Events

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 --

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.

-- Missing --
Missing gala premiere was held in Beijing yesterday, graced by Tsui Hark, Guo Xiao Dong and Angelica Lee Sinjie, while Isabella Leong was unable to attend.

Missing, which starts with horror and suspense high on shock factor that has the audience screaming, and changes drastically, with a purposeful mismatch in look and feel, into romance in the last 20 minutes that the audience finds a bit slow yet heartbreaking, is about a marriage proposal underwater that goes awry as the would-be groom Guo Xiao Dong goes missing while the would-be bride Angelica Lee loses part of her ROM, RAM, harddisk, memory card and suffers from mental breakdown. Missing opens in theatres in Asia on June 12.

-- Wushu --

Jackie Chan, who was in Cannes a few days ago to promote the movie 'Wushu', directed by Antony Szeto, never forgot the victims of Sichuan Earthquake. Sharing the same sentiments as Jet Li, he says that relief effort is a long term work, and it would take a long time to rebuild everything and heal the minds of the affected.

In 'Wushu', Sammo Hung plays a wushu coach, but he's just a big supporting role. The leads are the five real life young wushu athletes. The movie is about the growth and development of the two brothers who have been studying at a wushu school since young, and how they overcome hurdles and unfavourable conditions, eventually making some headways, and emerging tops at wushu competitions.

'Wushu' is slated for release in China in September/October, according to Antony Szeto.

Jackie Chan says that after the reality TV programme The Disciple is concluded in June, he would be shooting a martial arts movie starring the winners, again presenting Chinese wushu to the audiences in various parts of world.  Sina

-- Legendary Assassin --

Twitch has just posted a preview of Legendary Assassin's promo reel at this year's Cannes Film Festival:

"Also up on the Hong Kong action tip, I got to check out a promo made up of completely raw footage for Wu Jing’s Legendary Assassin. Beyond the fact that it was still in very rough form and graced with one of the most hilariously over the top bits of English narration ever – apparently done a bit tongue in cheek – it looks decently well shot and there is certainly no shortage of action in this movie. Nope. And it’s all old fashioned Hong Kong ass whuppin – fists and feet meeting faces. Wu must’ve been tired."

Besides Legendary Assassin, Twitch also reports on two Donnie Yen projects - Painted Skin and Legend of Yip Man - being marketed at Cannes:

"Anyway, there were still good things to be had.  Such as?  The promo for Ip Man, the Wilson Yip directed, Donnie Yen starring bio pic of Bruce Lee’s mentor.  The current promo is largely behind the scenes footage but also includes some final work and it all looks very, very impressive.  Donnie looks strong - you’d expect a strong effort from him considering how highly he regards Bruce Lee - as do the production values and the supporting cast. Fans of Fan Siu Wong - who we talked about a little while back thanks to his part in The Moss - will be glad to know it looks as though his role is pretty significant."

-- Grandmaster Yip Man --

 Press conference for 《一代宗师·叶问》 Grandmaster Yip Man (tentative), budgeted at around 80m yuan, was held on May 7 afternoon in Shanghai, attended by producer Raymond Wong, director Wilson Yip, the cast Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Gordon Lam, Lynn Hung, Xing Yu, etc. Grandmaster Yip is the fourth collaboration between the "golden team" Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen.

 Both Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen indicate that they're taking a more down-to-earth approach in portraying on the screen the life of this legendary grandmaster of martial arts as well as his rich spiritual world, as well as presenting a scintillating, fresh martial arts choreography, courtesy of martial arts choreographer Sammo Hung.

--Yip Man, Painted Skin --

On the set of Yip Man, actor Donnie Yen was seen busying himself, running about, and giving instructions intently, such as completely immersing himself in admonishing a kid, while martial arts director Sammo Hung appeared to be more relaxed, seated comfortably in a chair.  NetEase

A press conference was held on April 29 for Donnie Yen's other film Painted Skin remake, during which contracts were signed with 10 major Chinese cinema operators regarding its distribution in China. The release date was announced as September 28. Donnie Yen says that he has never approached a role from the perspective of love, and it's a breakthrough for him in terms of acting. He says that while Painted Skin doesn't contain much action, the characters are very fresh. Video: Sina

-- Forbidden Kingdom --

The world premiere of Forbidden Kingdom was held in Beijing on April 16. Apart from the major cast and crew such as Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Liu Yi Fei, Rob Minkoff and Yuen Wo Ping, various guests such as Zhao Wen Zhuo, Wong Jing, also turned up to show their support. 

Multiple videos at Sina

Photos from Sina:

-- 27th Hong Kong Film Awards --

The 27th Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony was held on April 13 Evening. Jet Li receives Best Actor award for his excellent performance in Warlords, which sweeps through the event with seven other wins, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Visuals, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Effects.

Jet Li says that he does not intend to thank director Peter Chan, for had the latter told him earlier that he'd win an award doing drama roles, he would not have done over 20 years of action films. He also expresses gratitude to the panel and his fans. He says there are too many people he'd like to thank, the scriptwriter, the director, his mother and father, his wushu mentor Wu Bin, Shaolin Temple's director Cheung Sing Yim...

Best Screenplay goes to Au Kin Yee and Wai Kar Fai for Mad Detective. Donnie Yen wins Best Action Direction for his fresh and bold choreography for Flash Point. Lydia Shum, who passed away in February, was honoured posthumously with Professional Spirit Award.  Sina

-- HK Filmart 2008 --