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-- All's Well Ends Exceptionally Well 2011 --

Donnie Yen, who has been wanting to act in a comical role and missed the chance last year due to his tight schedule, might be doing one this year if he could squeeze in a bit of time in between Wu Xia and The Monkey King.

Raymond Wong intends to cast Donnie Yen in 《至强喜事2011》 All's Well Ends Exceptionally Well 2011 (tentative), his Lunar New Year comedy for next year. In the film, Donnie Yen would play a makeup artist, who instead of fighting 10 people at one go, could apply makeup on 10 persons at once. Reportedly, all it takes are 10 days, and he gets a 15m yuan pay cheque. Possibly, Carina Lau might play Donnie Yen's girlfriend, Louis Koo would play a cosmetic salesman, while Raymond Wong would be pairing up with Yan Ni.  Information Times

-- Wuxia --

The crew, including director Peter Chan, and cast, Donnie Yen, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tang Wei, for Wu Xia have been arriving on the set in Tengchong, Yunnan in the past few days to get ready for production of the film, which has been held up due to extreme weather conditions, such as storm that causes mudslide, flood, brought about by climate change, further fuelled by El Nino effects. Director Peter Chan says they are beginning production soon so as not to eat into the schedule of Donnie Yen's next film Monkey King.
 

Peter Chan indicates that Wuxia is an original script which marries action, physics, medical science with special effects to look at martial arts, such as how powerful a blow could be, and how different the impact would be when a fist lands on a martial arts exponent versus on a regular person. While Wu Xia is set in Manchu dynasty, Donnie Yen, who is also serving as the action director, and Takeshi Kaneshiro need not shave their head.

In Wuxia, Donnie Yen, who hides a dark past, lives in a small village. When an unthinkable homicide was committed, Takeshi Kaneshiro comes to investigate, only to discover a more sinister conspiracy, with Donnie Yen being the prime suspect. It's speculated that Tang Wei would play Donnie Yen or Takeshi Kaneshiro's wife.  Chuncheng Evening News, Chongqing Times, MTimes

Ngai Sing (or Collin Chou) says that he admires director Benny Chan for his enterprising spirit, "Director Benny Chan is very bold, he dares experiment something he has never done before, I take my hats off to him for that. I also admire his talents, no matter what subject he's filming, it's as if he's telling the ups and downs of one's life.

Ip Man 2, the highest grossing Chinese film so far in China this year at slightly over 200m yuan, will be available on home video on June 25, 2010. Directed by Wilson Yip, action choreographed by Sammo Hung, and starring Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung, Shi Xiao Long, Fan Siu Wong, Huang Xiao Ming, Darren Shahlavi, Lunn Hung, Kent Cheng, etc., the sequel, which is more martial arts oriented, sees Donnie Yen against with Sammo Hung in some of the most exciting martial arts sequences in the recent years.

After defending himself against the Japanese army in the first film, Ip Man (Donnie Yen) goes with his family to start anew in Hong Kong. He starts a small martial arts school, recruiting the young and brash Wong Leung (Huang Xiao Ming) as his student. However, Ip finds out the hard way that the Hong Kong martial arts world is controlled by a group of martial arts masters, led by the powerful Master Hung (Sammo Hung). To survive in Hong Kong, Ip not only needs to gain acceptance from the masters, but also from the corrupted British-run police force and an arrogant British boxer (Darren Shahlavi).

Blu-ray and 2-disc DVD Editions come with:
● Making Of
● Cast and Crew Interviews
● Deleted Scenes
● Featurette on Four Major Scenes
● Shooting Diary
● Gala Premiere
● Photo Gallery
● Trailers

Order from YesAsia: Ip Man 2 Blu-ray | DVD - Standard Edition / Special Edition

-- Return of Chen Zhen --
Donnie Yen writes on his blog on Sina saying that it's no mean task achieving a breakthrough in the choreography in Legend of the Fist: Return of Chen Zhen, considering how many such productions were made. There wasn't a moment when his mind wasn't filled with thoughts on plotting out the action scenes and the moves, and he even suffered from insomnia during the shoot as a result.

Nunchaku, flying kick at the Japanese dojo are obligatory, and taking a bold move, he combines Jeet Kune Do with MMA, before infusing them into creative, yet practical combat elements, and hopes to pay tribute to Bruce Lee through this. There is no task that cannot be accomplished, as long as one has the determination and willpower. And he gained a major inspiration prior, during and after the shoot.

After slimming down in Ip Man, he had to gain back his weight in a short time, as well as toning his muscles for the Chen Zhen. To keep himself in tip-top condition, he would get up an hour earlier to do push up. Can a 46 years old be as fit as a 31 years old? Yes, Donnie Yen is glad to say that, he did it.

In terms of acting, Donnie Yen has to completely put down Ip Man's humble, scholarly, gentlemanly grandmaster, to play a complex character with multiple identities - a roguish, unrestrained nightclub boss by night day, a righteous Black Mask by night, while in reality, he is a hot-blooded revolutionary.

-- The Monkey King --
With the box office success of Donnie Yen's films in the past 2 years, such as the most recent Ip Man 2 which has just passed the 200m yuan mark in China, not only Donnie Yen, who is currently filming The Lost Bladesman (Guan Yun Chang) and just finished a fight scene with Andy On, is highly sought after by filmmakers and investors alike, but he's also getting a big, fat pay cheque.

Filmko CEO Alex Wong announces that Donnie Yen would be playing the eponymous character Sun Wu Kong in The Monkey King, budgeted at 300m yuan and shot in 3D IMAX. Alex Wong, who would not reveal the actual pay Donnie Yen is getting, says, "Donnie Yen is certainly worthy of the salary of 20m yuan that he commands, he is such a huge box office draw."

This has been confirmed by Donnie Yen's manager, "The role of the Monkey King is a big challenge to Donnie Yen, and something worth trying out, and Donnie Yen is very confident in handling the role well."

Presently only Monkey King Sun Wu Kong is confirmed. 12 other main characters remain to be filled up, including Bull Demon King, Princess Iron Fan, Jade Emperor, Ancient Ancestor Bodhi, Erlang Shen, Nezha, etc. Apparently, Chow Yun Fatt and Louis Koo would also be onboard.

Building the fantasy sets is a costly affair, with around 50m yuan being allocated. The Water Curtain Cave and Mountain of Fruits & Flowers will be shot on location in Zhang Jia Jie, Hunan. Production begins in November, with a proposed release in Feb 2012. Following that, Donnie Yen would be teaming up with Tony Jaa in a co-production with Thailand in 2011.  Sina, HK Headline

-- Return of Chen Zhen --

A poster and a few new stills from Legend of the Fist: Return of Chen Zhen, produced by Gordon Chan, directed by Andrew Lau, have been unveiled recently at Cannes Film Festival. Apart from the main cast, Donnie Yen, Anthony Wong, Huang Bo, Shu Qi, Huo Si Yan, Kohata Ryu, Zhou Yang, there also appearances by Yusuaki Kurata, Shawn Yue, Akira and Ma Su.

-- Legend of the Fist: Return of Chen Zhen --

A slightly longer trailer for Return of Chen Zhen, directed by Andrew Lau, starring Donnie Yen: Sina

Four character posters for the film are also on Sina.

In the film, Chen Zhen returns to Shanghai in disguise, attempting to uncover and stop the Japanese plan to assassinate key Chinese officials.

Heard that you hurt yourself when filming but still insisted on carrying on? Was it very serious?

Sammo Hung: Yes, I still kept on filming after being injured. You could say it was serious, you could also say it's not serious, did not matter. Darren Shahlavi dared not hit me initially. But I compelled him to strike, but he was still holding back, so the outcome wasn't very good and we kept doing retakes.

-- Guan Yun Chang --

Here are some photos of Donnie Yen on the set of Guan Yun Chang, which has quietly been in production for a while, from Sina. Jiang Wen would be making an appearance opposite Donnie Yen as warlord Cao Cao.