Could The Late LAU KAR-LEUNG Get His Own Movie?

The past year saw a grave loss of a few notable, memorable and iconic film figures of the martial arts and film industry as a whole, including the passing of action cinema arbiter and late kung fu cinema legend Lau Kar-Leung.

Before passing away on June 25 last year at the age of 78, the late master Lau earned his acclaim in part through the shared legacy of his kung fu lineage through his father’s training under Wong Fei-Hung disciple Lam Sai-wing. In the following years, this would ultimately take his own training from the age of seven into a lucrative career as a teacher, a stuntman and rising film figure through Shaw Brothers studios in the 1960’s and 70’s, and evidently it didn’t stop there.

These articles of Lau‘s stellar history in the world of kung fu cinema could be part of what is now being formulated for a potential autobiographical feature film according to forwarded reports from Yahoo! Singapore. The update comes on the heels of this year’s events over at the Hong Kong Book Fair where author, former actress and Lau‘s spouse for 29 years until his passing, Mary Jean Reimer (a.k.a. Yung Jing Jing) who was on hand to promote her new book “Dangerous People” spoke to the press about this latest development.

“When Master Lau was still alive, he asked me to help him fulfil this wish,” Reimer said. “I even have someone in mind to portray him; a young man with a movie background.”, the latter quote being a statement to previous potential casting choice, Fearless and True Legend co-star Jacky Heung Cho before the idea rescinded due to Lau‘s diminishing health at the time.

“I might as well be writing a script first instead of a book about my husband,” said the former actress, who appears to be intended on helping make this film a reality. So I guess it’s safe to say this is only a matter of time, while it could take years to develop as we await official word from a studio or another trade news organization closer to the potential project.

I suppose the big question now is how one would go about cinematically approaching Lau‘s story? Will Reimer‘s vision see something more spectacular with what we have seen in films like the Ip Man movies? Or will we see a more contemplative adherence similar to Wong Kar-Wai’s approach to biographical storytelling in The Grandmasters? Or more importantly, will we see Rise Of A Legend helmer Roy Chow board the project considering his new film shares its protagonist’s legacy with the late great Master Lau? Or will Reimer direct it herself?

All speculative, yes, I know. But it’s well worth the chatter in my humble opinion. Chat away.

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