By Julie Cho

Mira Nair to direct Harry Potter, Hero opens No. 1 at the box offices, Asian actors on the cast of NBC's Hawaii, and much more in this issue of News Bites.

Mira Nair Might Direct the Fifth Harry Potter Movie

Mira Nair, director of Monsoon Wedding, might be the director of the fifth installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The Indian-born filmmaker has yet to give a response to the offer, but it has been noted that her 12-year-old son might be able to persuade her to accept the job. In a recent interview Nair talked about how she's seen all the Harry Potter movies with him. This fifth installment will most likely star the same cast of kids, permitting that they did not grow up too much, and would be released in theatres June 2007. Nair's recent work includes Vanity Fair, starring Reese Witherspoon, a period adaptation of a British novel which was released in theatres on September 1, 2004.

Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War

Tae Guk-Gi: The Brotherhood of War, a Korean film directed by Kang Je-gyu (The Ginkgo Bed) opened in select theatres around the U.S. on September 3, 2004.  The film is about the relationship between two brothers set in the time period of the Korean War.  The older brother Jin-Tae (Jang Dong-Gun) shines shoes to save enough money to send his younger brother Jin-Seok (Won Bin) to university. When Jin-Seok is unwillingly drafted into the army Jin-Tae is forced to join to save the life of his brother. Misunderstandings begin to brew among the two siblings and it is only at the fatal end that Jin-Seok realizes his brother's sacrifice. For more information about the film, please go to: www.sonypictures.com/movies/taegukgi.

Hero Opens No. 1 at the Box Offices

The martial arts thriller, Hero, starring Jet Li, has set a new record for Asian films in America by opening at No. 1 at the box offices. It was able to gross $17.8 million by the end of its opening weekend. The film, directed by Zhang Yimou, was first released in China two years ago, and was nominated for a foreign language Oscar in 2003. Miramax than picked up the film and has been sitting with it for two years because it did not want it released too close to Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which came out in 2001. The delay was also prompted by Miramax's desire to use Quentin Tarantino's kung fu series, Kill Bill, to advertise Hero by placing trailers in front of both films. For more information about the film or to find out where it is playing, please go to: www.herothemovie.com.

Takashi Miike's Gozu

Gozu, the Japanese horror film by Takashi Miike, was released in New York on July 30, 2004. The film first debuted in Japan in 2003, and was presented at the Cannes Film festival.  Gozu is similar to Miike's other works in the fact that the basic storyline for his characters is fairly simple, but the acts that they get themselves into are very off-the-wall, and to say the least, politically incorrect. The film is about the disappearance of a Yakusa member who was accidentally killed by one of his cohorts, Minami. However, after the shooting takes place, the body mysteriously disappears, and while searching for it Minami stumbles into a secluded inn.  He soon discovers he has entered into the bizarre world of his innkeepers, where sadomasochistic relationships and crotchless panties are the norm. The cast includes Hideki Sone, Harumi Sone, Kimika Yoshino, Sho Aikawa, and Shohei Hino. For a more in-depth review of the film, please go to: www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/121203/gozu.html.

Asian Cast Members on NBC's Hawaii

The new sitcom on NBC, Hawaii, which premiered on Wednesday night, September 1, 2004, includes a few Asian Pacific American actors in its cast: Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa (Captain Terry Harada), Aya Sumika (Linh Tamiya), and Peter Navy Tuiasosopo (Kaleo). Hawaii is an action drama created by Jeff Eastin (writer of Rush Hour 3), set on the island of Oahu and follows the exploits of Honolulu's Metro Police Department as they solve crimes that can only happen on this exotic locale. The show airs every Wednesday at 8pm. 

Ming Lo's Pax IMPORTi MODELLus

Filmmaker Ming Lo has just created a mockumentary, Pax IMPORTi MODELLus: The Rise of the Import Model. It is a 24-minute short film about the whole import model scene that Asians have become so popularly linked to over the past few years. Lo was inspired to create this documentary by his love of Christopher Guest films, and how his films are able to delve into and depict people who are obsessed with their own little ‘corner' of the world. However, Lo was also inspired to create this short because he wanted to represent a piece of reality that exists in Los Angeles. 

Lo is a part of the production team Commando films. The idea for this creative team was first conceived as an outlet for filmmakers and actors who are ‘between jobs'. They realized that instead of waiting for the next gig, they could instead create their own work/sources to release their creative juices. To learn more about Commando films, please visit their website: www.commandofilms.com, and to download and view Ming Lo's mockumentary, please click here: Pax IMPORTi MODELLus.

Lucy Liu Joins Gang on Lucky Number Sleven

Lucy Liu is in negotiations to join Josh Harnett in the gangster noir film, Lucky Number Sleven.  Liu would play Lynda, a sexy coroner who falls in love with Harnett's character, Sleven.  Liu's character eventually assists Harnett in staging his own death. The film is set in the middle of a conflict between Black and Jewish gangsters and will be directed by Scottish filmmaker Paul McGuigan, who also directed the film Wicker Park. No release date for the film has been set yet. 

ImaginAsian TV

ImaginAsian TV, America's first Asian American network, was officially launched on Monday, August 30, 2004.  However, carriage of the channel is limited and it is only being broadcast in Las Vegas, Denver, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Seattle, and California.  ImaginAsian TV (iaTV) is following in the footsteps of it predecessors, MTV and BET, by infusing the current television landscape with the best Asian/Asian American media coverage.  iaTV offers a diverse schedule of drama series, movies, sports, news, and original programming.  For more information about the channel and local listings, please visit their website, www.iatv.tv/.

What: ImaginAsian TV (iaTV)

Where: Las Vegas, Neveda KTVY Channel 7

             Ventura, California KIMG Channel 23

             Denver, Colorado KKTU-DT Channel 11

             Atlanta, Georgia W55CR Channel 54

             Minneapolis, Minnesota KO7UI Channel 7

             Seattle, Washington K58DP Channel 30

Published: Saturday, September 4, 2004