US network to produce Chinese-inspired drama series

The film still of Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons. Photos Provided to China Daily

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Journey to where East meets West

US television network AMC announced it will produce a martial arts drama inspired by the famous classic Chinese tale Journey to the West, South China Morning Post reports.

The series, which is tentatively titled Badlands, will consist of six one-hour episodes. It is set to premiere late next year or early 2016, AMC said on its official website.

The drama is loosely based on the popular 16th-century Chinese fantasy Journey to the West, a story that details pilgrimage of a legendary Buddhist monk who travels west in search of sacred writings, along with the Monkey King and other fantasy characters.

AMC's reproduction of Journey is created by Smallville's Al Gough and Miles Millar. The screenwriter and producer duo have previously worked with Chinese martial arts elements in films, including the Jackie Chan action-comedy Shanghai Noon and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, which stars Jet Li.

Two Hong Kong figures will also join the production team: director Stephen Fung and filmmaker Daniel Wu.

Badlands, on the other hand, tells the story of a warrior and a young boy who embark on an adventure across a dangerous land to find enlightenment.

AMC, short for American Movie Classics, is home to some of the most successful TV series.

The series is the network's third "straight-to-series order", after hit zombie show The Walking Dead and a prequel of the Emmy-Award-winning Breaking Bad.

Many audiences were delighted with AMC's announcement, some quoted as saying "AMC has produced many great and well-received series. I have high hopes for their reproduction of China's Journey to the West."

Other fans of the Chinese classic remained skeptical and expressed their concerns to whether the series turn out to be another version of "Saint Saiya" (a Japanese fantasy animation that's largely popular in China).