LEGEND OF THE DEMON CAT to Ring in Year of the Pig

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 31, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- LEGEND OF THE DEMON CAT, the latest feature from internationally celebrated filmmaker and Palme d'Or winner Chen Kaige, will receive a U.S. theatrical release from myCinema, timed to coincide with Chinese New Year, February 5, 2019. The sweeping historical drama, based on the novel Gensoshin Kukai, by best-selling Japanese fantasy writer Baku Yumemakura, and filled with legendary Chinese characters, is a visual feast, and will be released in theaters nationwide, including Los Angeles and New York. A film about Love, Death and Revenge. LEGEND OF THE DEMON CAT unleashes a daunting secret that once revealed will rewrite history.

The Sino-Japanese co-production, featuring an ensemble cast of top talent from mainland China and Japan, was filmed on a lavish, sprawling set, which included the creation of an entire city, that took over five years and in excess of $250 million to construct. "I have yet to feel at ease making an entire movie using just a green screen," said Kaige.

To generate awareness about the film to moviegoers and fans myCinema launched legendofthedemoncat.mycinema.live/love-death-revenge. The all-access website features exclusive trailers and content, including behind the scenes facts about the making of this epic film and an insider's view into Chen Kaige's creative and audacious filmmaking style and skill.  From facts about the building of an elaborate set that recreates the most populated city during the Tang dynasty, to the secret behind the digital imagining of the ever-present Demon Cat, audiences are about to see why LEGEND OF THE DEMON CAT is many things – period drama, fantasy, horror, detective flick, love story – there is something for everyone.

LEGEND OF THE DEMON CAT is set over a thousand years ago, during the imperial Tang Dynasty, considered by scholars to be a cosmopolitan period of exceptional cultural and literary flowering. A Chinese poet, Bai Letian (Xuan Huang) and a Japanese monk, Kukai (Shōta Sometani) join forces to investigate the case of a demonic cat who has possessed a general's wife (Kitty Zhang Yuqi) and wreaked havoc on the imperial court. The investigation takes some gruesome and unexpected twists, leading the monk and the poet to unravel the mystery behind the decades-old death of the legendary, beautiful concubine Yang Guifei (Sandrine Pinna), one of the iconic Four Beauties of ancient China.

Chen noted, "LEGEND OF THE DEMON CAT shows the cruelty humanity is capable of, and the beauty and hope that such darkness brings out.  Despite the different time period, I think such themes resonate today more than ever.  I am thrilled to share this film with American audiences."

The film re-teams Chen with Etchie Stroh, whose Moonstone Entertainment is handling international sales, and who has produced or executive produced several other films directed by Chen, including the emotionally compelling Together; The Promise, a blockbusting, opulent Chinese fairytale; and Caught in the Web, a contemporary exploration of the effects of technology on society.

"Launching LEGEND OF THE DEMON CAT to start the New Year is truly an honor for the myCinema team," said Bruce Eisen, Head of Content Acquisition for myCinema.  "We are very pleased to partner with Moonstone Entertainment for the distribution and promotion of this exceptional film by Chen Kaige. As movie lovers in the United States will soon understand, the multiple international film awards earned by LEGEND OF THE DEMON CAT are very well deserved."     

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Contact: Rita Hollingsworth/RMH Media
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SOURCE myCinema