zu warriors dawn of darkness

Martial arts action legend and director of the 2014 Yeoh/Yen reunion production, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2: The Green Destiny, Master Yuen Woo-Ping, is now being reported to direct the third installment of visionary filmmaker Tsui Hark’s Zu franchise, Zu Warriors: Dawn Of Darkness. Sources at Twitch and ScreenDaily suggest Hark will produce the $35 million dollar feature, backed by Bona Film Group, and will begin its Beijing shooting this July in stereoscopic 3D. Casting is still pending.

The film is based on the franchise, with the first directed by Hark and released in 1983 titled Zu: Warriors From The Magic Mountan, starring Sammo Hung, Mang Hoi, Bridgette Lin, Yuen Biao and Moon Lee, and is known mostly as one of the biggest kung fu film projects of its time, combining Hong Kong action with Western special effects filmmaking. The film was followed with the The Legend Of Zu (a.k.a. Zu Warriors) in 2001 with Ekin Cheng, Ceilia Chung, Patrick Tam, Louis Koo and Zhang Ziyi. Both are based on stories involving gods, demons and supernatural warriors battling on opposite sides for the fate of the world and Zu Mountain.

The news comes as recent announcements regarding the CROUCHING TIGER 2 sequel were made on Thursday to the delight of many fans looking forward to the reunion of the Yuen/Yeoh/Yen trio since 1994’s release of Wing Chun. Yuen also has another femme-fatale trilogy project that was previously announced in November of last year titled Vigilantes: The Lost Order, which is being represented by Birch Tree Films at Cannes this month. Filming for VIGILANTES is expected to begin in the Spring quarter of 2014, as casting is still pending.

Yuen’s action choeography will be seen in the release of Keanu Reeves’ directorial debut, Man Of Tai Chi, expected this July, followed by the North American release of Wong Kar-Wai’s epic biopic, The Grandmaster this August.

Stay tuned for updates.

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