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-- Legend of Shaolin Kungfu II: Thirteen Cudgel Monks --

Day Dai Tian 戴天 and Sengge Renrou 僧格仁钦 who played enemies of Shaolin Temple in the first Legend of Shaolin Kungfu, now join the Shaolin monks in fighting against a corrupt and oppressive regime under Wang Shi Chong (Leung Kar Yan).

Sengge Renrou  comes from Mongolia and is a champion Mongolian wrestler. Here, he plays Nine Catties, a stable boy to Cheng Yao Jin. A crude, straightforward and trusting person, he doesn't seek to rise up in ranks, but just wishes for a stable life and to serve Cheng Yao Jin loyally. Being one of immense strength, he uses an unusual weapon - a big piece of log.
 

-- Legend of Shaolin Kungfu 2: Thirteen Cudgel Monks --

Filming of Legend of Shaolin Kungfu 2: Thirteen Cudgel Monks is nearing completion. Pan Yuan Jia has posted videos of his two fighting scenes on his blog. Also, there's a news report at Youtube. Finally, various photos, a few of which are high resolution, have been released by cast members Li Yuan, Sun Hui Ning, Leung Kar Yan, Li Chong.

On the biggest reason for taking up Forbidden Kingdom

Jackie Chan: If I were the director, I would not shoot such a movie in China. The story is too bizarre, it incongruent with Chinese culture. But the US studios think that it's fun to put everything together, such as Rush Hour, Shanghai Noon.

The storyline is very absurd, yet could be created in the West. Though to me, it's extremely ludicrous, but the US audience can accept it, so I shot it according to the script. The story is a fairy tale, just like a cartoon. I believe the scriptwriter loves Chinese culture, for he could combine Drunken Fist, Jade Emperor, Eight Immortals, Monkey King, etc. together.

-- The Disciple --

Come June, the much anticipated successor to Jackie Chan will be announced in Beijing. Yesterday, Jackie Chan showed up at Wendu Water City, Beijing to officiate the launching of the finals of The Disciple, a worldwide talent show produced by Beijing TV Station in conjunction with Jackie Chan, which will be airing on Beijing TV every weekend from April 5 to June 7.

The 16 finalists, who have been undergoing gruelling trainings under the guidance of JC Stunt Team's Alan Wu and He Jun at the well equipped Water City Training Facility, will compete against each other in various fields, including explosion scenes, high-altitude wire-suspension, gunplay, car stunts, diving, obstacles course, etc.

Tan Zong (Yuen Biao), as a grandmaster of martial arts, is the chief martial arts instructor in Shaolin Temple. As much as Wang Shi Chong (Leung Kar Yan) worries about the pugilistic fraternity forming an alliance to revolt against him and thus issues a ban on martial arts practice, he also tries to recruit top martial arts exponents to consolidate his powers. Here, he is trying to invite Tan Zong to work for him, but before that, he sets up a Wooden Bench Formation to test him.  Legend of Shaolin 2 Blog

-- Legend of Shaolin Kungfu II: Thirteen Cudgel Monks -- 

Yuen Biao is playing Tan Zong, one who is responsible for assembling 12 other monks to form Thirteen Cudgel Monks to deal with Wang Shi Chong. He is expert in 72 Peerless Arts of Shaolin, his skills unfathomable, having reached the state of union of Zen and Kungfu. He is pensive, collected, and doesn't exhibit his emotions. He has the bearings of a grandmaster of his times, caring for the affairs of the world.

Leung Kar Yan plays the antagonist Wang Shi Chong, a cunning, greedy, vicious, merciless general of Sui who later usurps the throne. He throws his weight about in the court and oppresses the populace. He bans martial arts practice in order to forestall any future threats.

What are your five favorite martial arts films of all time, and why?
Donnie Yen: (I like) Enter The Dragon and Fist Of Fury, because they star my all-time idol, Bruce Lee. Prodigal Son,, starring Yuen Biao, directed by Sammo Hung. In terms of Wing Chun kung fu on camera: Sammo set the bar with that one. And we're trying to raise it (the bar) again with our new film, 'Yip Man'.

(I like) Drunken Master, with Jackie Chan, directed by my Sifu, Yuen Woo-ping. That created a whole new style of kung fu comedy. Heroes Of The East, by Lau Kar-leung. This is a classic Shaw Brothers film about a kung fu master who marries a Japanese woman, and finds he has to fight her relatives, all of whom know different Japanese arts. (It's a) Great concept, and someone should remake it. (It's not technically a kung fu movie, but I loved the last Rocky film, Rocky Balboa! Very touching, and the last fight was amazing.)

You must get along with Wilson Yip. Flash Point is one of many collaboration with him and you have more collaborations ('Yip Man') in the works.
Donnie Yen: I have a great time working with Wilson. We did SPL (Killzone), Dragon Tiger Gate, Flashpoint and now we're shooting Yip Man. (As I mentioned above, Painted Skin was directed by Gordon Chan). Wilson's very quiet, very focused. When we work together, he really helps me keep on track in terms of the story and character development. We make a great team, and I hope to work with him again!

Tell us more about your latest project, 'Yip Man'!
Donnie Yen: We're shooting 'Yip Man' now, in Shanghai. Sammo Hung is the action director. I've wanted to do this film for years. I've been training in Wing Chun kung fu, and especially working on the wooden dummy, so I can do justice to this story and this character. We have the full support of Yip Man's family, which is great. Having just done Flash Point, it's great to do a completely different style of action for this film.

Background on Forbidden Kingdom

Jackie Chan and Jet Li, the two most revered martial arts superstar actors in the world today, have come together for the very first time in filmmaking history to pit their skills in The Forbidden Kingdom as Lu Yan and the Silent Monk respectively.

In this one-of-a-kind project, producer Casey Silver has not only succeeded in bringing together an exceptional group of people, including some of the best talent in Asian and Western cinema, for the first truly international Asian blockbuster movie. He has also pulled off a great feat in making the entire film in China.

This epic production is written by veteran screenwriter John Fusco, whose past works include the Academy Award®-nominated Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, and directed by Rob Minkoff of The Lion King fame, who brings his unique blend of character, comedy, drama and storytelling to the enthralling and innovative time-traveling story structure...

-- Legend of Shaolin Kungfu II --

A couple of new pics of Xie Miao, Yuen Biao, Ye Jian Wei, Wang Xiao Long and Pan Yuan Jia in Legend of Shaolin Kungfu II: Thirteen Warrior Monks, courtesy of Xie Miao's Blog and Ye Jian Wei's Blog