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Yesterday night, the final round of The Disciple, attended by various luminaries in the industry like Tsui Hark, John Woo, Ng See Yuen, Cheng Pei, Pei, Yu Rong Guang, was aired over Beijing TV. The Disciple contest was put on hold in mid-May following the Sichuan earthquake with the candidates going to do relief work and only resumed recently.

The champion goes to 涂圣成 Jack Tu Sheng Cheng, who grew up under strict training regime of his martial artist father since the age of six. The runners-up are 杨政 Yang Zheng and 易扬 Jerry Liau. Jackie Chan presents his calligraphy to the champion Yu Sheng Cheng and takes him in as his disciple. Yang Sheng Cheng will get to follow Jackie Chan, and be imparted with his skills on movie-making.

In conjunction with China Film Group, Emperor Motion Pictures, Beijing TV Station, Beijing Forbidden City Films, and his own studio, Jackie Chan will be producing three modern action movies 《速递206》 (Speedpost 206), 《不告诉你》 (Won't Tell You), 《热带气旋》 (Tropical Tornado) and one action TV series with them playing the lead roles. Production is expected to start in September.

The rest of the top 16 candidates will also have a chance to take part in the above projects. Stanley Tong and Peter Pau will be the executive producers, while Xie Dong, Jiang Tao and Cai Rong Hui will each direct a movie. Jackie Chan Stunt Team will choreograph the action.  EastDay | Videos at Sina

-- Legendary Assassin --

Save for rather adorable roles in Master of Tai Chi and Young Heroes of Water Margin, former Beijing Wushu Team member 寇占文 Kou Zhan Wen has been playing major villains in various productions, such as Fist of Hero, Master Ma 2, matching Ji Chun Hua in terms of ruthlessness and menacing presence.

Most recently, Kou Zhan Wen has had a brief appearance in Fatal Move as a rival gang boss wielding dual weapons. He's also worked as martial arts director/assistant martial arts director on various occasions such as A Warrior's Tragedy, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Xanda.

-- Legendary Assassin --

Press conference marking the inaugural filming of 《狼牙之阿布》 Legendary Assassin: Bruce was held in Beijing on July 25, attended by producers Paco Wong and Ng See Yuen, directors Nicky Li Chung Chi and Wu Jing, famous erhu soloist Chen Jun, who's scoring/playing the main theme, cast members Celina Jade, Kou Zhan Wen, Alex Fong Lik Sun, Jiang Bao Cheng. To the applause of the guests, Wu Jing and his senior Kou Zhan Wen put up a captivating fight on the stage.

-- Ip Man --

Fan Siu Wong gets to clash against Donnie Yen several times in Wilson Ip's Yip Man (Or should it be the other way round?). He says that Donnie Yen is a very worthy opponent who's hard to come by, "Firstly, he knows how to fight; secondly, he's got incredible speed; it's great to work with him. What I fear most is working with non-martial artists, they don't even know how to receive hits."

He says that he's also very happy to work with martial arts director Sammo Hung, who's taken good care of him. There's a scene requiring him to kick with his right leg, however, Fan Siu Wong's has got some problems with the ligament in his right leg. Sammo Hung immediately requested for a change to left leg after reading the script.

In the Ip Man, Fan Siu plays a fiercely competitive martial artist in Foshan, who would stop at nothing - even if it's underhanded means - to achieve the status as number one fighter of Foshan.

Currently playing a proprietor of school uniforms shop in a romance 《爱得起》 by Joe Ma, starring Gigi Leung, Shao Bing, Chen Bo Lin, Shaun Tam, Fan Siu Wong is being asked about whether he'd be used to doing drama scenes. Fan Siu Wong replies, "Don't assume that I can only fight, I like doing drama roles as well."  Sohu

-- Painted Skin --

Spoilers...

-- Ip Man --

Ip Man, directed by Wilson YIp, is Japanese actor Hiroyuki Ikeuchi's first film outside Japan. He flew to Shanghai in April to shoot the film and returned in May.

Hiroyuki Ikeuchi plays a Japanese general Miura who's a karate expert. Hoping to introduce Wing Chun to his troops, he seeks out Yip Man (Donnie Yen), only to be turned down. Not going to take no for an answer, he throws down the gauntlet to Yip Man.

While Hiroyuki Ikeuchi holds a black belt in judo, he still had to train under martial arts choreographer Sammo Hung. Hiroyuki Ikeuchi found it a trial shooting his first martial arts movie that stresses on realism, "It was very taxing initially, you had no time to think about how to react, you must sense the onslaughts physically."

In one scene, he had to receive four blows continuously, resulting in mild concussion, while his whole body full of bruises, "If my manager were around, he would have interrupted the shoot."   Netease

-- Legend of Shaolin Kungfu 2: 13 Cudgel Monks --

On 9 July, Legend of Shaolin Kungfu director Du Xiao, joined by cast members Bao Guo An, Ji Chun Hua, Xie Miao, Sun Hui Ning, attended a chat organised by Sina, whereby they shared their experiences on the set of the 40-part TV series.

A 12-minute trailer to the upcoming Legend of Shaolin Kungfu 2, starring Yuen Biao, Li Yuan, Xie Miao, Leung Kar Yan, Ji Chun Hua, Xu Xiang Dong, Sun Hui Ning, Wu Ma, etc. was also shown then and may now be viewed on Sina.

Based on the trailer, which is interspersed with excerpts from the original from 8th minute onwards, Legend of Shaolin Kungfu 2 looks to be of bigger scale and even more epic. However, being an unfinished product, it's too early to tell if the martial arts scenes would live up to expectations of the original.
 

Legend of Shaolin Kungfu 2 is currently in post-production with a targeted release by early 2009.