Stage meets screen

Theater productions adapted from films by Wang Pengfei's company include Forever Young. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Wu Yajun, a professor of the Central Academy of Drama, where Wang studied, will be the project's screenwriter. Wu Yuze, Wang's former classmate and a theater director, will direct both the play and film. Wu Yuze is known for his stage productions but lacks the experience of directing films.

Calling the project challenging, Wu Yuze says audience response will decide which parts of the play are retained in the film.

Wonpennon Media's youth-related production Li Lei & Han Meimei toured the country with more than 100 performances after its premiere in 2010. The play is about the romance between Li Lei and Han Meimei, two characters who appear in English textbooks in Chinese high schools.

The company has been following in the footsteps of Western producers, who have been mixing cinema and stage for some time now. While the trend is relatively new to China, Wang hopes it will pick up soon.

"Some previous plays that were adapted from films (in China) focused mainly on urban or campus life, but we wanted to touch on historical themes, because of the scope of showing grand scenes."

Wang previously participated in the production of large-scale shows for tourism sites in different parts of the country.

He worked on the idea for Kuilong Jade for at least a year before announcing it, he says.