Shanghai IFF many years ago, though the exact year escapes me. Now it is the 28th edition, it must have evolved significantly compared to the past, so I am very eager to visit and experience it firsthand.”

Having previously sat on the jury of the 64th Berlinale and chaired the jury of the 37th Tokyo Film Festival, Leung is approaching Shanghai’s Golden Goblet lineup fresh. “This time, I don’t know anyone in the main competition, so I’m actually hoping for a few more pleasant surprises,” he says. “In my experience, if every jury member spends 15 minutes discussing each film right after watching it, making the final decision will become much faster.”

The festival will screen “Silent Friend,” written and directed by Hungarian filmmaker Ildikó Enyedi, as a special tribute to Leung. The film marks his first European production. “It’s a project very close to my heart. The preparation demanded a significant investment of time, involving extensive reading and exhaustive research. The director’s creative methodology is highly distinct from other filmmakers, meaning this kind of cinema is best suited for an audience already inclined toward this genre,” Leung says. “I am very keen to discuss my preparation and our creative process with the audience, thereby fostering a deeper comprehension of the work.”

Leung is an actor with more than 100 roles across a career spanning nearly five decades. “Since the age of six or seven, I have consistently watched about three to four films a week. I watch a wide range of films, from mainstream blockbusters and foreign features to arthouse and indie cinema from all over the world. I’m guided simply by what captures my interest,” the actor says.

On the subject of AI, Leung says: “Say you need three different cuts of a film; if you hire a human editor, it might take a month or two. AI could probably do it in minutes. Humans simply can’t compete with that speed, so the unfortunate side is unemployment.”

He draws a distinction, however, between speed and authenticity. “If the audience knows that something isn’t human, their perception changes entirely,” Leung says. “It’s the same with art. Looking at an original painting by Van Gogh gives you a completely different feeling than looking at a Van Gogh style generated by AI.” He adds: “Right now, there’s just no comparison because AI lacks consciousness. Unless one day AI actually gains consciousness the same way as we humans possess it, meaning it is aware of its own existence. If that day comes, it will have its own thoughts and its own ability to create. But for now, there’s simply no soul inside it. Unless you are able to hide from the audience that the actor is CGI or AI, the moment they notice, they will think, ‘Oh, that’s not real.’ And that will immediately break the immersion and affect their entire viewing experience.”

Leung also uses the technology in studying and relies on it to do research. “After all, it is a very efficient tool,” he says. “Sometimes I cannot find the terms in a dictionary, AI can explain to me. Because it has a massive database, I ask it something almost every day. Occasionally, I debate abstract concepts like free will and consciousness, and it pulls me a lot of materials to read.”

Shanghai’s Golden Goblet Awards will be presented on June 20 at the festival’s closing ceremony, with screenings and industry events continuing through the end of June.