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Former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew swears in as Senior Minister in Nov 1990.
Production for the widely-anticipated film about former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew is likely to start after the middle of this year, says its director Lee Thean-jeen.
Speaking to Yahoo! Singapore in an interview on Tuesday, Lee said that the script for the film 1965: The Beginning is still in its development stages and has not been finalised, so precise dates have yet to be set.
"The script is currently still being developed, so I think (once it's done) we will chart the progress… they're not expecting to go into production until the later half of this year," said Lee. The film's main production company, Homerun Asia, initially planned to start work on the movie at the end of last year and release it this August, according to media reports.
He revealed little when asked about possible cast and actors to fill the various key roles in the film, saying, "I don't think all that will be settled until the script itself is," declining to share his thoughts on the work-in-progress script, the latest draft of which he says he has not seen.
He joked about the rumoured involvement of Hong Kong actor Tony Leung, who was previously purported to play the role of the founding father, but as with the rest of the cast list, would not confirm the truth behind these claims.
The veteran television series director stressed that was the difference between working with the TV and film medium.
"With television, you set down a broadcast date, and then it's like a train that's left the station; with films, you kind of work on the script, and then everyone gets together to see whether it's a project that will move or not," he said.
Lee, who made his feature film directing debut last year with Homecoming, added that working on 1965 will be a very different experience for him.
"It is very different, it's different from anything (we've seen so far)," he said. "I don't think there's been a full-blown historical drama that's ever been done in Singapore, so I think it'll be different for everybody who is working on it."
Homerun Asia announced publicly last year its plans for 1965: The Beginning, which will be shot in Singapore, Malaysia and China, and will carry a price tag of $6 million.
The film is a political thriller set in the year of Singapore's independence, and will centre around Lee Kuan Yew and his struggle for the country's freedom. Overseen by Homerun CEO Daniel Yun and with involvement from acclaimed director Peter Chan, its production team includes local Singaporean music producers Lee Wei Song and Lee Si Song, as well as local fashion designer Lai Chan, who will take charge of costume and set design.
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