It’s finally official... after years of rumours and false starts it would seem that Tony Jaa WILL be heading to Hong Kong in 2014 to star in SPL 2, alongside Chinese Wushu maestro Wu Jing. The original SPL/Sha Po Long or Kill Zone as it was called by certain distributors starred Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung, Simon Yam and Wu Jing with Wilson Yip at the helm.
SPL 2 will be produced by Sun Entertainment Culture Limited and will star Wu Jing and Tony Jaa as the leads (Wu did die in the first film, so we presume he’ll be playing a new character!). Wilson Yip is on board as a producer for the sequel while Soi Cheang from Dog Bite Dog and Monkey King is directing this time. Dion Lam, a veteran of Hong Kong and Hollywood fight choreography (his credits include Martial Law, The Matrix, Infernal Affairs, Shanghai Shanghai and so much more), is also part of the team.
It was confirmed a few monthsago that the Chinese Film Board had granted the film’s latest script approval and given it the green light to move forward, confirming that the movie is a ‘thematic sequel’. (Dennis Law’s Fatal Move explored certain thematic ideas with Sammo Hung & Wu Jing playing very similar styled characters to those they played in SPL, but having them face off at the end of the movie)
While Wu Jing & Tony Jaa are confirmed as the leads, with Sammo Hung, Andy On & Francis Ng also signed for the movie, there is still talk of a possible cameo by Donnie Yen (perhaps in a flashback considering his characters fate at the end of the first film, unless he too is going to play a new character). The film is scheduled to begin production in Spring 2014, once Jaa has completed work on Fast & Furious 7, and the reshoots for his A Man Will Rise project with Dolph Lundgren (there's no word on progress with Jaa’s American movie Skin Trade with Lundgren), on locations in Thailand, China & Hong Kong.
Jaa’s most recent release Tom Yum Goong 2 has been met with mixed reactions and we’ll be interested to see how he fares on Fast & Furious 7. Reports from the set all seem positive. Wu Jing has always been an under-rated performer, seeming - so often - an actor in search of the right role, we’re hoping that his recently-wrapped directorial debut Wolf and this movie will put him back in the spotlight.
