Linmon Pictures, one of the most outward-looking mainland Chinese entertainment firms, is preparing premium series “Hate Coin.”
The show is being produced in association with Jonathan Wong and Justina Shih’s production company Octagon metatainment, a Hong Kong-based multimedia studio.
“Hate Coin” is based on international best-selling novel “Second Sister,” by successful Hong Kong novelist Chan Ho Kei, whose previous book “The Borrowed” was a crime story that panned five-decades.
The story follows the activities of a young woman whose school-age sister appeared to have committed suicide. Suspecting foul play, the woman trams up with a manipulative hacker and cybersecurity expert to try to dig deeper.
“What follows is a cat and mouse game through the city of Hong Kong and its digital underground, especially an online gossip platform, where someone has been slandering Siu-Man. The novel is also populated by a man harassing girls on mass transit; high school kids, with their competing agendas and social dramas; a Hong Kong digital company courting an American venture capitalist; and the Triads, market women and noodle shop proprietors in the neighborhood of Sai Wan,” reads an Amazon synopsis of the book.
Linmon says that the series includes screenwriter Terry Lam, whose previous credits include Hong Kong’s all-time highest-grossing film “A Guilty Conscience”; producer Andy Lo (“In Geek We Trust”; pre-visualization supervisor Billy Tai (“Aquaman,” “Fast and Furious 7,” “Hi, Mom”)
“Our exceptional team merges Hollywood-quality storytelling on the page and in the frame, with authentic insight into a beloved Hong Kong I.P., delivering a gripping, topical tale of cybercrime, secrets and our society’s obsession with hate, that will leave audiences spellbound,” said a Linmon spokesman.
Wong is a rising Hong Kong singer and actor, who on Sunday was co-host of the Asian Film Awards.
Earlier this week, as part of Hong Kong’s FilMart, Linmon unveiled its first Thai projects: “Under the Skin,” a Thai remake of popular Chinese series, alongside “The Fairest Lady.”
