Streaming giant iQiyi is the place to be these days for Chinese martial arts stars. Whether it’s Andy On, Xie Miao, Tiger Xu, or even Tiger Chen, making a medium-budgeted film for the streaming service, between bigger projects, seems to be the trend. The massive amount of output from iQiyi has led to mixed results but every now and then they give us a gem.
Which leads me onto this story. Philip Ng (Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In) announced, via his Instagram page, yesterday, that he is working on a new film for iQiyi, ARMORED. And that will costar the lgend himself, Yuen Biao (The Iceman Cometh). Yuen Biao’s been a little quiet as of late, making lesser known straight-to-streaming films. With Ng by his side, this one certainly has potential. But it doesn’t end there. Also joining the cast is underrated martial arts maestro, Wu Yue (Ip Man 4). Wu Yue’s been knee-deep in streaming services since failing to truly find stardom with the likes of 2017’s Paradox and the excellent, The Brink (2017), but don’t let that steer you away. As an on-screen fighter, he’s unbelievable, having gone toe-to-toe with the likes of Donnie Yen, Max Zhang, and Vincent Zhao.
Not much is known about ARMORED other than it’s core cast and the fact it’ll be directed by upcomer Huo Suiqiang, the man behind recent films, The Comeback and Blind War. Both of which were celebrated as being very decent efforts from iQiyi.
Stay tuned to FILM COMBAT SYNDICATE for more details as they arise.
