APRIL 10 12:55 AM ET

"YKT" from crystal-yifei.net aka as Crystallized English Forum wrote to me saying that according to screendaily.com:

Quote:

US producer Casey Silver has confirmed that the world premiere of martial arts action adventure The Forbidden Kingdom will take place in Beijing on April 16.

Endquote.

As it is the World Premiere and as it is held in Beijing, there is a likelihood that Crystal Liu Yi Fei may grace the said premiere.

Moving along, "YKT" added that kansascity.com is running a contest for a screening of "The Forbidden Kingdom." The venue is not stated on the page but it'll most likely be a theater in Kansas City on April 17.  That's just a day before it opens Stateside.

And finally, "YKT" says that Crystal Liu Yi Fei is on the cover of several magazines in Asia.  

• "Monday magazine" and "Harper's Bazaar" in China
  
• "Ming" and "Jessica" mag in Hong Kong
  
• "Nuyou" mag in Singapore
  

Much thanks to "YKT" for the news!

(UPDATE: APRIL 10 10:10 PM ET: Variety has just given a rather lukewarm review of "The Forbidden Kingdom.")

Quote:

Those salivating at the thought of Jet Li and Jackie Chan going mano-a-mano are likely to be among the more disappointed customers for "The Forbidden Kingdom." While top-billed duo do indeed occupy plenty of screen time, this is basically the latest version of that post-"Star Wars" fantasy concept in which only a middle-class white teenage boy can save the universe from, y'know, Evil. On its own terms, it's a handsome albeit unexceptional juvenile adventure shot on some magnificent Chinese locations by d.p. Peter Pau. Biz should be healthy if unspectacular, with stars boosting Asian markets, and strong ancillary sales.

Endquote.

In blog/site news, I noticed that the blog software outputs the date of post at the bottom after all the digg et al. buttons.  This can be misleading.  I prefer the date of post on the top.  This post was updated on April 10 and the post below this was posted Earlier on April 6.

JC