MADE IN CHINATOWN: Alfred Hsing To Debut In NYC-Set Martial Arts Gangster Comedy
EXCLUSIVE: Updates are slowly but surely forthcoming as production approaches for martial arts gangster comedy, Made In Chinatown with most of the cast locked for the film’s June 30 start. Casting the lead, however, has been a different tale with a talent search that spanned as far as Malaysia to date.
As of Wednesday this week, I can confirm that actor and martial artist Alfred Hsing will make his lead debut. Suza Singh (Future Shift, Replecan) is directing as well as producing with a script by executive producer and author Mark V. Wiley. Hsing is a versatile wushu stylist with a number of champion wins and tournament activity around the world. His decade-plus career on both ends of the camera shares DNA with the likes of Yuen Woo-Ping, Corey Yuen, Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen, Jet Li, Phillip Ng, Simon Yam, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Orlando Bloom, and directors Phillip Rhee and Steven Spielberg.
Hsing (Ready Player One, Ip Man 3, “Rush Hour”) plays Vincent “Vinny” Chow, our Chinese hero who feels like a failure and doesn’t fit in with his own culture. Instead, he wants respect, charisma, power, la dolce vita – in other words, he wants to be “Made”, to become an Italian Wiseguy like the heroes in all his favorite movies. Vinny rejects his Chinese culture as he tries to win the Italian girl of his dreams, prove himself worthy of MOB membership and even goes against his owns Chinatown to gain respect. With the help of his kung-fu master, the Chinese girl next door, a gay Black actor, and New York’s famous fortunetellers, Vinny finds Chinese culture at the center of who he truly is.
The official website details and extensive cast roster that lists Michelle Procida, Future Shift and Replecan star Asha Annais, The Sopranos series vets Tony Sirico, Vincent Pastore and Maureen Van Zandt, Goodfellas and upcoming Brawler co-stars Tony Darrow, Artie Pasquale and celebrated action film notables such as Shaw Bros. legend and Ip Man franchise co-star Lo Meng, James Lew (Timecop, The Perfect Weapon), Hwang Jang Lee (Drunken Master, Magnificent Warriors, No Retreat, No Surrender II: Raging Thunder) and Robert Samuels (H.K.S.A.) (Red Wolf, Mou Man Tai), as well as actor/martial artists Silvio Simac (Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing, Street Fighter: Resurrection), Eric Kovaleski and Chuck Zito (The Martial Arts Kid), Shuya Chang (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, Snakehead, Revenge of the Green Dragons) and Grandmasters Samuel Kwok and Wai Hong to name a few. The page also presents a lengthy introductory to the film’s premise that hints at a tale mingling tropes from spectacles such as Mickey Blue Eyes, Kung-fu Hustle, Analyze This and John Carpenter classic Big Trouble In Little China.
Reel Diverse and Tambuli Films are producing the pic in association with R4 Films L.L.C.’s own Samuels and partner Robert Jefferson. Take a gander at Hsing’s 2018 stunt reel along with a raft of other reels and gems available at AlfredRocks.com.