Weinstein Films, in their ever endearing struggle to bring Asian cinema to the US, has enslaved Zhang Ziyi to a 3 picture deal. None of these films are in any way original, but it’s some sort of start.
In Seven Samurai, Zhang wants to play the role of a peasant girl who “hides from bandits in boys clothes.” The next picture they are talking about for her is a live Mulan where she plays a “girl who dresses as a man to do battle in place of her ailing father.”
Either Zhang has an odd fetish or the Weinsteins and Tom Cruise have similar fantasies. No word yet on the third film, but maybe it will be a remake of The Crying Game.
Here she is at the Oscars.