Wu-Jing.org

-- Legendary Assassin --

Wu Jing is soon making his directorial debut with an action thriller Legendary Assassin (or Wolf Fangs in Chinese), which he's co-directing with Nicky Li Chung Chi. The film has been picked up for worldwide distribution by Arclight Films' Asian label Easternlight Films at Filmart. The deal, which excludes Hong Kong and China, is the first between Easternlight and Paco Wong's production company Gold Label Pictures from Hong Kong.

Wu Jing also heads the cast of the $HK30m film along with Alex Fong, newcomer Celina Jade, Sammy Leong and a few martial artists (whose names are not available at this time). This marks the screen debut of the singer-songwriter-model Celina Jade, who appears to have some trainings in Tae Kwon Do.

Set in a remote island, the story revolves around a small-time cop investigating a murder with a mysterious martial arts master as chief suspect. Legendary Assassin is due for filming soon, with an expected year-end release.

Wu Jing has starred in Fatal Contact, SPL and the recent Fatal Move, which have all been acquired by Easternlight previously.  Screen Daily

-- Wu Jing's Future Works and Fatal Move --

After attending Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan, Paco Wong comforts Wu Jing, telling him not to be discouraged for not winning the award. Wu Jing is not disheartened, saying that it's already a big encouragement to be nominated, a form of confirmation to his acting. So, he's already very happy. At least, his effort and diligence has not gone down the drain.

In the recent years, Wu Jing has stood out in action films, gaining attention from within and without Mainland, and has also been approached by US studios occasionally. Wu Jing has been working hard on improving his command of English, so that when the right opportunity comes knocking, he'd not miss it.

His manager Paco Wong says that he'd be producing a martial arts film next year and Wu Jing would not only be starring in it, but he'd also let Wu Jing be the director, so that he can show his understanding and prowess of wushu on the silver screen.

-- Fatal Contact 2-Disc Edition --

Fatal Contact DVD is going to be released on Dec 8. The feature packed special 2 disc edition comes with Wu Jing's sanda training in Beijing as well as an interview with him, trailers, making-of video, music video of the theme song sung by Ronald Cheng, bloopers and a poster and postcards. Fatal Contact is about a mainland wushu player who gets goaded into underground fighting in order to keep up with his girlfriend's demands. Directed by Dennis Law. Action directed by Nicky Chung. Starring Wu Jing, Ronald Cheng, Miki Yeung, Shi Xing Yu, Ken Lo, Andy On, Theresa Fu, Timmy Hung, Lam Suet, Eddie Cheung. Available from YesAsia.

-- Wu Jing on Impact --

December's Impact Magazine contains the first part of an exclusive interview with Wu Jing, whose latest work Fatal Contact, also featured on the magazine, was released in Hong Kong last month. The upcoming issue will conclude the interview as they discuss SPL, working with Sammo Hung, Fatal Contact and Wu Jing's plans for the future.

"Mainland Chinese Wushu maestro Wu Jing first jump kicked his way onto the Jade Screen as the youthful star of Yuen Woo ping’s kung fu comedy Tai Chi 2/Tai Chi Boxer, before carving a name for himself in the world of Chinese martial arts dramas on the small screen. Wu worked for director Tsui Hark on Legend of Zu, and Lau Kar leung for Drunken Monkey, but it his cameo role in Wilson Yip’s dark classic SPL/Killzone that re-introduced him to cinema audiences across Asia. This month Wu Jing headlines a dark martial arts thriller Fatal Contact, which sees him drawn into the world of illegal martial arts fights. Impact’s Eastern Editor Mike Leeder caught up with the man for the following interview."   Courtesy of Big Mike

A new trailer that highlights the action scenes is up at Cnave.com

-- Fatal Contact Trailer --

Underground Fist Trailer is now up at Gold Label website.

Official website: FatalContactthemovie.com

-- SPL 2 --

On Aug 29, Paco Wong arranged for Wu Jing, who has just wrapped up Let's Steal Together, to go to Hong Kong to meet the press and talk about future plans. Paco Wong declared that they'd be filming SPL 2 next year, sometime after the Lunar New Year. Wu Jing, Sammo Hung and Simon Yam has already signed on to this project.

Paco Wong revealed that SPL 2 is a prequel to the original movie, mainly dealing with the relationships between Sammo Hung, Simon Yam and Wu Jing. And in order for it to be approved for release in China, they'd try to accommodate the film regulations of Mainland, reducing some gore. They'd also increase the proportion of fight scenes to keep it thrilling. It's possible that SPL 2 will pit Wu Jing against a number of foreign martial artists, one of whom might possibly be Tony Jaa.

While SPL 2 is still in pre-production, Wu Jing has his own views of the film's plot, "I feel that the prequel should describe how I turn into a cold-blooded killer, why would I carry out a series of murders on Father's Day, why I'd regard Sammo Hung as my father..."

Wu Jing came to Hong Kong mainly to do dubbing for Fatal Contact, which opens in Hong Kong on October 5. Fatal Contact would not be released theatrically in Mainland. Rather, it'd go straight to video there.  Nanfang Daily

-- Fatal Contact (Underground Fist) --

Nothing much on Fatal Contact other than Wu Jing's management mentions that it's tentatively slated for October 2006 release in Hong Kong. Wu Jing has also said that he would be joining the production of Let's Steal Together.  Jing Xin Xiao Zhu

-- Underground Fist Wraps Up --

Production of Underground Fist has just been completed and a celebration was held on May 24. Underground Fist is about Wu Jing entering into illegal matches to support the extravagant lifestyle of his girlfriend and features full-contact fights aplenty, such as a climatic battle between Wu Jing and Shi Xing Yu, the Shaolin disciple who played the coolie in Kung Fu Hustle.

As both Shi Xingyu and Wu Jing are martial artists, shooting progressed smoothly in their scenes. In one scene, Wu Jing did a back flip, followed by a scissors kick to lock Shi Xing Yu, and finished off by strangling his neck with his arm. They only required two rehearsals before proceeding to actual filming, which was done in two takes.

Through this taxing and physically demanding production, Wu Jing shed 10 pounds in the process, not to mention the risk of injuries. He sweated so much that he had to change up to 18 t-shirts a day. The production also took extra precaution when filming action scenes involving Ronald Cheng as he had not recovered from previous injury in the waist.

Wu Jing, who had to deal with different opponents each day, and had to use different techniques against them, worked very closely with the martial arts director, who was rumoured to be Nicky Li Chung Chi, discussing and exploring various moves with him They would try out different moves before demonstrating to the rest of the cast. Wu Jing had a great time working on this production, and was grateful for the care they gave him.  Sina, Eastweek

Videos: QQ, Sina | Photos: Sina

-- Underground Fist by Dennis Law --

While Ronald Cheng, who plays a highly skilled coach, barely has any fight scenes, all of them have to be executed with realism, including a scene in which he fends off a group of hoodlums. He says that prior to filming, he had sought guidance from Wu Jing, and discovered that there are many fatal moves in the art of combat, such as an occasion in which his thumb was badly twisted by Wu Jing, he suffered so much pain that he collapsed on his knees, "It's really awesome." When asked if he had any plans for revenge, he quipped, "Nothing of that sort, what if my other thumb gets twisted too?"

Miki Yeung, who plays a Mainland girl, reveals that there are three scenes in which she gets beaten up, one of which she is to receive a delirious kick from Wu Jing which sends her soaring through air momentarily. She fears that she might not be able to take a hit from Wu Jing, saying that she would be wearing protective gear on that day. She jokes that she would drug Wu Jing so that she won't get injured by him.

Wu Jing indicates that he would rather Miki Yeung bear with pain for once and for all, so that they need not re-shoot, which is the best way to take care of her. He adds that, with many years of training, he knows how to control his strength, but he feels bad about wounding a stunt double earlier on.

Wu Jing, who has his fair share of injuries in Underground Fist, which he describes as his toughest work to date, once got thrown down by a foreign actor, and his head slammed onto the ground, his head felt shattered and his mind went blank. But thankfully, there wasn't any side effect.  Tom

[Spoilers] Wu Jing elaborates that he plays naive wushu player who, for the sake of the girl (Miki Yeung) he loves, to make money for her to live comfortably, and for her glory, enters into illegal matches and fights painfully against all odds all the way through. He turns from an honorable wushu player into a mean fighting machine who stops at nothing to win, irregardless of how inhumane and ruthless his blows are, leading eventually to a tragic ending.  Wu Jing Official Site

-- Underground Fist --

In Underground Fist, Wu Jing takes on the lead role as someone on the dark side, an aggressive underground fighter. In the first week of the shoot, they could only do filming at night, when the wushu facility was closed for the day. His manager Paco Wong has arranged for him to stay in a special hostel, as he would be staying in Hong Kong for nearly two months. Wu Jing has enjoyed working with Ronald Cheng, Theresa Fu, Miki Yeung, etc and his Cantonese has improved quite a bit, thanks to Underground Fist being a sync-sound film. While Wu Jing has no problems communicating with the Hong Kongers, he is finding it difficult to adapt to the environment. He is used to living in more roomy place and maintaining a daily jogging routine in Mainland. In a crowded place like Hong Kong with lots of cars and heavy traffic, he has troubles looking for a suitable place with good supply of fresh air to jog. So, he could only get up in the middle of the night and run up to the hill, enjoying in the stillness and tranquility of the night.  Eastweek

Interview video: Sina 2.06min

 -- Underground Fist --