Posted on

‘The Grandmasters’ set for December 2012 release

Ming Pao :

Directed by Wong Kar-wai and starring Tony Leung, the film “The Grandmasters” has been in the works for the past 13 years. Lead actress Zhang Ziyi had expressed her concerns on whether the film will ever be finished. However, the production company finally announced that the film is slated to be released on December 18 during the holiday period. After learning of the news, Zhang Ziyi expressed her relief that the film will finally wrap up and will no longer be ‘missing in action’.
With a star studded ensemble including Tony Leung, Zhang Ziyi, Korean actress Song Hye-kyo, Zhao Benshan, Chang Chen and Xiao Shenyang, “The Grandmasters” has garnered international attention. Wong Kar-wai started working on the script back in 1997. In 2002 it was confirmed that Tony Leung will take on the lead role. However the production was at a standstill for many years. It wasn’t until November of 2009 that filming began in Mainland China. As Tony had broken his arm in July of that year, he had to wait for his injury to heal before joining the production. “The Grandmasters” has been filming for the past two years and it is still incomplete. During the interim, Donnie Yen has led two successful installments of the film Ip Man in 2008 and 2010. He also has intentions to film a third movie. Donnie has expressed that he has been waiting a long time to see the completion of “The Grandmasters”.

After the production company announced the December 18 release of the film, they also uploaded a new photo showing Tony in his role of Yip Man alongside his disciples. In the photo he is wearing a black changshan while being surrounded by his disciples. The sign above the photo addresses that Yip Man has already begun his next chapter in life and has opened up his own school in Hong Kong. Last year a clip of the movie was released showing Yip Man fighting in the rain. This time the photo shows a more restrained side of him. Zhang Ziyi expressed her joy in seeing the film nearing completion. Many others in the industry also expressed their anticipation in seeing the finished product.
As part of the promotions for the film, its official Weibo (Asian Twitter) released a contest to win one of 1218 special design collector’s edition “Grandmasters Invitations”. This attracted great response from netizens. From the invitation photos, the design was very elegant.  The envelope had the words “Grandmasters Invitation” and stamps from the Republic era on the front and on the back was The Grandmasters limited edition commemorative stamp with postmarks from Kowloon Hong Kong, Foshan Guangdong, Peking, Fengtian and other locations. The “Grandmasters Invitation” notified everyone that the film will open on December 18 2012.
Many theaters in Mainland China are confident in the box office sales and hope it will break records. Beijing New Film Association president Liu Hongpeng expressed that he has high hopes for the film. Others have expressed that if there’s good buzz surrounding the movie, the box office numbers will not be a concern.
As the film will be released during the holiday period, it will have stiff competition at the box office. Jackie Chan’s “Chinese Zodaic”, is slated for release on December 20. As the writer, director and star of the film, he will be leading his cast including Korean actor Kwon Sang Woo and actor Liu Fan to compete alongside “The Grandmasters”.

Yuen Woo-Ping and Song Hye-Kyo

Posted on

Tony Leung to take a break from working with Wong Kar-wai

From DBW:

At a press conference for THE GREAT MAGICIAN (DAI MOR SHOOK SI), actor Tony Leung revealed that he was taking a break from working with director Wong Kar-wai. Leung has been working on Wong Kar-wai’s THE GRANDMASTERS (YUT DOI JUNG SI) for over two years. For the role he has given a lot and was even injured on the production. He admitted that he would not work with Wong Kar-wai again for awhile.
THE GREAT MAGICIAN director Derek Yee Tung Sing revealed that Tony Leung once said that he would make five more movies then retire, but Leung denied that.
“I hope that my entire life is in acting, to have work at every stage.” Leung said that he would like more chances to make comedies. As soon as he said that people in attendance assumed this meant that he did not want to work with Wong Kar-wai who rarely made comedy films.
He said, “I just finished Wong Kar-wai’s movie, both of us are very tired and need a long time to recover. Maybe it will be a long, long while before we work together again. No one should be too concerned about me working with him, for now we wouldn’t.”
THE GRANDMASTERS is scheduled to be released in theaters in Summer/Autumn 2012 in China.

http://entertainment.dbw.cn/system/2012/01/09/053628545.shtml

Posted on

Korean star Song searching for seriousness

From AFP:

Song Hye-kyo, one of Asia’s biggest female stars thanks to a wildly popular television series, on Saturday said she is determined to match her success in romantic comedies with more serious roles.
“I want the roles I now play to be very different. I am trying to find very different and unique roles to play,” said Song, speaking on the sidelines of the 16th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF).
The 28-year-old South Korean, whose face is plastered on billboards across the region, said the parts she was now choosing were designed to be more challenging.
That’s certainly the case with Song’s latest film role.
In the Lee Jeong-hyang directed drama “A Reason to Live” — making its world premiere at BIFF — Song plays a young woman forced through tragedy to question the rights and wrong of capital punishment.
It is a step change from the bright and breezy romantic comedies that made her name.

The actress is also currently helping acclaimed Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai piece together his long-awaited martial arts epic “The Grandmasters“, a biopic of Ip Man, the man who taught Bruce Lee how to fight.
Both films had presented unique challenges, the actress said.
“In person I am a very calm character and in Wong Kar Wai’s film, I have to be very active,” said Song.
“I have to use my body and I am still learning how to be more physical. In director Lee’s film I have to express my feelings more than I normally do. I have to use my facial expressions.”
The actress said she had found that though the two directors were known for very different styles of films — Wong is an arthouse darling while Lee favours more gritty material — she had found they had a common touch.
“They are both very delicate when it comes to actors in that they give very detailed directions,” she said.

Song began her career on Korean television and soon became a household favourite across Asia thanks to series such as “Full House”, where she played opposite the Korean singing and acting sensation Rain.
Big screen success has been harder to come by but that hasn’t stopped the actress picking up a string of lucrative commercial endorsements.
And while film fans have been kept in the dark about when Wong’s film might be released — it has now been almost a decade in the making — Song said they would not have to wait for too much longer.
“We are still shooting because Wong Kar Wai is not usually a fast director,” she said. “But I think the film will be released in the next year.”

Posted on

New Trailer Primes The Grandmasters

From China Daily:

Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai’s latest film, The Grandmasters, recently released a second trailer – 18 months after filming started and 10 years after the director conceived the movie.

The one-minute trailer, set on a street, on a dark, rainy night, depicts a battle between lead actor Tony Leung and about 20 kungfu artists.

In a black gown and white hat, Leung transforms his signature gentlemanly manners to kick and punch like a street fighter. The scene is a nod to Keanu Reeves in The Matrix and Christian Bale in The Dark Knight.

The film’s first trailer, released in December 2010, is just a play of light, shadow and Chinese calligraphy, without any actors.

Leung plays the late kungfu master Ip Man, known for his wing chun style, a form of Chinese martial arts.

Leung, the Lust, Caution and In the Mood for Love star, practiced wing chun for about two years. A disciple of Ip trained him and even adjusted his diet.

Ip has been a favored topic of the Chinese film industry in recent years. There have been at least three films about the legendary martial artist, whose students included Bruce Lee. The most popular incarnation of the martial arts legend is by Donnie Yen, star of Iron Monkey and The New Dragon Gate Inn. In two Ip biopics, Yen portrays the kungfu master as a loving husband and passionate patriot.

Wong’s film will not focus just on Ip, but a group of kungfu masters of his time. He has put together a stellar cast, including Zhang Ziyi, South Korean star Song Hye-kyo, comedian Zhao Benshan and his protg Xiao Shenyang.

Though kungfu fans have been looking forward to the release of the film for some time, Wong has prolonged shooting, as he often does. Leung even took a break to take the lead in another movie, The Great Magician, which will be released in December.

Sil-Metropole Organization, the film’s production company, says filming has been completed and the director is working on post-production. But a release date has still not been given.

Posted on

The Grandmasters Trailer Profiled

From ChineseFilms:

Director Wong Kar Wai’s upcoming Kung Fu blockbuster, “The Grandmasters,” recently released its first promotional trailer.

Tony Leung Chiu Wai portrays Yip Man, master of the Wing Chun martial art, and is seen in the trailer fighting against a gang of street thugs. It’s the first time for Tony Leung to play the role of a Kung Fu master but his performance has received much acclaim following the release of the preview. Audiences commented that, “Leung is very cool in the movie.”

The real Kung Fu master, Wang Man also said he was surprised after seeing the trailer: “I never thought Leung could be that good. The power of his movement shows that this is a person who can manage real Kung Fu.”

Director Wong Kar Wai arrived in Beijing to arrange the preview of the trailer. Xue Liming, spokesman for the movie, unveiled the reason behind showing the trailer prior to the screening of “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”, saying that cinemas will upgrade their equipment for increased sound and screen light performance. “We want the audience to experience the best visual and sound effects possible during the preview.”

Xue also mentioned that the movie is set against the backdrop of the Kung Fu world during the Republican Period. There will be other Kung Fu masters and schools making appearances in the movie.

“The Grandmasters” also features South Korean actress Song Hye Kyo and Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi. It has been slated for a December release.

Xue promises that “The Grandmasters” will set a new standard for Chinese film.

Posted on

The Grandmasters Teaser Trailer Plus New Stills

The new teaser trailer for Wong Kar-wai’s The Grandmasters:

Mandarin version:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvdh7VkLciA]

Cantonese version:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJTQj12cTKw]

Wong Kar-Wai was spotted outside of a Beijing theater and media members got wind of it and rushed over. It was learned to be a secret test screening of a one minute trailer for “The Grandmasters”. Audience members were overheard chatting among themselves afterwards about it and reporters learned that they had signed confidentiality agreements.
http://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2011-07-19/01413362921.shtml

Posted on

Fortissimo Sells Wong Kar-wai’s ‘The Grandmasters’ to Japan

Fortissimo Films has sold Wong Kar-wai’s hotly-anticipated martial arts epic ‘The Grandmasters’ to Gaga Corporation for Japan.

Fortissimo is handling select territories retained by Wong’s Jet Tone Films, including Japan, Korea and India, while Fortissimo chairman Michael J. Werner is serving as associate producer and consultant. The deal was brokered by Fortissimo’s executive vice president, Sales and Acquisitions, Winnie Lau with Gaga chairman Tom Yoda and operating officer for acquisition Satomi Odake.

Wong said “In my conversations with Yoda-san and his team, I came to recognise the tremendous appreciation and passion that they had for my work and for this genre, we are pleased to have them introducing the film to the Japanese audience.” Yoda said: “We are very confident that we can push a new frontier for Chinese films in the Japanese market with this title.”

Wong recently completed principal photography in China on the $25m film which stars Tony Leung, Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen.

http://www.screendaily.com/territories/asia-pacific/fortissimo-sells-wong-kar-wais-grandmasters-to-japan/5027263.article

Posted on

The Grandmasters Scheduled to Wrap in Mid-May

The martial arts film “The Grandmasters” will be in the can in mid-May.

South Korean Actress Song Hye Kyo recently flew to China to complete her part in the film, according to South Korean media. Directed by Wong Kar-wai, the film is an biographical one based on the story of kung fu star Bruce Lee’s master, Yip Man. Song Hye Kyo plays the role of Yip Man’s wife.

The film also features other A-list stars, including Hong Kong actor Tony Leung and mainland China actress Zhang Ziyi. Director Wong, who is known for long shooting periods, started filming “The Grandmasters” in 2009.

http://www.chinesefilms.cn/1/2011/05/06/141s2967.htm