‘The Grandmaster 3D’ Press Conference Round-up

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Elta.tv:

Wong Kar Wai‘s first 3D film ‘The Grandmaster 3D’ will open in Mainland China on January 8. Yesterday a premiere press conference was held in Beijing with Bona Film’s chief Yu Dong, director Wong Kar-wai, actors Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Zhang Ziyi, Chang Chen, Max Zhang Jin, Wang Qingxiang in attendance. The director said that ‘The Grandmaster 3D’ returned to the silver screen in response to the audience’s demand. He hoped for the film to be able to bring the audience back to the bygone martial art world with the best appearance and 3D technology.

At the event, Tony Leung, Zhang Ziyi, Chang Chen and other stars expressed the unique flavour of director Wong Kar-wai in their hearts. Zhang Ziyi said, “The flavour of director Wong Kar Wai is the flavour of the moment when a match is lit.” Chang Chen described his impression of Wong Kar-wai as whiskey. “The flavour is great in the beginning and has a lot that are worthy savouring.” Working with Wong Kar-wai for the eighth time, Tony Leung joked that after the director quit smoking, every time he saw him he had the flavour of chewing gum.

Wong Kar-wai made a humorous simile with food. He compared Tony Leung Chiu Wai to tofu, saying that he was “accurate, precise, his acting can be both meat and vegetarian, great both inside and out.” Zhang Ziyi was like a vegetable queen onion, “Spicy and crunchy it is a very northern specialty, but the flavour after maturity is sweet”. Chang Chen would always be “little fresh meat” in the heart of director Wong Kar Wai, with “the always boiling like water cooked fish” Zhang Jin and the “as masculine as Lao Bai Gan” Wang Qingxiang, ‘The Grandmaster 3D’ was the ultimate feast of 3D sights and sounds.

The Grandmaster 3D’s production process took seven years of preparation, over three years of production and a year for the 3D conversion, every drop of which collected the effort of the creators. Tony Leung said that the entire production process was very memorable. When he watched Zhang Ziyi working on the night scene in the Northeast in 20 degrees Celsius below zero, he felt that she truly has contributed a lot. Zhang Ziyi felt that what she got from The Grandmaster 3D already far surpassed what she gave. Working with director Wong Kar-wai she learned to enjoy film even more, and she was very happy to be able to receive his priceless friendship.

On the day of the event, Chang Chen even revealed that director Wong Kar-wai would often have inspirations out of the blue, as he kept adding in these new ideas to the film. The director once asked him during his training, “How do you feel if I let Yi Tianxian perform Beijing Opera?” Chang Chen could not help but complain.

At the press conference, the real reason behind Wong Kar-wai’s sunglasses was revealed. Sunglasses and suits have become Wong Kar-wai’s symbolic look, actually it was the “price” that the director has paid for focusing on film over the years. With long term and excessive use at work, the director’s eyes were very sensitive to light. Thus he would always wear sunglasses. Thus all the stars put on the sponsor’s 3D “glasses” as a salute to director Wong Kar-wai.

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Preview of The Grandmaster 3D

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Sina:

Wong Kar-wai‘s hotly anticipated The Grandmaster 3D is set for release in China on 8th January 2015. The film’s final poster and trailer have been unveiled, with Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen‘s appearing in never-before-seen footage.

Wong Kar-wai said that 3D was the most suitable method to bring about a wuxia film like The Grandmaster. The film is based on a foundation of long preparation time and attentive production, as well as investment of massive manpower and material, to create a 3D film. From The Grandmaster 3D‘s poster and trailer, this epic was not simply a 3D visual handling of the original shots. Wong Kar-wai re-edited the film, the storytelling order and structure were adjusted anew as he completed a new film with a more outstanding theme and a more smooth flowing story.

After the 3D conversion, The Grandmaster was shrunk down to 111 minutes. The pace was even faster and the story even more powerful, suitable for the audience to watch at the movies and experience this brand new viewing. He said, “3D is a very effective method, giving the expression of the story even more space and possibilities.” Wong Kar-wai felt that after an all new editing and mixing in 3D, the film in the end reached its best quality. He hoped that The Grandmaster 3D would be able to provide everyone with a new angle on the story.

Wong Kar Wai said that The Grandmaster 3D displayed the “fighting is like kissing” scenario; Chang Chen’s portrayal of Yi Ziantian appeared to be even more skilled and daring. The most mysterious martial art style of Zhang Ziyi’s character Gong Er, the “64 palms” might possibly show its true face again. In The Grandmaster, Ip Man and Gong Er only had two duels but was so deeply impressed by the “64 palms” that he found it hard to forget. He only wanted to see such great kung fu again, unfortunately due to various reasons Gong Er’s special abilities finally vanished from the world, without any “echo”. Yet in the end of The Grandmaster 3D‘s trailer, Gong Er’s line “If you want to see the 64 palms, you only have the time it takes to open a fan” was added. Seemingly there was room for something more.

Wong Kar-wai headed to Los Angeles for in-depth communication with top Hollywood 3D team Gener8 to ensure that the film preserves all of its “Eastern presence”. With the skills of technicians, in the end the rain and snow scenes and the kung fu displays had more dimension. Some of the 3D edition’s exclusive video even appeared in the trailer.

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‘The Grandmaster 3D’ set for October release

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Sina:

The critically-acclaimed kung fu epic “The Grandmaster” is getting a makeover: its 3D version will open in Chinese theaters on October 23, director Wong Kar-Wai announced at a press conference in Beijing on Sunday.

Wong’s Academy Award-nominated martial arts hit will become his first 3D movie. The world-renowned director said he hopes the box office results for the 3D film will surpass the previous 2D edition, which was released in early 2013. The 2D version raked in 290 million yuan (US$47.3 million) at Chinese mainland box offices and has received plenty of awards, including 12 prizes at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

But Wong was not satisfied. The director spent a year polishing a 3D version with a team of 200 professionals. He flew to the United States to check the visual effects every month, and the money he spent on making the 3D version would have been enough to produce another brand new movie, Wong said.

“When I was shooting the film, I was considering using 3D technologies,” he said at the press conference, “But the technologies didn’t mature and match up with my needs. But when I was doing the film, I was doing it with a 3D approach in my mind, so now it is very easy for us to transform it into a 3D format.” It is true that 3D technologies were not mature enough for him at the time, since the film is well known for its long development time – Wong first began preparing it in 2001. Wong said he was trying to take on the challenge of combining Oriental aesthetics and Western technologies through this film.

Wong Kar-Wai said that the 3D version will be cut very differently from the previous 2D version, so audiences will see more deleted scenes and new material this time, including an exciting top kung fu performance from female master Gong Er (Zhang Ziyi). Previous media reports said the “special edition” will resemble the cut made for the US market.

Actress Zhang Ziyi just received the Best Actress prize for her leading role in “The Grandmaster” on Saturday at the 23rd Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival, held in Lanzhou. The film itself won the Best Film Award.

“The Grandmaster” is an epic martial arts drama set against the backdrop of 1930s China and inspired by the life and times of Bruce Lee’s master, Ip Man. The movie also tells the stories of other kung fu masters in that chaotic and poetic era. The film was nominated for Best Cinematography (Philippe Le Sourd) and Best Costume Design (William Chang Suk Ping) at the 86th Academy Awards.

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‘The Grandmaster’ Wins 12 Awards at 2014 Hong Kong Film Awards

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On.cc:

The 33rd Annual Hong Kong Film Awards was held on April 13 at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre. With the most nominations of 14, ‘The Grandmaster‘ won 12 awards to become the big winner and broke the 9 award records that ‘Comrades, Almost A Love Story‘ and ‘Cold War‘ held. It won Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Action Choreography, Best Original Score, Best Sound Effects. Zhang Ziyi won her 9th Best Actress award for the film while Nick Cheung‘s performance in ‘Unbeatable‘ defeated Tony Leung for Best Actor.

Zhang Ziyi won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress for the second time after previously winning for ‘2046‘. As the awards presenter for Best Actress, Nick Cheung praised all the nominees including Zhang Ziyi, Tang Wei, and Paw Hee-ching, before announcing the year’s grand winner. Regarding Zhang Ziyi, he remarked, “Everyone calls her ‘International Zhang’. I noticed she has already reached international levels when I watched her outstanding performance in ‘The Grandmaster’ for the first time. She has a very high chance of receiving the award.” Adding to the exciting atmosphere, Nick spilled one of ‘The Grandmaster’s’ classic quotes to reveal Zhang Ziyi as the winner. In all smiles, Zhang Ziyi took turns hugging her costars including Tony Leung, Chang Chen, Max Zhang, Ada Choi, and director Wong Kar-wai, before heading onstage to claim her award. In midst of taking deep breaths, she uttered her speech of gratitude towards the cast and crew of ‘The Grandmaster’:

“Thank you the people of Hong Kong for your encouragement and recognition, thank you Leung Chiu-wai. No matter tonight who goes home with the award, he will forever be the Best Actor in my heart. In 2009, Wong Kar-wai approached me about this film. I was so happy that I was jumping around like a rabbit when I told my parents, not because making Wong Kar-wai’s film could lead to an award but because his films would show an actor’s most excellent side. During the three years in production, I have had a lot of life experience and shed many tears. I occasionally fell, but I believed that someday someone would help you up and get you moving ahead. He was Wong Kar-wai.  I am not emotional because I feel wronged, but because I am grateful.”

Backstage she said that she did not know why she cried even more than when she won her first Hong Kong Film Award 10 years ago, the older she got the more sentimental she got. ‘The Grandmaster’  has brought her 9 Best Actress awards, Zhang Ziyi said, “As the saying goes ‘9 9 return to 1’, I will also start anew and continue to make good movies.”

Nick Cheung got muscular to make ‘Unbeatable’. He defeated Tony Leung Leung for Best Actor, his second victory after ‘The Beast Stalker‘ in 2009. However Leung was very magnanimous and took the initiative to congratulate Cheung.

After 19 years, Wong Kar-wai finally won the Best Director award again. He previously won with ‘Days Of Being Being Wild‘ and ‘ChungKing Express‘. Wong Kar-wai admitted that the road to the stage was not longer, but to get on it again he already took 20 years.  Presenter Carina Lau joked that Wong Kar-wai and Tony Leung must really love each other because they both insisted on working with the other. ‘The Grandmaster’ won 12 awards, setting a new record for the most awards. Wong Kar-wai said, “Film is the same as kung fu, it’s about the word ‘believe’. I cheer for Hong Kong film.” ‘The Grandmaster’ also won Best Film. Winning Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design with ‘The Grandmaster’, William Chang has already won the two awards for the 7th time, but due to an injury he could not attend.

Max Zhang won his first Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actor, he was so emotional that he sobbed with his wife Ada Choi in an embrace. He said as he cried, “Thank you Zhang Ziyi, thank you Leung Chiu-wai, special thanks to Yuen Woo Ping, without Yuen Woo Ping I couldn’t work with Wong Kar-wai. Thank you Wong Kar-wai, people say that making his film would win an award.  I got it, I wouldn’t even dream it. Thank you to my wife Choi Siu-fun. Some have said that I would depend on her for the rest of my life, yes! My happiness for the rest of my life will depend on her. Once due to bad attitude I said to me, ‘What use is it that you are the only one who appreciates me in the world?’   Now everyone appreciates me.  At the wedding that we would weather any storm together, we have experienced too many storms.  I hope in the future we will have more scenery.  From now on for richer or for poorer we have to spend it together.” Zhang later accepted the Best Action Choreography award for Yuen Woo Ping. He said, “One of the missing on the Malaysia Airline flight is the film’s action coordinator Ju Kun. Now since the matter still has not been cleared up, I want to loudly say to him, Ju Kun part of this award belongs to you, come back soon!”
THE 33RD HONG KONG FILM AWARDS
BEST FILM THE GRANDMASTER

BEST DIRECTOR Wong Kar Wai (THE GRANDMASTER)

BEST SCREENPLAY Zou Jingzhi, Xu Haofeng, Wong Kar-wai (THE GRANDMASTER)

BEST ACTOR Nick Cheung (UNBEATABLE)

BEST ACTRESS Zhang Ziyi (THE GRANDMASTER)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Max Zhang (THE GRANDMASTER)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS  Kara Wai (RIGOR MORTIS)

BEST NEW PERFORMER  Babyjohn Choi (THE WAY WE DANCE)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY Philippe Le Sourd (THE GRANDMASTER)

BEST FILM EDITING William Chang, Benjamin Courtines, Poon Hung Yiu (THE GRANDMASTER)

BEST ART DIRECTION William Chang, Alfred Yau (THE GRANDMASTER)

BEST COSTUME AND MAKE UP DESIGN William Chang  (THE GRANDMASTER)

BEST ACTION CHOREOGRAPHY Yuen Woo Ping (THE GRANDMASTER)

BEST ORIGINAL FILM SCORE Shigeru Umebayashi, Nathaniel Mechaly (THE GRANDMASTER)

BEST ORIGINAL FILM SONG LET’S DANCE (THE WAY WE DANCE)

BEST SOUND DESIGN Robert Mackenzie, Traithep Wongpaiboon (THE GRANDMASTER)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS Enoch Chan (RIGOR MORTIS)

BEST NEW DIRECTOR Adam Wong Sau Ping (THE WAY WE DANCE)

BEST FILM FROM MAINLAND AND TAIWAN SO YOUNG

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Cheung Sing Yim

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‘The Grandmaster’ Wins 4 Hong Kong Director’s Guild Awards

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MTime:

At the Hong Kong Film Directors’ Guild 25th anniversary party and award presentation, ‘The Grandmaster‘ won 4 awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Wong Kar-wai, Best Actor for Tony Leung and Best Actress for Zhang Ziyi. It was Tony Leung’s first award for the film.

When Zhang Ziyi accepted the Best Actress award she said, “I don’t make many Hong Kong films. Since 2046 I started working with Wong Kar-wai, I feel that my performance and my English have improved. Only my Cantonese has deteriorated. Thus I hope to be able to work with different Hong Kong directors like Derek Yee.” She again won Best Actress for playing Gong Er, but was she confident that she would win again at the Hong Kong Film Award? Zhang Ziyi, “Let it take its natural course, actors can only control their performance on the set. Box office, word of mouth and awards are bonuses.” She regretted that ‘The Grandmaster’ did not win at the Oscars.
Tony Leung won Best Actor for playing Ip Man, he said that he represented the film team and could only take 10% of the credit. It also proved everyone’s hard work of the past 5 years. Although ‘The Grandmaster’ lost at the Oscars, Leung felt that reaching this step was already a honor. “The admission already proves the competitiveness of Chinese films. Although this is just the first step, success needs coordination from luck.”

Director Wong Kar-wai said that the awards represented countless words. He even admired Zhang Ziyi for being able to have different acceptance speeches for the numerous times she won awards for her role, but he only had “Thank you everyone”.

HONG KONG FILM DIRECTOR’S GUILD AWARDS 2013
BEST PICTURE:
THE GRANDMASTER
BEST DIRECTOR: Wong Kar-wai (THE GRANDMASTER)
BEST ACTOR: Tony Leung (THE GRANDMASTER)
BEST ACTRESS: Zhang Ziyi (THE GRANDMASTER)
BEST NEW ACTOR: Babyjohn Choi (THE WAY WE DANCE)
NEW DIRECTOR: Adam Wong (THE WAY WE DANCE)
COMMISSION SPECIAL PRIZE: Derek Kwok (AS THE LIGHT GOES OUT)

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‘The Grandmaster’ Receives 2 Oscar Nominations

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Sina:

Yesterday, the nominations for the 86th Oscars were announced. ‘The Grandmaster‘, which is directed by Wong Kar-wai and starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Zhang Ziyi, did not receive a Best Foreign Film nomination but was still nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design. William Chang Suk-ping is nominated for the Best Costume Design award, whilst French photographer Philippe Le Sourd is nominated for Best Cinematography. A spokesperson for The Grandmaster’s distributor Jet Tone congratulated the two nominees, saying “They represent Hong Kong and are the glory of the Hong Kong film industry”.

The Ang Lee directed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon not only won the 73rd Oscar Best Foreign Film but also brought Hong Kong film professionals Tim Yip and Peter Pau the Best Art Director and the Best Cinematography Oscars. Years later, cinematographer Philippe Le Sourd is nominated for an Oscar after winning the Golden Horse Award and at the Asian Pacific Film Festival. He will compete against his counterparts from Gravity, Prisoners, Nebraska and Inside Llewyn Davis.

On the other hand, William Chang Suk-ping is nominated for Best Costume Design, the first time a Hong Kong film is nominated in the category. He will face his colleagues from American Hustle, The Great Gatsby, 12 Years A Slave and The Invisible Woman. William Chang, who has worked frequently with Mr. Wong, said he was “deeply honoured” for his costume-design nomination. “This is a recognition of the great team effort that went into bringing this film to life.”

The 86th Academy Awards will take place late on Sunday March 2 2014, at the Dolby Theatre.

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Zhang Ziyi wins her first Golden Horse Best Actress Award

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 Sina:

The 50th Golden Horse Awards took place at the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taiwan on the 23rd November. Zhang Ziyi‘s performance in The Grandmaster won her her first Golden Horse Best Actress. With 11 nominations The Grandmaster was the big winner with five awards. Alhough director Wong Kar-wai lost both Best Director and Best Feature Film to Stray Dogs and Ilo Ilo, The Grandmaster was deeply popular with the audience as it won the viewers’ choice award.

The three Best Actor favourites, Hong Kong representatives The Grandmaster‘s Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Unbeatable‘s Nick Cheung and Cold War‘s Tony Leung Ka-fai, lost to Stray Dog‘s Lee Kang-Sheng. Leung stood up and shook hands with the newcomer; however, when the event arranged for past Best Actors and Best Actresses for a group photo, he was pouting and looked unhappy. Singapore film Ilo Ilo won four awards, including Best Feature Film, Best New Director, Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Screenplay. Its performance was second only to The Grandmaster.

The 34-year-old Zhang Ziyi won her first Golden Horse Best Actress after 15 years in the business with The Grandmaster‘s Gong Er. When Zhang Ziyi received the award from Maggie Cheung and Andy Lau, she was teary eyed and choking back her tears. She said, “I have been nominated several times for the Golden Horse, today I finally got it. Thank you to the Director Ang Lee led jury, making me the Best Actress on the Golden Horse’s 50th birthday. Making The Grandmaster was long and tough, but the process was happy. Thank you to on and off screen grand masters, without them I wouldn’t be here. Thank you Leung Chiu-wai, he will always be the Best Actor in my heart. Thank you Wong Kar-wai. When my heart was suffering the most I ran into Gong Er, telling me to believe in myself. I did it. Today Mama is here too, last month was my birthday and this award is the best birthday present. Yesterday I got a call from Papa, he is sick. I hope this award will make him recover soon.”

The 50th Golden Horse Award Winners:

BEST FEATURE FILM: ILO ILO
BEST SHORT FILM: BUTTER LAMP
BEST DOCUMENTARY: BEYOND BEAUTY, TAIWAN FROM ABOVE
BEST DIRECTOR: Tsai Ming-Liang (STRAY DOGS)
BEST NEW DIRECTOR: Anthony Chen (ILO ILO)
BEST LEADING ACTOR: Lee Kang-Sheng (STRAY DOGS)
BEST LEADING ACTRESS: Zhang Ziyi (THE GRANDMASTER)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Li Xuejian (1942)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Yeo Yann Yann (ILO ILO)
BEST NEW PERFORMER: Kuo Shu-Yau (STEP BACK TO GLORY)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Anthony Chen (ILO ILO)
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Li Qiang (SO YOUNG)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Philippe Le Sourd (THE GRANDMASTER)
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Pierre Buffin (THE GRANDMASTER)
BEST ART DIRECTION: William Chang Suk-Ping, Alfred Yau Wai-Ming (THE GRANDMASTER)
BEST MAKE UP & COSTUME DESING: William Chang Suk-Ping (THE GRANDMASTER)
BEST ACTION CHOREOPGRAHY: Jackie Chan, He Jun, Jackie Chan Stunt Team (CZ12)
BEST ORIGINAL FILM SCORE: Lim Giong (A TOUCH OF SIN)
BEST ORIGINAL FILM SONG: I LOVE YOU (ROCK ME TO THE MOON)
BEST FILM EDITING: Mattieu Laclau, Lin Xudong (A TOUCH OF SIN)
BEST SOUND EFFECTS: Tu Duu-Chih, Kuo Li Chi (SOUL)
OUTSTANDING TAIWANESE FILMMAKER OF THE YEAR: Yeh Ju-Feng
AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD: THE GRANDMASTER
FIPRESCI PRIZE: RIGOR MORTIS
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Chen Chen

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Hong Kong Nominates ‘The Grandmaster’ for Foreign Language Oscar

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China News:

The Federation of Motion Film Producers of Hong Kong Ltd has picked Wong Kar-wai‘s ‘The Grandmaster‘ as Hong Kong’s representative at the Oscars in the Best Foreign Film category. The China co-production was chosen over two other finalists: Herman Yau‘s Ip Man: The Final Fight and Dante Lam‘s ‘Unbeatable.  Due to The Grandmaster‘s North American box office takings of US$ 6.3 million and its selection as one of the Telegraph’s 2013 Top Ten Best Films, its chances to receive to be shortlisted in the Oscar’s Best Foreign Film category are even higher.  Many Hong Kong films applied for the honour. The box office hit ‘Unbeatable’ was fierce competition with ‘The Grandmaster’ but in the end Wong Kar-wai’s film came out ahead.

“The film is very artistic and it shows a lot of local Chinese elements,” federation chairman Crucindo Hung Cho-sing said. “The Oscar academy usually chooses films that reflect the country’s features, so there’s a big chance it will be a nominee.” Comparing ‘The Grandmaster’ to previous films based on Ip Man, board member Patrick Tong Hing-chi said earlier ones focused more on action, while Wong’s version was more emotional. “He paid a lot of attention to shooting techniques,” Tong said. “The kung fu moves are very elegant.”

The spokesperson of the movie’s producer said the production crew are exciting about the news. “It’s our honor to have it selected to represent Hong Kong in the Oscars,” said the spokesperson, “We are thankful to the recognition by the selection committee in Hong Kong, and we do hope ‘The Grandmaster’ can shine in the top notch international venue.” Actors Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi were happy for Wong Kar-wai when they received the good news in Qingdao and they hope to be able to walk the Oscar red carpet again.

The 2014 Oscars will be presented on March 2 in Los Angeles.

‘The Grandmaster’ Comic Released Free to Web

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ComicBook.com:

A comic book tie-in to the upcoming film The Grandmaster, which was made available as a convention exclusive at San Diego Comic Con International last month, has been released online as a free download.

The Weinstein Company have teamed up with former Marvel and IDW editor Andy Schmidt, along with artists Chris Evenhuis, PH Marcondes, Keison, and Chee and VICE, to create a really cool web comic based on the film.

You can check out the comic, released in conjunction with promotion for Wong Kar Wai’s new film, here.
The Grandmaster opens in NY, LA and Toronto on August 23rd, and nationwide on 800 screens on August 30th.

Download it here:
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‘The Grandmaster’ Arrives In New York

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Oriental Daily:

Acclaimed martial arts film ‘The Grandmaster’ held its New York City premiere on August 13. The film’s stars Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi attended the event along with director Wong Kar-wai. The film’s success at various international film festivals this year generated buzz ahead of its American release, attracting the attention of many Hollywood veterans, including Susan Sarandon and Samuel L. Jackson, who have nothing but praise for the film and spent much time socializing with its stars. Sarandon even traded phone numbers with Leung at the after party, asking him to stay in touch.

The premiere took place at the Regal E-Walk Stadium. Aside from Hollywood stars, well-known fashion designers Vivienne Tam, Anna Sui, and Jason Wu were also present. Wu took several photos with Zhang Ziyi, the two having collaborated earlier when Wu dressed Zhang for this year’s Met Gala.

To further ignite interest in the American market, famed director Martin Scorsese announced his support and granted American distributor The Weinstein Company the use of his name. The film will officially be released in the United States as “Martin Scorsese Presents ‘The Grandmaster’”. Speaking about this endorsement, Wong Kar-wai said, “Marty has always been a great inspiration. We are so thankful for his support of the film.”

Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi mingled with guests at the event, the two spent time chatting with Susan Sarandon and Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson shared that he is a fan of Wong Kar-wai and had put aside time so he can attend the premiere. Sarandon had a great time talking with Leung, and invited him to chat more over a drink. At the after party, Sarandon praised Leung’s talents, saying that the effort the cast has put into the film is apparent. She later traded contact information with him, wanting to stay in touch.

The Grandmaster received great word of mouth and box office takings in Asia and caught just as much attention in the U.S. Wong Kar-wai edited the film anew so it would be easier for foreigners to comprehend. At the press conference Tony Leung revealed that the most memorable moment was working for 40 consecutive nights. He said that in the end he only had bronchitis and was lucky not to have pneumonia.

Zhang Ziyi appeared on Good Morning America for a live interview. She even admitted that a live program appearance required courage, luckily she was able to withstand the test. Zhang Ziyi’s English ability was made fun of before, thus she worked hard to learn English. Now she is able to fluently respond on a live program, she truly is a new and improved “International Zhang”.

New York is only the first stop among many as the team prepares for the film’s American release on August 23. Wong Kar-wai, Tony Leung, and Zhang Ziyi will continue to make appearances to support their acclaimed epic, with advanced screenings planned in Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

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