KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 \u2014 Edison Chen is heading back to the big screen after nearly a decade away \u2014 and his comeback is taking shape in Penang.<\/p>\n
The 45-year-old Hong Kong actor was unveiled on September 17 as the previously mystery co-lead opposite Anthony Wong Chau-sang in the upcoming Chinese New Year comedy Temple of Wishes, currently shooting in Malaysia.<\/p>\n
Chen joined Wong and fellow actor Samuel Pang at the film\u2019s lensing ceremony in Penang, where his appearance drew cheers from those gathered, according to The Star.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really been a long time, so I\u2019m very excited to start filming. I\u2019ll do my best and continue to work hard. Thank you, everyone,\u201d Chen said at the event.<\/p>\n
The Malaysian-directed production, helmed by Peiji, had previously announced Wong as its lead while keeping its second male star hidden as a silhouette on promotional material, according to Penang Today.<\/p>\n
That mystery was finally put to rest at the ceremony, confirming Chen\u2019s return after years in which he largely stepped back from film and television to focus on his fashion business and family.<\/p>\n
The project also reunites Chen and Wong, who previously appeared together in the Infernal Affairs franchise and 2005 street-racing hit Initial D. Their latest pairing has already generated buzz online, with Penang Today citing reports of clips from the ceremony circulating on Xiaohongshu.<\/p>\n
Budgeted at RM10 million, Temple of Wishes follows two struggling men who begin operating a temple centred on granting wishes.<\/p>\n
Principal photography began on September 7 and is expected to continue until September 30, with filming planned across Penang and Kuala Lumpur, as well as Hengdian in China and Bellagio, Italy, according to Penang Today. The film is reportedly set for release on February 6, 2027, the first day of Chinese New Year.<\/p>\n
For Wong, the shoot also marks a return to Penang roughly a decade after filming the thriller Insomnia there.<\/p>\n
\u201cPenang is not only beautiful. The food is also irresistible. I\u2019ve eaten so much that I\u2019ve gained weight. I\u2019ll have to lose weight next,\u201d the 65-year-old joked, according to The Star.<\/p>\n
Pang, meanwhile, said it was his first visit to the state and that he had already taken to its food.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very grateful to the director for giving me the opportunity to work with Anthony and Edison again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Penang State Tourism and Creative Economy Committee chairman Wong Hon Wai also welcomed the production, describing it as an opportunity to showcase the state through film, Penang Today reported, citing state government publication Buletin Mutiara.<\/p>\n
He highlighted Penang\u2019s mix of beaches, rainforest, heritage locations and colonial-era architecture, as well as its multilingual production environment.<\/p>\n
The project lands as Penang continues to court major international shoots. Netflix\u2019s upcoming Mark Wahlberg film The Big Fix has also selected the state as one of its filming locations.<\/p>\n
But for Hong Kong cinema fans, Temple of Wishes carries another draw: the sight of Chen and Wong sharing the screen again years after their crime-thriller and street-racing collaborations \u2014 this time swapping gangsters and mountain passes for a festive comedy about granting wishes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 \u2014 Edison Chen is heading back to the big screen after nearly a decade…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629471,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[267246,321,117521,267245,93,61,267248,60,31997,267247],"class_list":["post-629470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-anthony-wong-chau-sang","tag-celebrities","tag-chinese-new-year","tag-edison-chen","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-infernal-affairs","tag-ireland","tag-penang","tag-temple-of-wishes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}