‘The Modelizer’ Trailer Offers Love and Wealth in Modern-Day Hong Kong (Exclusive Video)
Opening in theaters and on VOD July 14, Vertical’s “The Modelizer” offers a trailer that sells a romantic comedy that’s part of a new wave of “Hong Kong Films,” which are original features where the subject matter is distinctly Hong Kong but is in English.
Directed by Keoni Waxman and produced, written by and starring Byron Mann (who has seemingly aged about ten minutes since playing Ryu in the 1994 “Street Fighter” movie), the picture is a conventional mix of rom-com tropes (a well-off womanizer must change his ways once he finds someone – played by Rayssa Bratillieri — worth settling down for) and wealth porn, with the obvious hook being that it’s from a locale that isn’t often presented in such a fashion in mainstream Hollywood flicks.
The locale is usually for stranger-in-a-strange-land actioners like Dwayne Johnson’s “Skyscraper” (who co-starred Mann) and Rowann Atkinson’s “Johnny English Reborn” or recognizable big city destructo-carnage playsets like “Godzilla Vs. Kong,” “Transformers: Age of Extinction” and “Pacific Rim.” The relatively formulaic goings-on teased in this trailer for “The Modelizer,” wealth and privilege notwithstanding, helps it normalize normality for a demographic often presented in extreme (crime bosses, kung fu masters, etc.) onscreen terms.
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As Justin Min said to TheWrap at Sundance when discussing “Shortcomings, “You’ve seen Asians fight wars, you’ve seen them be crazy rich, but have you seen them at a diner eating a sandwich?” Of course, “The Modelizer” seems to offer up more crazy rich antics, but every demographic should have their wealth fantasies and Mad Libs-worthy romantic comedies too.
The film was shot in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic, with production taking place over three weeks in late 2020 and early 2021. That meant, as noted in The South China Morning Post, they had the advantage of being the only major production operating in Hong Kong that summer. That meant Mann was able to grab otherwise out-of-reach locations, quicker financing and the services of October Pictures.
“We were fortunate we had the crème de la crème of crew members,” Mann told TSCMP. “Everyone was available and many hadn’t worked in six months actually.”
“The Modelizer” stars Mann and Bratillieri alongside K-Pop star Nichkhun of the boyband group 2PM, Dominika Kachlik, Hana Hrzic, Celinde Schoenmaker. Julia Nickson and the late Kenneth Tsang. The feature is directed by Keoni Waxman.
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