On Saturday evening, Jackie attended a press conference in support of director Zhang Yimou's new interpretation of the Puccini opera "Turandot." Jackie is an old friend of Zhang Yimou, the esteemed director of dozens of hit movies including House of Flying Daggers, Hero, and The Road Home. Zhang also directed the stunningly beautiful opening ceremonies for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Jackie and Zhang Yimou have been trying to find the time to collaborate on a film for over 10 years. So far their schedules have conflicted, but they have plans and hopes for a joint project sometime in the future.
Also attending the press conference were singer Song Zuying, actress Fan Bing Bing, and several other Asian celebrities. Here is some video from the press conference:
Here is some information about "Turandot" from the CCTV website:
A "Chinese Princess Turandot" was selected in Beijing on Sunday to represent Chinese director Zhang Yimou's new version of Puccini's opera "Turandot". Zhang and the creative team behind the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will return to the National Stadium to stage the opera on October 6th and 7th, during the Chinese National Day holiday.
The budget for the new spectacular show was 1.2-billion yuan, or about 180 million US dollars.
Some of the effort can be seen in the nationwide pageant competition to find a "Chinese Princess" the young lady who will embody classic Chinese beauty, combined with the strength of the opera's central character as the modern "Princess Turandot".
Li Ruoning, a 21-year-old girl from northwestern China's Shaanxi Province, won the competition out of 15 finalists and was crowned "Chinese Princess" on Sunday.
Li Ruoning said, "I did not expect to be 'Chinese Princess' before. But after winning, I will definitely follow the director's arrangements. I will continue to build up myself, and continue to engage in public interest work and in helping others."
Besides selecting a real-person as "Chinese princess", the promoter has also created a collectible, hand-crafted Princess Turandot doll, which was also unveiled at a press conference.
Zhang Yimou himself, however, did not attend Sunday's event.
His partner and the Executive Director of Turandot, Chen Weiya, admitted that Zhang did not know who won the "Chinese princess" pageant. Nevertheless, they are doing everything necessary to have a remarkable turnout at the box office.
Chen, who was also the assistant director for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics, is confident they will present a fantastic opera at the "Bird's Nest".
Zhang initially directed the opera about the love story of a Chinese princess named Turandot in 1998, in the Forbidden City. It subsequently toured South Korea, France, Germany, and Spain.
Some 100-thousand people are expected to attend the performance at the "Bird's Nest", and more than 4,000 sets of new costumes have been produced. The promoter said they plan to tour 30 performances in 20 cities around the world.
Photos courtesy Sina 
