Spielberg joins team to design Olympics ceremonies
Steven Spielberg will join filmmaker Zhang Yimou in designing the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Zhang, whose films include Hero and House of Flying Daggers, was named yesterday to lead a team that includes Spielberg.
“I’ve promised not to direct any films in the next two years so as to make full preparations for the Olympics,” Zhang said. Zhang said his hiatus will start after he finishes his latest project, The City of Golden Armour, starring Chow Yun-fat and Gong Li.
He is to stage the world premiere of countryman Tan Dun’s opera The First Emperor for New York’s Metropolitan Opera later this year. It wasn’t clear how that commitment would be affected by his new Olympics role.
Spielberg’s films include Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan and Munich.
