{"id":897275,"date":"2026-04-06T09:18:59","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T14:18:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/06\/the-night-manager-chinese-language-remake-expands-cast\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T09:18:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T14:18:59","slug":"the-night-manager-chinese-language-remake-expands-cast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/06\/the-night-manager-chinese-language-remake-expands-cast\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Night Manager\u2019 Chinese-Language Remake Expands Cast"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tThe Ink Factory has rounded out the supporting ensemble for its Chinese-language \u201cThe Night Manager<\/a>\u201d series, naming six cast members and two special appearances as the production heads into its late 2026 premiere window on Youku. The news was timed to the company\u2019s presence at FilMart in Hong Kong this week.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe previously announced leads <\/a>\u2013 Eddie Peng<\/a> and Sean Lau as protagonist Jonathan Chan and arms tycoon Richard Kwok, Isabella Leong as Kwok\u2019s girlfriend Jed Cheung, and Carman Lee as ICAC investigator Angela Fok \u2013 are now joined by Michael Dao, Frederick Lee, George Au, Alan Luk, Justin Chu and Elizabeth Tang in supporting roles, with Carl Ng and Amy Lo making special appearances.<\/p>\n

\n\tAmong the more notable pieces of casting is Dao, whose character Peter Kong is a newly written role \u2013 Kwok\u2019s uncle \u2013 that has no direct equivalent in le Carr\u00e9\u2019s source novel. Dao and Lau trained together at TVB\u2019s Artiste Training Class in 1983, and despite both becoming fixtures of Hong Kong screen culture in the decades since, the two have not appeared together on screen in close to 35 years.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tPopular on Variety\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\tMalaysian actor Frederick Lee steps into the role of Ken Lai, Kwok\u2019s security chief \u2013 the equivalent of Lance \u201cCorky\u201d Corkoran in the novel. Lee won Best Actor at the 2024 Asian Television Awards for his work on \u201cTaiwan Crime Stories.\u201d George Au, fresh off his role in \u201cLeft on Read,\u201d plays Franco, another original creation, positioned as Ken Lai\u2019s son and a trusted figure within Kwok\u2019s orbit.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe two special appearances carry their own interest. Amy Lo, whose background spans Cantonese and Costa Rican heritage, takes on Ah Bo, a woman from Jonathan Chan\u2019s past whose reappearance in his life sets the central undercover operation in motion. Alongside her screen work, Lo has been building a music career, releasing four singles and picking up several awards since her debut last year. Carl Ng \u2013 whose father is Hong Kong comedy institution Richard Ng \u2013 plays Harry Garrigan, an Irish intelligence operative known as \u201cHappy Joe,\u201d whose personal history with Jonathan Chan becomes a source of friction throughout the series. Both Lo and Ng have previously worked with lead Peng.<\/p>\n

\n\tCompleting the ICAC unit surrounding Carman Lee\u2019s character are Alan Luk as Man Tai, Justin Chu as Ricky, and Elizabeth Tang as Bai Hui. Tang has been drawing awards attention of late, earning Best Supporting Actress nominations at both the Golden Horse Awards and the upcoming Hong Kong Film Awards for her performance in \u201cGirlfriends.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSimon Cornwell and Stephen Cornwell, founders and co-CEOs of The Ink Factory, said the project had allowed them to serve talent at different stages of their careers. \u201cThis adaptation of \u2018The Night Manager\u2019 \u2013 like the original U.K. version \u2013 is a wonderful vehicle both for celebrated established acting talent, as well as for exciting rising stars, to get their teeth into the layered, complex characters that populate le Carr\u00e9\u2019s novel,\u201d they said. \u201cWe\u2019ve also had the joy of creating new roles in the spirit of le Carr\u00e9 and the world of the original, adding new dimensions and fresh angles to this bold and original retelling of the classic story.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAlistair Jennings, senior VP of APAC sales and partnerships at Fifth Season, which holds global sales rights outside mainland China, pointed to the enduring commercial appeal of the IP. \u201cSince its TV premiere 10 years ago, \u2018The Night Manager\u2019 has continued to excite and delight fans all over the world,\u201d he said. \u201cThis new Chinese-language adaptation is set against the backdrop of Thailand, Macau and Hong Kong and brings together some of Asia\u2019s most beloved talent from across the region. Together with our partners at The Ink Factory and 127 Wall Productions, we are proud to bring this premium and highly authentic pan Asian production to life \u2013 and to Hong Kong\u2019s International Film & TV Market (FilMart) this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe series was shot across Hong Kong, Macau, Bangkok, Kanchanaburi and Phuket, transposing le Carr\u00e9\u2019s espionage framework into a contemporary Asian setting. Hong Kong director Kelvin KinLong Chan (\u201cHand Rolled Cigarette\u201d) leads the production, working from scripts by Cheung Feifan and He Liangyu, both veterans of the \u201cCold War 1994\u201d franchise. Donghui Wang heads the executive producing team alongside producer Julia Song and executive producer Chris Cornwell. Joe Tsai and Arthur Wang executive produce for co-production partner 127 Wall Productions. <\/p>\n

\n\tFurther executive producers include Simon Cornwell, Stephen Cornwell, Michele Wolkoff and Tessa Inkelaar for The Ink Factory; Clare Cornwell for the John le Carr\u00e9 estate; Susanne Bier; Stephen Garrett for Character 7; David Farr; and William B. Johnson for Demarest Films.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Naman Ramachandran
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ink Factory has rounded out the supporting ensemble for its Chinese-language \u201cThe Night Manager\u201d series, naming six cast members and two special appearances as the production heads into its late 2026 premiere window on Youku. The news was timed to the company\u2019s presence at FilMart in Hong Kong this week. The previously announced leads<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":897276,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4948,1361],"tags":[42747,7106],"class_list":{"0":"post-897275","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the","8":"category-night","9":"tag-the","10":"tag-night"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=897275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/897276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=897275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=897275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=897275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}