Set in 1923 Shanghai, China during the Communist revolution, this is the story of the deep emotional bonds that develop between several Europeans.

'Man's Fate' in Shanghai next project for Cimino By Nick Vivarelli VENICE, Italy (The Hollywood Reporter) --- U.S. director Michael Cimino will return to the director's chair next year to shoot "Man's Fate," a drama set in Shanghai against the backdrop of the Chinese revolution, he announced here Monday. Based on French author Andre Malraux's 1933 novel "La condition humaine" (The Human Condition), "Man's Fate" will depict the deep emotional bonds that develop between several Europeans living in Shanghai during the tragic turmoil that characterized the onset of China's Communist regime, Cimino said. The roughly $25 million project is to be filmed wholly on location in Shanghai and will benefit from the support of China's government, which has said it will provide some $2 million worth of local labor costs, the film's producer, Mirko Ikonomoff, said. Ikonomoff is currently in advanced talks to pre-sell "Man's Fate" to several European groups, including Italy's RAI Cinema and France's TF1, and to a major Japanese company, he added. Ikonomoff, who heads Los Angeles-based film-financing outfit Victory International, said he is in negotiations with agents for Johnny Depp, Daniel Day-Lewis, John Malkovich, Uma Thurman and French actor Alain Delon as possible stars for the project. Shooting is tentatively set to begin in Shanghai in June. Cimino, whose "The Deer Hunter" (1978) won five Oscars (news - web sites) including best picture, subsequently directed the textbook-case flop "Heaven's Gate" in 1980. His latest film was 1996's "The Sunchaser."