3 directors form a 'Triangle'

Hong Kong filmmakers team for film

By VICKI ROTHROCK

HONG KONG -- "Triangle," helmed by three of Hong Kong's best-known directors, will be distributed in China by Polybona.

Johnnie To, Tsui Hark and Ringo Lam -- action directors who started their careers together at free-to-air broadcaster Television Broadcasts 30 years ago -- have filmed 30 minutes each for the Milkyway-produced thriller.

The $5 million film began shooting in November and is expected to wrap this week or early next week. It will be submitted for consideration at Cannes.

French sales house Celluloid Dreams will handle worldwide sales (Daily Variety, Nov. 2); the Hong Kong distrib hasn't yet been decided.

Cast includes Louis Koo ("Election" pics), Simon Yam ("Exiled"), Sun Honglei ("Seven Swords") and Kelly Lin ("Fulltime Killer," "After This Our Exile").

The three agreed on very basic rules: segments of 30 minutes each, one seamless story and each director writes his script after he sees what was produced before him -- whether a script or film.

Because it was Tsui's concept, he had the honor of going first, To said. Lam followed, and To finished the story.

Each helmer has his own writers, but all the segments will have the same editor, cinematographer and music for the sake of uniformity.

David Richardson is editor, Guy Zerafa is handling music and Cheng Siu-keung is cinematographer. All three worked on "Exiled."

Yau Nai-hoi ("Eye in the Sky") was the writer for To's segment; Sharon Chung, a novelist who had never written a script before, penned for Lam; and Kenny Kan wrote for Tsui.

Story concerns three desperate friends who are given an opportunity to find buried treasure by a mysterious stranger.