TVB producer Lau Ka-ho (劉家豪), who returned to TVB earlier this year after a three-year stint with Now TV, has announced two upcoming TVB titles under his wing. At an employee award ceremony hosted by TVB yesterday, the producer-turned-production director announced that Heart of Greed 3 <溏心風暴3> and Beyond the Realm of Conscience 2 <深宮計> are currently in development. The first series in the Heart of Greed franchise, released in 2007, was a critical and popular success, garnering numerous awards at the TVB Anniversary Awards. The follow-up sister series, repackaged under the name Moonlight Resonance <溏心風暴之家好月圓>, aired the following year to even higher numbers, averaging 35 viewership rating points per episode, and peaking at 50. 2009’s Beyond the Realm of Conscience <宮心計>, which was produced by Lau’s wife Mui Siu-ching (梅小青), rivaled Moonlight Resonance’s success, also peaking to 50 points. According to Lau, Heart of Greed 3 and Beyond the Realm of Conscience 2 will be slated for about 40 episodes each. He shared that TVB has begun working on the scripts for both. On when he plans to release Heart 3 and Beyond 2, Lau said, “I’ve just returned to TVB so I’m still trying to get my crew together. We’ve only just started writing the script, so I don’t think production will start until another seven to eight months.” Will Lau call back the original actors from both series to return in the sequels? “Most of them, but some actors have already left, such as Lee Heung-kam (李香琴). I don’t think she’s able to film dramas anymore. Besides, I do think it’s time to get some new actors in.” Rumors say that Ngo Ka-nin (敖嘉年) has recommended himself to an audition. “I will not name names, but many actors have approached us about it. This is great encouragement for Mui Siu-ching and me.” Lau and Mui were promoted to drama production directors after returning to TVB, thus putting them on equal footing as Catherine Tsang (曾麗珍). “Let’s not talk about this,” said Lau. “Our only goal is to up our game and make better dramas. Comparisons aren’t needed. Catherine is a hard-worker. I especially need to thank [former TVB chairman] Norman Leung (梁乃鵬). When we left [TVB] four years ago, he bid us farewell. When we came back, he welcomed us. It warms my heart.” Will Lau increase the production budget for Heart 3 and Beyond 2? “It all depends on the script. If the script is no good, no money can save it.” Does the studio plan to cast non-TVB A-listers in these productions? “We’ll concentrate on getting the original cast back first. Everything else will have to depend on the roles.” Creds: Oriental Daily
interesting, I wonder who the cast are going to be considering most of them are probably not full time TVB artists anymore
