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Saturday, November 29. 2008
-- Legendary Assassin --  Legendary Assassin premiered in Beijing on November 28. The main team, including Paco Wong, Nicky Li, Wu Jing, Celina Jade, went to several cinemas to meet the audience and gave a brief talk. So far, feedbacks on the film have been pretty encouraging, not just on action, but also on drama, with Wu Jing and Celina Jade being commended on their acting, and the soundtrack and sound effects.
Friday, November 28. 2008
-- Future Cops --  Future Cops is currently being filmed on in Huairou, Beiijng. According to Wong Jing, the movie timeline have been changed, it will take place totally in the future. A number of characters in the film are part-man, part-machine with superhuman abilities, such as the villain Tang Yi Fei, whose cybernetics accessories include scorpion tail, wings of bat, arms of praying mantis, and she also possesses speed of leopard, all of which will be handled by special effects.
 Action director Ching Siu Tung, who's trying to be innovative in the action, says that the film's budget is over 100m yuan, and a significant portion of the budget will be spent on creating roughly 900 visual effects shots in post-production.
 Andy Lau and his wife Fan Bing Bing are cops living in 2130, and Xu Jiao's their daughter. Barbie Hsu plays Andy Lau's romantic interest when he travels to 2080 and part of his memory is erased. Fan Siu Wong plays a terrorist leader who sends his men to kidnap scientist Ma Jing Wu, whom Andy Lau and Fan Bing Bing are assigned to protect, at a Tang Dynasty exhibition.
Photos: 1, 2 (Sina) | Short clip: Sohu
Wednesday, November 26. 2008
-- Legendary Assassin --
 Senior Kou Zhan Wen and Wu Jing grew up together as members of Beijing Wushu Team, but Wu Jing actually joined the team earlier. However, as Kou Zhan Wen's older than them, they called him senior. Wu Jing says, "When I was a kid, Kou Zhan Wen was our chairman, I could only be an assistant, and I had boil water for the chairman in winter."
One's affections as a kid are often the purest and most innocent, while they have left the wushu team in pursuit of their own careers, their relations remained close as ever.
"Wu Jing kicked me very hard, it was very painful. His foot felt like metal," Kou Zhan Wen recounts an incident on the set of Legendary Assassin where he received a kick on the back of his head. As he speaks, Kou Zhan Wen makes a signal, launches an attack on Wu Jing. Wu Jing turns to him, blocks it, with a turn of the hand, grabs his senior's fist.
 "The biggest hurdle and cause for regret when shooting action films are not meeting someone of your equal. That's why I invited Senior, hoping to present an enthralling true-blue martial arts sequence." Wu Jing explains the reason for getting Kou Zhan Wen play a fearsome crime boss who makes off to an island in order to hide from the Interpol.
"The first fight is between Senior and me, he plays a villain, carrying a big Kwando. I haven't had such a delightful fight for a long time. Only when facing someone like him can I fight without reservations, without holding back. We fought like that in the past, if it were others, I fear they might not be able to withstand it." continues Wu Jing. East Week
Wednesday, November 26. 2008
-- Chasing Shadow --
Francis Ng is planning to direct what is said to be a tribute to King Hu and Tsui Hark's Dragon Inn as well as all Hong Kong wuxia filmmakers. While Francis Ng has been keeping a low profile on this project, the media still somehow managed to get wind of it. Tentatively titled 《追影》 Chasing Shadow, the film has been confirmed by Wang Zhong Lei to be one of Huayi Brothers' major projects in 2009.
Calling it wuxia film version 2.0, Wang Zhong Lei says that while the storyline of Chasing Shadow is not modelled after Dragon Inn, it will feature various familiar wuxia elements as a form of homage, such as the characters, plot, makeup, action and lines. But, the film will carry these elements further, injecting its own novelties. Beijing Times
Sunday, November 23. 2008
 On November 20, Nicky Li, Wu Jing and Celina Jade were invited for a chat hosted by Sina, sharing the joys and pains on the set of Legendary Assassin.
The subjects brought up include the frustrations of waiting passively for chances in Hong Kong, the reasons for opting for a simple story, their approach to action, preconceived notions on action stars' acting, one's respect to the profession, the tricks to crying, the difficulties of working with the giant wrestler, injuries and box office outlook. Legendary Assassin opens in cinemas on December 10.
Continue reading "Legendary Assassin Sina Chat: Wu Jing Explains the Simplicity Behind The Film"
Saturday, November 22. 2008
-- Ip Man --  While promoting the launch of Ip Man soundtrack CD at a press conference , Raymond Wong formally announces their plan to shoot Ip Man 2 next year. In the sequel, having migrated to Hong Kong, Yip Man's four major disciples will be introduced. Leading a group of disciples, Yip Man would promulgate Wing Chun, passing it on.
They're thinking of doing a worldwide talent scout for a suitable candidate to play Bruce Lee, Yip Man's most celebrated disciple. Donnie Yen says that both he and Wilson Yip have a separate candidate in mind, and they're debating over whether to look for one with solid martial arts foundation or looks, "In terms of looks, Danny Chan bears the closest resemblance. But we won't necessarily approach him. Perhaps, we would consider one with similar background and demeanour." Baidu Entertainment
Friday, November 21. 2008
 In conjunction with next month's upcoming release of Legendary Assassin, directed by Nicky Li and Wu Jing, the informative 136-page Legendary Assassin Graphic Novel, essentially a coffee table book in Chinese containing multiple photos of the movie in front of and off-camera, and includes interview with the director, has been launched, and is now on sale at YesAsia.
Friday, November 21. 2008
Recently, Philip Ng has just quietly finished filming another project, Somebody to Love:  Just wrapped on an independent-romantic-kungfu-comedic film (tentatively titled, "Somebody To Love") by the up and coming Irish director Seamus Walsh. Working on this film had me engulfed by the professionalism I had come to expect from having work on larger-scale projects, while simultaneously, the independent nature of this production gave the cast and crew very little restriction to create freely. It was a tough shoot, but it was one of the most enjoyable projects that I had been involved with in quite a while. Seamus came up with a very clever scrīpt that drove the action quite well, and his unique sense of humor shines through in his direction. Our award-winning DP, Henry Chung pointed his new RED camera in all the right places and the image on the screen is pretty awesome. The fight sequences were placed together very well by action-director, Jude Poyer (who has done quite a bit of stunt work in Hong Kong before relocating to England a few years back, and is quite a capable fight-choreographer in his own right). Every single cast and crew member involved with this project was there because they wanted to be and everyone offered their professionalism and expertise without reservation.
Thursday, November 20. 2008
 At a Legendary Assassin press conference in Beijing, Wu Jing reveals that he'd direct two to three more films: a period movie, a modern actioner, and a comedy, after which he'd step down as a director and just be an actor. And these plans are close to a state of being realised.
He won't be affected by Legendary Assassin's box office takings, which the distributor Mei Ah estimates to be around 60m yuan. If the film doesn't do well enough and no one is willing to finance his movies, he will invest himself.
Wu Jing says that being a director is an important step in his career, and is very grateful to his manager Paco Wong for giving him such a chance. Things went on very smoothly for his directorial debut with Nicky Li.
But Wu Jing next step would be "ditching" his partner, and directing independently. He is ready to move on, returning to that which launched his film career and in which he excels: directing a period martial arts film with Tai Chi as the main theme. The script is almost ready, and it may perhaps let everyone get to know martial arts in a different light. It involves not only Tai Chi handwork, but also weaponry such as Taichi Sword.
Should you haven't already seen this little gem, you're strongly encouraged to get Master of Tai Chi, a milestone in martial arts productions.
Legendary Assassin will hold its premiere, to be attended by Nicky Li, Wu Jing, Celina Jade, etc., in Beijing on November 28. Sina, MTime
Wednesday, November 19. 2008
-- True Legend -- Currently, True Legend, directed by Yuen Wo Ping, is being filmed on Beijing Fee Tang Soundstage where a gargantuan indoor set comprising rocky hills, steep cliffs, wooden steps, suspended bridge, etc. was built.
Continue reading "True Legend: Zhao Wen Zhuo Wrangles with Inner Demon"
Monday, November 17. 2008
 Why didn't you play any role in Ip Man but served only as the martial arts director?
Sammo Hung: There's no suitable role, and the boss thinks I'm too expensive.
As the martial arts choreographer of Ip Man, is it more difficult to craft, direct Wing Chun sequences than your past movies? Did you delve deep into Wing Chun?
Sammo Hung: Every movie has its own challenges, it's not merely restricted to Ip Man. Ip Man is primarily about a person, it tests the actor's ability, whether he has the capacity to portray such a person. What I did was to coordinate with the director and the actors to complete the martial arts scenes.
Continue reading "Sammo Hung on Ip Man: 100 Marks for Donnie Yen"
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andy lau
Just wrapped on an independent-romantic-kungfu-comedic film (tentatively titled, "Somebody To Love") by the up and coming Irish director Seamus Walsh. Working on this film had me engulfed by the professionalism I had come to expect from having work on larger-scale projects, while simultaneously, the independent nature of this production gave the cast and crew very little restriction to create freely. 
