(THR) WarnerMedia unveiled a pair of Chinese-language original series for HBO Tuesday during the first day of APOS, Asia's leading media and entertainment industry summit. The shows include period drama Legacy, created by the same team behind the blockbuster Chinese series Story of Yanxi Palace, and contemporary noir drama Trinity of Shadows, which is a co-production with Taiwanese streaming service CatchPlay.
Set in 1920s China, Legacy chronicles the lives of the wealthy Yi family and its three sisters who vie to inherit their father’s business empire. In a time of upheaval and uncertainty, the three sisters set aside their differences to keep the business afloat and save their family. The period drama is created by Yu Zheng, the showrunner behind Story of Yanxi Palace, which was released by Chinese streaming service iQiyi in 2018 and became a phenomenon, attracting some 15 billion views during its run. Legacy stars much of the same cast as Yanxi Palace, including Qin Lan, Wu Jinyan, Nie Yuan, as well as other Chinese stars including Han Geng (Ex-Files), Liu Jun (All is Well), Miao Pu (The Rise of the Tang Empire) and Zhang Nan (The Legend of Haolan).
"We've been ramping up our Mandarin series recently and Legacy promises to be a binge-worthy addition to our growing originals slate," said Magdalene Ew, WarnerMedia’s head of content in Southeast Asia.
Trinity of Shadows explores a murder investigation with mysterious similarities to a cold case from the past. During the investigation, the lead detective (Taiwanese actress Sandrine Pinna), an up-and-coming public official (Kaiser Chuang), and a rookie policeman (Kuan-Ting Liu) are drawn together into a dark labyrinth of power plays.
Trinity of Shadows is produced by David Tang (Dad’s Suit, The Long Goodbye) and directed by Bo-Hao Hong (Dad’s Suit, Wake Up). The screenwriter is Chien-Ming Huang (Scoundrels, Wake Up).
Trinity of Shadows is set to begin airing on June 13, while Legacy is expected later in the year.
WarnerMedia's HBO Max has yet to launch in Asia, so both of the new series will be broadcast over legacy VOD service HBO Go and via HBO to regional cable subscribers. Trinity of Shadows will also be simulcast on the CATCHPLAY+ streaming service in Taiwan.
Other HBO Asia Originals in production this year include the mystery series Forbidden, currently in production in Thailand, as well as the action fantasy series Halfworlds Season 3 produced in the Philippines, and the horror anthology series Folklore Season 2, which is filmed across seven different Asian countries.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter by Patrick Brzeski