There’s been no shortage within martial arts action superstar Donnie Yen‘s international fanbase for him to appear in major roles following his smaller stints in films like Highlander: Endgame, Blade 2 and Shanghai Knights opposite fellow genre mainstay Jackie Chan. Recent mentions in the last several years have even thrown his name in the mix for Sylvester Stallone’s Expendables franchise until the opposite was confirmed, leaving fans curious about his later prospects.
So, of course we’ll be learning more about his forthcoming Hollywood lead debut in Noodle Man, for starters. Meanwhile, it appears that Disney’s latest rebranding of the Star Wars franchise for its future film prospects have shared in the fervor of several popular names in Asian cinema rumored to be joining the fray in some capacity. Those reports have kept quiet as a lot of these updates come at the behest of knee-jerk fandom, random leaks and tabloid media, which also brings speculation to the latest blurb now breaking the internet courtesy of HK tabloid Apple Daily, which states that Yen will be appearing as a Jedi for Looper helmer Rian Johnson in Star Wars: Episode VIII.
The news comes just as Yen wrapped principle photography on the now third trilogical installment of the Ip Man franchise late last month while according to Twitchfilm, the forwarded update comes just as actor Oscar Isaac is said to be the otherwise only confirmed name to appear in the film, and franchise mainstay, actor Harrison Ford is also said to appear as well. Namely, actors Jet Li, Stephen Chow, Leehom Wang, Chang Chen and upcoming AMC series Into The Badlands star Daniel Wu were among the who’s-who of contenders beaten out by Yen, something which already has the appeal of fans as this latest blurb continues to take on a life of its own.
Of course, hopefully some results will subside after this weekend’s Comic Con launch in San Diego while regular followers of Yen’s official Facebook fan page will be more keen on official news should it come about as active as he is, and will likely be as we approach the August deadline for the upcoming release of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2: The Green Legend. In the meantime, Star Wars: Episode VIII awaits an official title ahead of its set release on May 26, 2017 following Isaac and Ford’s starring roles in J.J. Abrams’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens on December 18, 2015.