Max Zhang To Reprise Role For IP MAN Spin-Off Movie
Well into the month of May and with Cannes currently underway, it’s likely that a fourth Ip Man movie may ruminating among those in charge. Details on those efforts remain otherwise pending, though it does signal something worthwhile since Wilson Yip’s latest treatment in the franchise, Ip Man 3, became a theatrical hit throughout Asia earlier this year – box office controversies be damned.
The film’s success ultimately catalyzed the proliferation of its main star Donnie Yen, whose continuous portrayal of the once-living purveyor and ‘Grandmaster’ of Wing Chun continues to endure as a headliner for kung fu fanatics. Moreover, the epic story build up between his role and that of co-star Max Zhang remains one of the most resonating dichotomies ever illustrated on film, and assuredly leading up to one of the most admired (and noticeably most pirated if you’re an avid internet user) fight finales ever shot on film.
Action director Yuen Woo-Ping is defintively someone to accredit in this regard, while he himself is now pivoting toward the director’s chair for a few more projects this year as of late. One such project includes a pairing with Tsui Hark for a remake of Miracle Fighters, and the other being epic kung fu comedy Hand Over Fist, and one of those projects is bound to occur over the other as it’s merely moreso a question of when.
As of this week, that same question can be extended to what appears to be a new Ip Man spin-off film now in development, and with the goal of focusing on the character, Cheung Tin-Chi, as portrayed by Zhang in Ip Man 3 and Yuen possibly at the helm; Cheung plays a struggling single father and rickshaw operator whose fervor for Wing Chun becomes the ultimate driving force for competitiveness upon crossing paths with our title character.
The film is a hit for many reasons among which I won’t go into except simply telling you to see it for yourself and bask in its triumphant delivery as one of the best Yen-headliners ever filmed. The film is now available on DVD, VoD and Blu-Ray in North America courtesy of Well Go USA, and in the meantime, it’s worth wondering what an Ip Man spin-off like this would entail. I think we’re all intrigued at the prospects of this.
Zhang can also be seen starring opposite Wu Jing and Tony Jaa in Well Go USA’s select theatrical release of Kill Zone 2 while the actor himself is currently in production under helmer Jonathan Li for upcoming 2017 actioner, The Brink.
H/T: Asian Film Strike
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