Donnie Yen Talks Life After IP MAN 3 And More
All the talk that’s been heard about martial arts star Donnie Yen possibly retiring from martial arts films may sound like rhetoric to some fans who are skeptical ahead of the forthcoming release of Ip Man 3. For the man himself though, it’s very much certain despite whatever may happen, and he expanded on this and much more in a recent interview with Time Out Hong Kong.
“It’s definitely intended to be my last one, but you know, we can’t predict what’s going on in the future, right?” said Yen, before adding “I have every intention in my mind that it’s going to be my last martial arts movie. It’s really hard. As an actor, I want to move on. I understand that the world changes, so I can’t guarantee ‘never’, but I definitely consider this is my last heroic martial arts kung fu movie.”
Yen went forward in citing the challenges of finding other characters that can further sustain freshness and overall interest with each film. This also coincides with Yen’s own expressions on working strenuously and taking time away from family, among other thoughts he shares on his Facebook fan page and there’s no question that Yen has had a pretty rigorous schedule to try and fullfill in the last several years. Just a few years ago he announced his own production banner in the form of Superhero Films which would have forseen titles like Enter The Master and Dragon City, next to the long-winded process of finishing Iceman 3D in two parts which has since left its second half unfinished and essentially unreleased. It’s unfortunate, but Yen is his own man and its understandable that he would want to be done with martial arts films altogether which is entirely up to him, regardless of how fans feel.
As for the current crop of martial arts talent and who could possibly take the mantle, Yen doesn’t throw any names out but he did speculate a bit on why the number of prospects among locals may be depleting. “Today, people have a lot of choices for what to focus on and spend their time doing.” he says. “As I said earlier, when I was a kid, I didn’t even have a TV! But now kids have an iPad and iPhone to absorb their time. Martial arts take a lot of time to learn. And martial arts films only really began around the Bruce Lee era in the last 50 years. It’s still kind of new. It doesn’t have a 100 year history [to fall back on].”
Yen’s statements also come in the wake of his latest expected appearance in director Gareth Edwards’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which releases in 2016. You can read his thoughts about it as well as a few more bits of on-set details for Ip Man 3 by CLICKING HERE; The film releases in Hong Kong on December 24 ahead of February when he stars alongside Michelle Yeoh once more for Yuen Woo-Ping’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword Of Destiny.
Stay tuned!