With an August 25 release in tow for director George Nolfi’s hotly-contested martial arts action drama, Birth Of The Dragon, the marketing is moving in hard and heavy in its remaining days. As such, and if you’ve been keeping up, that means targeting the exact audience the film is now aiming for in the wake of critical feedback from earlier screenings.
Personally, being an Ip fan, I would have been okay with that were it not for the fact that Groundswell Productions had been pushing it as a film based on a real-world event long before cameras were rolling, and now with the film’s star, actor and martial artist Phillip Ng, expressing his own wish to do the late film and martial arts legend justice. Needless to say, messaging made all the difference here and the messaging was pretty poor, and it’s unfortunate.
Looking to culmimate his longstanding epic Color crime trilogy which began in 2003, producer Wong Jing is back and sharing the director’s chair for Colour Of The Game which opens this Fall. Ka Wai Kam sits at the helm for the new thriller which centers on a triad member and his protégé who befall a deadly consipiracy amid a mission of vengeance for a mob boss.
Actors Simon Yam, Jordan Chan, Philip Ng, Eddie Cheung and Lam Suet, actress Sabrina, and actor Eric Tsang comprise the cast of those headlining for the film’s opening date on September 14. The newest trailer is now live courtesy of Mega-Vision Pictures Ltd. Take a look!
That moment was the very fight between fledgeling action film hero Bruce Lee and Shaolin martial artist Wong Jack Man, etched in history as a fight between two distinct ideologies for which the outcome remains a recorded mystery to date. Front and center is American-born Hong Kong actor and martial artist Phillip Ng (Once Upon A Time In Shanghai) making his Hollywood debut opposite actor Yu Xia (Mojin: The Lost Legend) – both starring in the respective roles for the film’s epic fight narrative as presented by the role of Lee’s disciple played by actor Billy Magnussen who narrates the events setting into 1960’s Oakland, California – and much to the chagrin of fans dissenting.
Director George Nolfi’s most recent attempt at contributing to the fanfare and legacy of late martial arts star, actor and Jeet Kune Do founder Bruce Lee with Birth Of The Dragon, has been met with some of the heaviest criticisms since its TIFF premiere late last year. For this it may come to no surprise to those paying attention that the most vociferous opponent of the film to date is Lee’s own daughter, Shannon Lee who has since taken the mantle at enterprising in her father’s name, as well as advancing an authorized rival biopic of her own which is set to shoot in Malaysia this summer.
For now though, while the film may tell a different tale, there’s no love lost for actor and martial artist Phillip Ng (Invisible Target, Once Upon A Time In Shanghai, upcoming Undercover VS. Undercover). The Hong Kong-born, U.S. grown rising action star will essentially be making his American theatrical debut here in the title role. The film has since landed a distributor as of Feburary and, as of this week, will have a public jury of its own with a release date officially stamped for August 25, 2017, courtesy of OTL Releasing and BH Tilt/WWE Studios, according to Deadline. The film is written by Steven J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson who also produced with Michael London and Janice Williams for Groundswell Productions, and Kylin Pictures’s James Hong Pang and Leo Shi Young, and action sequences by Corey Yuen Kwai.
At a time when the 1960s counterculture was in full swing in San Francisco, Lee (played by Philip Ng) was a rebel of his own, teaching his own type of martial arts to non-Chinese despite his community frowning upon it. A young actor by the name of Steven McKee (Billy Magnussen) becomes a pupil of Lee’s, who in turn is fascinated by his new student’s line of work. However, kung-fu master Wong Jack Man is sent from China to stop Lee’s heretical ways, soon giving birth to a legend.
Rounding out the cast are Xia Yu in the on-screen persona of Lee’s real-life opponent Wong Jack Man, along with Jin Xing, Jingjing Qu and Simon Yin.
Stay tuned for an official trailer.
It’s the end of the Century, at a corner of the city in a building riddled with crime…Everyone in the building has turned into zombies. After Jenny’s boyfriend was killed in a zombie attack, she faces the challenge of surviving in the face of adversity. In order to stay alive she struggles with Andy to flee danger.
The first trailer for writer and director Wong Jing‘s slick card tossing action comedy, The Man From Macau aired a few weeks ago, featuring actor Chow Yun-Fat reprising his classic role from the original God Of Gamblers film franchise. And this week, we finally get the same trailer with English subtitles and Cantonese audio (in addition to a new poster), and the Hong Kong title as it was previously noted throughout the year, From Vegas To Macau.
Chinese website Oriental Daily forwarded a new small slate of stills and behind-the-scenes pics from director Wong Ching-Po‘s forthcoming release of Once Upon A Time In Shanghai. Revamping a classic story from the Shaw Brothers library, the new film centers around the emergence of an immigrant from Shangtung whose search for a better life lands him in Shanghai where his talents as a skilled fighter may be the deciding factor of his survival or his comeuppance.
In the 1900’s, MA YONG ZHEN joined many hopeful laborers to seek work in Shanghai. Remaining honest and refusing to join a gang, he became friends with gangster LONG QI. Japanese spy HASHIMOTO, furious that Long turned down his proposal, tries to kill both of them. Ma luckily survives, and is now determined to help his people by decimating the bad elements in Shanghai.
Martial arts action cinema fans have watched and waited for anything and everything resembling a sign of life for Once Upon A Time In Shanghai, a production that only saw a year-and-a-half old promo teaser with lead action star, actor Philip Ng until recently. The film has since shown itself out with new sales art and a synopsis revealed back in early November as the film made the film festival rounds this year.
Director Wong Ching-Po‘s latest return to Shaw territory in the form of the ten-million dollar-budgeted Once Upon A Time In Shanghai has been a long-awaited theatrical spectacle since the film’s announcement in 2011. The unveiling of the concept trailer a year later with lead actor Philip Ng ultimately gave the film tons of press and expectations from fans eager to see Ng in a larger-scale role after films such as Star Runner, Dragon Squad, New Police Story, Invisible Target and Undercover Hidden Dragon to name a few.
This year, with a big lead role to his name in addition to a documentary, Ng is set to kick off 2014 with explosive martial arts action from master choreographer Yuen Wo-Ping, and a powerhouse cast that also includes legendary actor Sammo Hung, actress Jiang Luxia, and Special ID co-star Andy On who teased the latest poster art for the film on Saturday.
What you see below is the full sales poster art, in addition to a brand new synopsis.
In the 1900’s, MA YONG ZHEN joined many hopeful laborers to seek work in Shanghai. Remaining honest and refusing to join a gang, he became friends with gangster LONG QI. Japanese spy HASHIMOTO, furious that Long turned down his proposal, tries to kill both of them. Ma luckily survives, and is now determined to help his people by decimating the bad elements in Shanghai.
Mega Vision Pictures Ltd. has slated Once Upon A Time In Shanghai for a January 8, 2014 domestic release. Stay tuned for trailer news!
The film also stars Mega Vision’s latest action lead and From Zero To Hero documentary star, actor Philip Ng who is currently featured in director Wong Ching-Po’s latest Shaw Brothers ode with action director Yuen Woo-Ping for Once Upon a Time In Shanghai, now making the rounds at the American Film Market a year and a half after releasing a concept trailer. The film sees Ng taking on a role of an immgrant from Shangtung who moves to Shanghai in pirsuit of a better life but ends up putting his kung fu to use in order to survive.