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Legendary Assassin, directorial debut of Wu Jing and Nicky Li, will be released on DVD on January 22. The cast of the action film includes Wu Jing, Celina Jade, Aoyama Noriko, Kou Zhan Wen, Kara Hui, Alex Fong, Lam Suet, Ken Lo, etc.

Wu Jing stars as a cool and lethal hitman with a heart of gold being marooned on an outlying island due to an incoming typhoon and befriends a small-time cop Celina Jade. Meanwhile, the Aoyama Noriko, wife of the crime boss Kou Zhan Wen, is out for vengeance as well as wanting to recover his corpse after discovering he was killed on the island, with his head missing. Preorder at YesAsia.

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Following Legendary Assassin's Beijing premiere, Nicky Li, Wu Jing, Celina Jade and Paco Wong proceeded to its premiere screenings in other Chinese cities including Nanchang, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou, etc. In Hong Kong, they were joined in by Ken Lo, various Gold Label artistes Ronald Cheng, Alex Fong, Stephy Tang, etc. while Celina Jade sang the theme song on the stage.

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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.

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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

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.

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.

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

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10 minutes Legendary Assassin behind-the-scenes: Sina
 

See also Legendary Assassin site @ Sina

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Here's a quick review of Legendary Assassin by Twitch's Todd Brown at American Film Mart.

Legendary Assassin is, in every way, a throwback to the b-grade Hong Kong martial arts films of the late 1980s complete with goofy comic relief, sweeping romance and a hugely melodramatic finale.

For fans of golden age Hong Kong action this thing is a gold mine of all the tropes seldom seen on screen these days though others will likely find these particular elements less appealing. Luckily, for those people, the film also features action o’plenty and proves that Wu Jing was actually on to something when he thought he could direct a film himself: this is quite easily the best shot and best constructed film that Wu Jing has appeared in since drawing huge attention in SPL.

The story is very basic - Wu Jing plays a killer stranded on an island surrounded by police and searching gangsters when an impending typhoon shuts down the ferry service and eliminates his escape route - but is told well and Wu makes a more than likable lead. For my money Wu is the best Chinese fighter of his generation and he shows off his skills to great effect with both wired and unassisted sequences set in a variety of environments with a broad range of opponents.

Will Legendary Assassin elevate Wu Jing into the true A-list? Nah, it’s not really that sort of movie but for fans of the old school this will definitely hit the spot.

Legendary Assassin AFM Screenings: Nov 8th, 5pm, Laemmle 4; Nov 11th, 9am, Laemmle 4

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"Anyway, in my mind, this I echoed in my reply, relationships should be about feeling, rather than fulfilling a list of qualities. I guess, I'm a romantic after all

"It seems a lot of journalists are curious whether this film will only be about action, obviously Wu Jing is the king of action, but I deeply believe the film is rather touching. In fact, as a girl, I enjoy the emotional subtleties of the film. So if you're a girl, I would give it a chance, bring your boyfriend along and teach him a lesson on what it is to be truly romantic, even though it is only a film, and unfortunately reality may differ." says Celina Jade on her blog.

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To promote Legendary Assassin, which opens in China on December 5, Wu Jing and Celina Jade arrived in Guangzhou on October 30 to do publicity.

Speaking to the press, Wu Jing says that it's not until after being a director did he understand the constraints and difficulties faced when doing martial arts films due to budget. However, he is not giving himself pressure regarding the film's box office takings, and he has no intention of seeking overnight fame through Legendary Assassin. He leaves the criticisms to the audience, and wishes to see how far he can go with this step.