Mike Leeder brings another round-up of the news-stories from the world of action that you may have overlooked in the last few weeks…
OMG… it’s Jet Li
Jet Li Returns: League of Gods…
It’s been two years since we last saw Jet Li on the big screen and now the first teaser has been released for the supernatural action epic League of Gods (aka Feng Shen Bang 3D). Directed by Koan Hui and Vernie Yeung, the film is based on Xu Zhonglin’s Sixteenth Century novel Investiture of Gods.
The film boasts an epic cast lead by Jet, which includes Louis Koo (SPL 2), Huang Xiaoming (Ip Man 2), AngelaBaby (Rise of the Legend), Tony Leung Kar-fei (Cold War), Fan Bing-bing (who appeared in the most recent mutant outing X-Men Days of Future Past) and Jacky Heung (From Vegas to Macau 3).
The film’s action director is Dion Lam (Infernal Affairs).
You can see more in the trailer below…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av-eb7DA4EQ
Phone Home… Statham goes from LG to MEG…
Has Jason Statham jumped the shark..?
You’ve seen Jason Statham beside himself in the recent advert for the LG G5 smart phone – an impressive stunt-filled commercial in which Statham plays all the roles – from commuters to stunt-bikers to actual damsels in distress. (The fuller-version of the advert can be seen here…) But it looks as if Statham’s career might be about to jump the shark – literally! He may not be playing Quint in a remake of Spielberg’s classic Jaws, but he will playing the grizzled shark-hunter who must battle a behemoth, the Megalodon terrorising people off the coast of China in a film currently called Meg (we think the title might still change!)
The film was originally set to be directed by Eli Roth, but it’s now in the hands of National Treasure director Jon Turtletaub, and while Roth may have been more than willing to homage Jaws openly, Turtletaub is no doubt a safer bet for a mass audience potential blockbuster. (Although we’d all like to hear Statham’s take on “Farewell and adieu, all you fair Spanish ladies!”)
Statham finally wrapped on The Mechanic 2 with Jessica Alba, Tommy Lee Jones and Michelle Yeoh recently and is also set to star alongside Tony Jaa in High Value Target, which looks – essentially – to be Die Hard on a ship, a la Under Siege! That project scheduled to start shooting in October 2016.
Bounty Hunters
Bounty Hunters: South Korea, Hong Kong Co-Production…
The first teaser for Shin Tae-ra’s upcoming action comedy Bounty Hunters has arrived…and looks set to deliver plenty of action and comedy.
It follows a pack of – you’ve guessed it – bounty hunters, led by Lee Min-ho (Gangnam Blues) as they give chase across South Korea, China, Hong Kong and Thailand. The film also stars Tiffany Tang, Wallace Chung from Drug War, Karena Ng from Ip Man 3 and Story of Ricky’s Fan Siu-wong.
You can see the teaser below:
Ninjas are super, aren’t they?
Shaw Brothers invade the UK on Blu-Ray from 88 Films…
British distributor 88 Films has been making some waves with some very impressive releases including the Trancers series, Dollman, The Toxic Avenger series, Zombie Flesh-eaters and the American Ninja series . Now comes the news that they will be releasing a number of Shaw Brothers films on blu-ray including the cult classic that is Chang Cheh’s Five Element Ninjas/Chinese Super Ninjas!
You can see the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIB-SkEjono and for more information visit: http://88-films.myshopify.com/
