Mike Leeder brings another action digest round-up of the news-stories from the world of eastern action that you may have overlooked in the last few weeks…
HBO Asia, CMC, Corey Yuen set action-anthology titles…
Industry site Deadline is reporting that Corey Yuen (best known in the mainstream for the likes of The Transporter series, Rise Of The Legend) will be acting as executive producer for a project created as a partnership between HBO Asia and China Movie Channel. He will take that producing role in the first of two films that appear to be the start of an anthology concept. The films are entitled Master Of The Drunken Fist: Beggar So and Master Of The Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying, with principal filming having already begun on both) and they will be set in China during its Qing Dynasty. It is understood that the cast will primarily be Chinese actors and will highlight the likes of martial arts and techniques such as MMA, kung fu and muay thai
According to Deadline, both the films are currently expected to premiere before the end of 2016 on CMC’s channels and also across over twenty Asian markets (via HBO and RED by HBO) .
Super Bodyguard: The Birth of a New Superstar..?
‘No Visual Effects, no Camera Tricks, No Wires, No Stuntmen and here they all are…’ According to the promo for this movie, 2016 will see the birth of a new Kung Fu superstar: he’s faster, stronger, tougher and… oh, yes its all real, no visual effects, no camera tricks, no stuntmen, bones will be snapped, blood will be spilled, a new Bruce Lee is coming….
That seems like a pretty bold set of statements – especially when accompanying a trailer filled with visual effects, camera tricks, wire work, stuntmen and then by a ‘making of…’ that shows even more. But that’s the way Yue Song is promoting his new film Super Bodyguard, in which he stars and directs alongside Xing Yu (from Flashpoint) and former Sammo Hung protege Collin Chou. The film also stars the original Tattooed Dragon Michael Chan Wai-man from Kirk Wong’s The Club.
You can make your own mind up here…
Deadly Arsenal: Dolph Lundgren & Steven Seagal…
It’s been at least a week since the announcement or release of new movie for either one of them, so the announcement that Steven Seagal AND Dolph Lundgren will be working together on the action thriller Deadly Arsenal should have fans of both big guys excited. The film is directed by Blood Moon Rising helmer Brian Skiba, and also stars Gianna Capaldi from Puncture Wounds.
LT. Drake Cole (Seagal) discovers a nefarious international plot, to release a deadly virus which was stolen by an ex military mad man Richards (Lundgren), a man who has set his sights on changing the global political landscape. Cole employs his most trusted agent, Burton Lee on the job. However, Lee has a problem: a CIA agent with whom he has had a relationship with in the past is also on the job. The situation between them escalates into a ‘war of the roses’ as they battle for their country and each other. They realise that if they’re to stop Richards from infecting the world they must… you guessed it… forgo their national allegiance and join forces to protect the only woman who has created an immunity to the virus.
By the sounds of things, the lion’s share of the action and screen time will be going to the character of Burton Lee, although we’d love to see Lundgren and Seagal deliver more than just a cameo… come on Steven deliver a performance – remind us of why you were an action hero one last time!
The Adventurers: no longer stealing its title…
We’ve an update on the proposed remake of Once a Thief.
John Woo’s 1991 action comedy was a huge success across Asia upon its initial release, telling of three orphans (Chow Yun-fatt, Leslie Cheung and Cherie Chung) who have been raised to be world class art thieves forced to stand up for themselves against the crime lord who raised them. While a lot of fans who were used to Woo’s heroic bloodshed classics seemed unable to comprehend that the lighter tone of the movie was – because it was a comedy – the film’s premise was perfect for a remake.
And a few short years later, Alliance Entertainment unleashed John Woo’s Once A Thief (the pilot was given the title Violent Tradition for its UK release) as a TV series, with Woo helming the pilot and serving as a producer. As we noted, there has been talk of various potential remakes both out of Hong Kong and internationally, after the success of Twins Effect, EMG talked of giving Thieves Like Us… a Gen-X take on Once A Thief, but for whatever reason that fell through. Then a few weeks ago, John Woo’s former producing partner Terrance Chang announced that he would be producing a new version of Once A Thief, with Into The Badlands’ Stephen Fung at the helm.
The film has been given a new title The Adventurers and it is now dialing back the legacy connection and is being described as a loose remake. There’s no word as yet on any relation to the mid 90’s Ringo Lam The Adventurer thriller which starred Andy Lau, who will also be joining the new project, alongside Shu Qi, Tony Yang and Jean Reno…
