Well Go USA has been a perpetual force in Asian cinema acquisitions. Director Stephen Fung’s new movie, The Adventurers, is just one such title to find itself in the throes of an international release one week apart from China and with a date now set for August 18 in the States, it’s full-speed ahead for this contemporary John Woo nod.
The film is due for an August 11 release in China while it’s reasonable to believe that Well Go USA may very well get a same day release. It needs confirming, but indeed, U.S. fans can expect it for themselves in due time.
Dan goes to find help from his surrogate father Kong (Eric Tsang), an unscrupulous and ruthless crime boss who commissioned the heist. Kong assigns Dan a new mission.
With action auteur John Woo slowly and surely easing back into headline relevance with his own work, it’s only a worthy to weigh in on filmmaker Stephen Fung now forthcoming with his own humble nod as The Adventurers looks to rekindle remake potential this summer. The film is a reimagining of Woo’s Once A Thief (1991), now the center of an adventure that sees actor Andy Lau in the role of an ex-con freshly out of prison and back in the heist game in timely fashion with actor Jean Reno as the supersleuth hot on his tail.
Also starring are actresses Shu Qi and Zhang Jingchu, and actors Eric Tsang and Yi Sha and with a release set for August 11, a new official trailer has finally arrived and quite fleshed out as a broadly-scoped international affair. Take a look below!
I admit, it took me a few months to get a grip on the fact that The Adventurers and the upcoming reboot of John Woo classic Once A Thief were the same damn movie being directed by Stephen Fung. That said, I can finally sharpen my focus a bit and follow up on the news as it comes, and now with word that filming is currently underway in Prague following the most recent marriage of Fung and the film’s leading lady, actress Shu Qi.
The film was announced earlier this year at HKFilmart under joint venture Flagship Entertainment with Fung to direct, and also lists actors Andy Lau and Tony Yang, and actress Zhang Jingchu. Rounding out the cast this week according to reports from Chinese outlet Mingpao, is actor Jean Reno, who stars as an inspector in the relentless cat-and-mouse pursuit of Lau’s role, a master thief joined by his crack heist team as they trek through Europe in search of treasure.
Lau joins actors Huang Xiaoming and Wong Cho-lam this October for Flagship’s upcoming prospect, Wong Jing’s Mission Milano ahead of the actor’s December appearance in the ensemble epic, The Great Wall, and Herman Yau’s 2017 actioner, Shockwave. Fung’s The Adventurers is currently slated to release next summer.
H/T: HKTop10
It was approximately four months ago that international action star Tony Jaa was on deck to possibly star in Tai Chi 0 helmer Stephen Fung‘s forthcoming production of Kickboxer from Radar Pictures, a remake of the 1989 martial arts tournament thriller officially announced a year and a half ago. Since then, casting continued with some missteps along the way while boasting what appeared to be an otherwise promising slate of names joining actor, martial artist and stuntman Alain Moussi for his hopeful lead debut as a Fall 2014 shoot neared, and now with the year approaching its end, it appears the production has hit another bump.
Jaa‘s manager, Mike Selby, has informed Film Combat Syndicate that the actor has officially withdrawn from the production, stating “The production changed schedule to a period where Jaa would not be available.”. Whatever the case may be, it looks like a pretty scary pattern for this particular project, especially after losing fellow potential co-star Scott Adkins back in September citing script issues. More recently, Jaa reiterated his involvement in the film’s production roughly a week and a half ago in an interview with MAAC.
In our exclusive report back in July, Jaa was in talks to star in the new film in a supporting role similar to that of actor Dennis Chan’s performance fifteen years earlier, as Xian Chow, the reluctant master who would ultimately take in protagonist, Kurt Sloan, to train him in a grueling regimen to help meet the necessary criteria to qualify as a Muay Thai fighter, ultimately to avenge the death of his brother, David, at the hands of merciless fighter, Tong Po. Other names aside from Adkins, such as actor and martial artist Georges St. Pierre (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) and actor/wrestler Dave Bautista (Guardians Of The Galaxy) were also mentioned throughout the year with the latter tapped to play the villain.
The film does carries some promising tunes as a remake for a new generation of fans that know who Jaa is, and would have surely found a way to deliver such a film in a celebratory fashion harkening back to the authentic fight flicks of yesteryear. It still looks like Bautista is in, although now that the film has lost two of its biggest prospects, what remains to be seen is whether or not the production will be able to find two more actors with the same action star power. It’s possible, but it’s unfortunate that Jaa‘s fans now have to count him out.
Jaa is still expected to earn some high marks next year with the releases of Furious 7 and director Ekchai Uekrongtham’s international thriller, Skin Trade. As for Fung’s Kickboxer, only time will tell, and hopefully we will get some good news in the not too distant future about it, although original franchise director Albert Pyun’s return to the Kickboxer ring seems to be weaving together just fine.
Stay tuned for more info.
EARLIER REPORT:
Stovall confirmed this moments later, and if you are not aware of who he is, it’s likely you’ve been living under a rock. He’s done some amazing work as well in the world of film and martial arts stunt coordination with credits like the first and second season of Mortal Kombat Legacy, Bunraku (2010), Never Back Down 2 (2011), Dragon Eyes (2012), Universal Soldier: Day Of Reckoning (2012) and the current production of Max Steel. His more prolific work can be seen especially in director Isaac Florentine’s electrifying MMA prison actioner, Undisputed 3: Redemption (2010), the upcoming home release of The Raid 2, and in the recently unveiled teaser trailer for the new home invasion thriller, No Good Deed starring Idris Elba, which has a trailer you can check out just below Stovall‘s most recent reel at the bottom of the page.
It was back in July in 2013 that two memorable action classics starring legendary superstar Jean Claude Van Damme, Bloodsport and Kickboxer were each finally announced to be remade with their own directors, with the latter to be helmed by Tai Chi 0 director, multifaceted actor and producer Stephen Fung. On Monday, almost a year later, official news finally confirmed from Cannes announcing actor, stuntman and martial artist Alain Moussi (pictured left) will be taking the lead in Fung‘s new film.
The actor most recently did stuntwork on Camille Delamarre’s directorial debut remaking the 2004 action thriller, District B13 in last month’s release of Brick Mansions, in addition to working on films such as Guillermo Del Toro’s 2013 techno monster thriller Pacific Rim, and the upcoming release of filmmaker David Hayter’s own directorial debut, Wolves with Lucas Till and Jason Momoa. Monday’s report also confirmed what may be expected as the official synopsis of the remake:
Kickboxer tells the story of David and Kurt Sloan, the descendants of a well-known Venice, Calif., fighting dynasty. When David wins the Karate World Championship, a promoter lures him to Hong Kong, despite his brother’s protestations that the man is a crook. When Kurt travels to Thailand to meet his brother, he discovers he has died, and seeks his revenge.
Fung‘s career has taken him on a journey over the years from acting to screenwriting, producing and directing films such as Tai Chi 0, Tai Chi Hero and the techno suspense thriller, Control with fellow film partner, actor Daniel Wu. In an interview with TimeOut Hong Kong back in March, Fung confirmed that Kickboxer will be an English-language remake of the original film and will also be set in Thailand, with the goal of getting “a larger Western appeal” with a more “brutal and mature” vision than his previous directorial work on Tai Chi 0 and Tai Chi Hero.
Interestingly enough, like with most martial arts fans, the original film, directed by Mark DiSalle remains a personal favorite for him, as per what inspired him to direct the film to begin with. “It’s a film that I really enjoyed watching when I was young.” he says. “Growing up in Hong Kong, you get exposed to a lot of martial arts films and we make a lot of good ones, so we have a pretty high standard. The movies that were coming in from Hollywood at that time were not very good, except Kickboxer, which was one of the good ones. Van Damme is a trained martial artist, so his moves look authentic in the film. We are not just going to do a direct remake. There has to be something of importance that warrants a remake. I hope it’s going to be a challenging experience.”
Also to boot, are the additions of The Man With The Iron Fists co-star and mixed martial artist Dave Bautista (above/left) who is set to star in the August release of Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy, and actor and fellow mixed martial artist Georges St. Pierre (above/right), off the heels of portraying Batroc The Leaper opposite actor Chris Evans in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Further casting may be well on its way, with only speculation as to whether or not some fans may get their wish to see Van Damme in the film’s reimagining in one form or another.
As always with these things, time will tell. Stay tuned!
UPDATE: Read the official word from The Exchange:
Brian O’Shea, CEO of The Exchange, has announced a deal to sell the big budget reboot of the 1989 classic KICKBOXER. The Exchange will begin selling this action packed remake at this year Cannes market.
KICKBOXER will be directed by Chinese phenomenon Stephen Fung (TAI CHI ZERO, TAI CHI HERO) and produced hit maker Ted Field of Radar Pictures (RIDDICK Series, THE LAST SAMURAI). KICKBOXER will star UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre (CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER), and WWE superstar Dave Bautista (GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY.) The film will also be introducing Alain Moussi as its lead. Mr. Moussi is a world-renowned stunt man / martial artists, performing in such films as (X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, IMMORTALS, PACIFIC RIM, WHITEHOUSE DOWN). .”Alain is a star and will be an amazing leading man,” said Filed “Like Vin in RIDDICK, Alain will make this movie very special and this KICKBOXER reboot will be the start of an amazing franchise”.
Additional cast will be announced shortly.
David and Kurt Sloan are the descendants of a well-known Venice, California dynasty of champions. Both are top-notch fighters and athletes in the prime of their lives. When David wins the Karate World Championship, a promoter lures him to Hong Kong despite Kurt’s protests that the man is a crook. Not soon after, Kurt receives a letter from David and heads to Thailand to meet him. When he arrives, he discovers his brother is dead. The man responsible is the viscous Tong Po. Desperate to seek revenge, Kurt turns to Xian Chow, his brother’s former mentor. To defeat the man who killed his brother, Kurt must look within himself to find the strength and courage of a champion.
The film is also produced by Dimitri Logothetis and Nick Celozzi. Mike Weber and Peter Meyer will executive produce as well as Brian O’Shea, Jeff Bowler and Nat McCormick for the Exchange.
“I am very excited about KICKBOXER being in Cannes” said O’Shea, “we have a visionary director, a strong Hollywood producer, great cast and an action packed script based on a well known property – what more can you ask for?”
H/T: THR
Director Hu Xuehua‘s latest co-production between Shanghai Film Group and the NBA combines high octane sports action with milestone special effects for the upcoming sci-fi basketball thriller, Amazing. The long-awaited film began production in 2010 and eventually made its way to the Shanghai International Film Festival back in June, and is finally plugging you into the 3D theatrical experience for a domestic release on the week of September 28, 2013.