Wu-Jing.org

-- Ong Bak 2 --
Twitch has just released the Ong Bak 2 trailer that was shown recently at Cannes Film Festival in May. Ong Bak 2, showcasing Tony Jaa in his directorial debut, was shot late last year and is expected to be released late this year at the earliest. Featuring a wide variety of martial arts, this looks extremely promising, if somewhat violent, with choreography being taken to the next level for a Tony Jaa film.

On the other hand, it's painful and sad to see the elephants got stomped on by people doing stunts on them, and hopefully the animals weren't mistreated or harmed during filming. And in Chinese films, the poor horses are often tripped while galloping at high speed, and might have been hurt badly due to the impact of the fall (if they weren't using mattresses for the horses) or their legs running into ropes all of sudden. Shouldn't all these stunts and tricks whatsoever be done away with or be done using CGIs to avoid harming the animals, especially when there is no assurance on the matter, as opposed to Hollywood productions?

 
Ong Bak 2, a sequel in name only, moves the narrative back in time and stars Tony Jaa as a young man saved from execution by a group of global martial artists as a boy who has since trained in every one of their arts in an attempt to fuse them all into one master martial art.  Poster: Mtime

Watch the promo reel at Twitch.

-- Duo Biao --

《夺标》 Duo Biao, co-produced by Sundream and Huayi Brothers, directed by Tsui Siu Ming, has wrapped up after over two months of filming. The martial arts film is slated for release this autumn.

Duo Biao is set in 1936 when China sent 69 athletes to take part in Berlin Olympics. At the same time 9 wushu team members also performed there. While China didn't do very well back then, her wushu performance greatly impressed the Westerners. And it was then that Chinese wushu was spread throughout the world.  Tsu Siu Ming hopes to show the spirit and culture of wushu through this film, with emphasis on realistic and detailed portrayal of traditional martial arts.

Global Chinese Kungfu Jubilee 2007

Sohu, 13 October 2007

Global Chinese Kungfu Jubilee, organised by Shenzhen Satellite TV, Shaolin Culture, TVB, China Wushu Association, was held at Shenzhen Bao-an Stadium on the October 12 evening and was graced by various luminaries in the film industry who's involved in martial arts productions. The evening kicked off with red carpet walk by Jackie Chan, wuxia novelist Jin Yong, Liu Chia Liang, Ching Siu Ting. Cheung Sing Yim, Peter Pau, Yuen Biao, Cheng Pei Pei, Anthena Chu, Jay Leung, Josie Ho, David Chiang, Gordon Liu, Wu Jing, Tony Jaa, Yasuaki Kurata etc.

-- 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

-- Heroes of Shaolin --

Legendary Martial Arts Director Lau Kar-Leung (Liu Chia-Liang) has begun working on what he has referred to as his greatest work, Heroes of Shaolin, which will be the culmination of over 50 years of experience and over 300 movies for the 69 year old director. The film is currently in pre-production and is being produced by Burning Shaolin Production, out of New York. It is targeted for production in early mid 2007 in Mainland China.

Lau is considered an industry anomaly; often writing, directing, choreographing and starring in many of the classic Kung-Fu movies from the 70’s and 80’s. He is single handedly credited for creating the genre of Kung-Fu movies as we know them today. Lau has gone on record as to say, “This will be my best movie, and the best martial arts movie ever made.”

According to Hong Kong martial arts movie legend Gordon Liu, the revolutionary director didn't have to say much to obtain his services other than this film was to be his greatest masterpiece. Heroes of Shaolin will be an action packed martial arts film with spectacular fight sequences and of course signature Lau Kar-Leung training scenes. As well as something new for Lau Kar-Leung, an unconventional love story. Gordon Liu will be reprising his role of White Brows, the traitorous white-haired priest.

A remarkable Shaolin Monk Luk Ah-Choi escapes from the destruction of his home (the Shaolin Temple) and takes refuge in a local village where he falls in love with the beautiful, jaded and lethal Yim Wing Chun. Together they struggle to organize a rebellion against the oppressing Qing Dynasty. Distracted from his true mission by his vendetta against the murderous traitor White Brows (Gordon Liu), Luk Ah-Choi jeopardizes all in this 19th Century epic of love, life and vengeance.

Other cast considerations and talks include Zhang Ziyi, Chow Yun-Fat, Donnie Yen and Tony Jaa.  PRWeb

-- Dragon Tiger Gate and Ong Bak 2 Promo Reels at Cannes --

Senh Duong writes: SPL, starring martial arts star Donnie Yen and directed by Wilson Yip, was one of the most talked about martial arts films of 2005. Their follow-up, "Dragon Tiger Gate" is one of the films shown at the Marche du Film or Film Market at this year's Cannes Film Festival. I happen to catch a fifteen minute promo reel of the movie broadcasted in a hotel theater, which showcased hard-hitting martial arts mayhem.

An adaptation of "the most popular Hong Kong manga," the promo features lengthy fights with the three lead characters -- Dragon (Donnie Yen), Tiger (Nicholas Tse), and Turbo (Shawn Yue). They're all fast, hard-hitting, and energetic. Dragon fights off his opponents with powerful arm-to-arm combat, Tiger with his acrobatic and precise kicks, and Turbo with his deadly nun chucks. The fights are of the one-versus-a-hundred variety, so expect a whole lotta butt-kicking. The production design, in general, looks pretty good although I'm not a fan of bright solid colors and long flowing hair on men, even if it's true to the comic book. There are sprinklings of CGI and wire-work in the fights, but since the characters possess super human powers, they work. Overall, I'm encouraged by what I saw.

The Weinstein Company picked up US distribution rights to "Dragon Tiger Gate" and Donnie Yen's martial arts epic "Seven Swords." Hopefully, they won't keep them on the shelf and release them in the States soon.

While walking the aisles upon aisles of movie booths, one in particular catches my eye. It's for Tony Jaa's follow-up to his debut film "Ong-Bak," a film in which he displays his impressive acrobatic talent and fighting form. A promo reel is playing for "Ong-Bak 2," but not much is actually shown here. It begins with the scrolls seen in the original. A monk starts performing a ritual. Tony Jaa, in parallel, does a lengthy Thai martial arts form showing off his artistry, agility, and acrobatics. I'm there."   Rotten Tomatoes

 -- Possible Line-up for Wu Jing's Next -- 

Up-and-coming Thai martial arts film actor Tony Jaa may star in a Hong Kong action film directed by Yuen Woo-ping, a fight choreographer for two of the Matrix films, a newspaper reported on Thursday. The unnamed HK$50 million film, will pit Jaa against Wu Jing, a martial arts actor trained by Jet Li's teacher, in a Thai kickboxing versus Chinese kung fu martial arts extravaganza, Apple Daily reported, citing a spokeswoman for Hong Kong artist management company Gold Label. "A fight between the two [Jaa and Wu] will be fresh for the audience," the report quoted the spokeswoman, identified only as Chan, as saying.

Talks on the project, to be produced by Peter Chan Ho-sun, director of the 1999 US film The Love Letter, are still ongoing, the report said. The female star of the film could be Hong Kong pop singer Miriam Yeung, the report said. Jaa, who made his name in the Thai kickboxing film Ong-bak or Muay Thai Warrior and who is currently starring in Tom Yum Goong — a box-office hit in his native Thailand — has been given information on the project, Apple Daily said.

Peter Chan speaks Thai and will handle negotiations with Jaa, the report said. It was not clear if any of the artists named in the report have committed to the project. Calls to a Gold Label spokeswoman went unanswered on Thursday.

Yuen has directed and choreographed dozens of martial arts films over the past 30 years, but he received international recognition for his work on the groundbreaking The Matrix and its sequel, The Matrix: Reloaded.  Associated Press (South China Morning Post), via TonyJaa.org Forum