The 2014 release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier was an explosive piece of work from directors Anthony and Joe Russo, and one that definitively put the two on the map for attachment to other projects. Needless to say, they’ve earned quite a bit of notoriety, perhaps enough to stake a claim in other markers as well, and they did exactly that when it was announced last month that the two would root themselves in both Los Angeles and Beijing under their Anthem & Song banner with the goal of producing films for the Chinese market.
“We made a lot of friends on that trip and just fell in love with Chinese cinema,” said Joe Russo according to
THR.
“We made a bunch of personal trips back to Beijing to nurture and grow those relationships in the film business there.”
For this, it comes with the distinct and awesome pleasure of learning via
China.org that through a new deal with Beijing Culture, the Russos’ are looking to get involved in the current production of Wu Jing’s
Wolf Warrior 2 which was announced late last year. The first film saw Jing on both sides of the camera as solo debut director and the film’s star, portraying the role of embattled and rebellious PLA soldier Leng Feng whose initiation in the military’s specialized titular commando unit puts him and his unsuspecting squad in the throes of a vengeful crimeboss and his unrelenting team of mercenaries led notably by Scott Adkins.
The new film brings back
The Expendables 2 co-star, actress Yu Nan back into the story now set in a war-torn African country while its been reported that five-time Olympic gymnast and World Champion Zou Kai will have a role as well. Other casting news is yet to be determined but the attachment of the Russos’ in some capacity while their latest film,
Captain America: Civil War, landing headlines this season, should make Wu’s reprisal much more prolific enough for further details to come.
One other venture for the deal includes a film inspired by the classic Journey To The West tale (there’s no word on whether or not this has to do with Stephen Chow’s sequel announced in February 2015 or other related vehicles) and some sci-fi properties as well with the Russos’ using their current experience in Marvel’s film schedule to bolster Chinese film production.
Stay tuned for more info.
