If Monday’s news pertaining to action legend Yuen Woo-Ping’s attachment to the live-action adventure tale, Invisible Guard, perhaps the newly-unveiled concept trailer and artwork will seal your interest. There’s no casting info, of course, but it’s a partnership between two longstanding stalwarts thusfar with Yuen joined by John Woo cohort and longtime producer Terence Chang of Lucida Entertainment.
Legendary martial arts maestro Yuen Woo Ping has a few projects well on the way, including a remake of Miracle Fighters currently titled The Thousand Faces Of Dunjia which is set to arrive this December. Not stopping short anytime soon, he is now reported to be handling another project in the form of Invisible Guard.
Variety‘s report on Monday also comes with the announced attachment of multifaceted film firm, Lucida Entertainment, whose founder, veteran producer and John Woo cohort Terence Chang launched the company year ago this week with a five-film syllabus; That package also includes the forthcoming Once A Thief redux, The Adventurers which Chang’s own Mannix Pictures is producing as well.
Nothing’s been divulged in terms of plot while the nature of the film, which Chang is executive producing, will be that of a live-action adaptation of a popular animated martial arts action series which has spanned two seasons, earning more than 6.6 billion views throughout China’s major online video platforms. What is known of the show likely being referenced here is that it takes place at the end of the Tang Dynasty with rebels looking to overthrow the government whose secret group of criminals-turned-uniquely skilled warriors have since disbanded. In lieu of the proceeding tale lies that of a young orphan trained in martial arts into young adulthood, and the mystery of a presumed-lost treasure along with legendary sword that gives its wielder control of the world.
Lucida, whose Xin Yang serves as CEO, is also in the market for talent management having just signed Huang Jingyu (upcoming Guns And Kidneys and Operation Red Sea), Wang Chuanjun (The Wasted Times) and Godfrey Gao (The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones).
“Terence had constructed a comprehensive business model and professional production service system, which helped Lucida to handle projects from development through post-production. In the future, with many more resources including animation, gaming and new media, Lucida hopes to incorporate new strategies to its business model,” Xin said. “Lucida is on its way to creating a Chinese film production company with Hollywood standards.”
Production and casting details remain pending as well as general contextual updates on the film. Site reader Yi Liu Christina contributed to this report.
Writer and director Lu Yang‘s summer 2014 period actioner, Brotherhood Of Blades, didn’t exactly get a lot of press leading up to its theatrical release. Fortunately, the film did manage to muster some critical and commerical acclaim, and thankfully, that won’t be all we hear.
John Woo cohort Terence Chang produced the film along with Wang Donghui, Ling Hong, with a script co-written by Chen Shu set in seventeenth-century China where three sworn brothers-imperial soldiers Lu, Shen Lian, and Yichuan who are tasked by their new Emperor to hunt down an allegedly corrupt eunich, only to find themselves at the center of an unyielding conspiracy with danger at every turn. Chang Chen, Cecilia Liu, Qing Ye and Nie Yuan led the cast with Sang Lin (Red Cliff 1 and 2) directing the action of which some you can catch in the film’s latter-released promotional spots, and naturally, you probably would not have guessed that there would be more to the story involving this particular product.
As it turns out though, the result is much more to the contrary thanks to an update forwarded from Chinese media by Film Business Asia that the director will be returning to the chair with producing partner Zhang Ning for a prequel with a bigger budget and the possibility of all three male leads to reprise their roles. Pre-production is now underway with reason to be optimistic for a trilogy should the second fare equally well or better this time around. Meanwhile, Brotherhood Of Blades is currently available for pre-order at Amazon (H/T: City On Fire) courtesy of Well Go USA before its release in February next year.
Watch for more news ahead!
One of the biggest setbacks of not being able to read and interpret Chinese is not being able to keep up with a lot of Asian cinema first hand. So, forgive me for letting writer and award-winning director Lu Yang‘s latest contribution to wuxia action, Brotherhood Of Blades, slip through the cracks.
The film is produced by Wang Donghui and regular John Woo cohort Terence Chang, and sets its story in the late Ming Dynasty where three best friends – palace guards are whisked away on a mission to hunt down an exiled eunuch politician, only to discover layers of conspiracy upon their success. Actors Chang Chen, Wang Qianyuan, Li Dongxue, Cecilia Liu and Nie Yuan round out the cast for the film’s current China release as of a few weeks ago August 7.
If you live in China and you’ve seen the film, feel free to drop a line in the comment section and share your opinions. Otherwise, feel free to check out a few new trailers that came after the initial teaser back in June.