Into The Badlands

[GeneChing]

JUL 11
AMC Orders Martial Arts Drama 'Badlands' Straight to Series (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/amc-orders-martial-arts-drama-718121)
4:34 PM PDT 7/11/2014 by Lesley Goldberg

UPDATED: The drama hails from "Smallville" duo Al Gough and Miles Millar and marks their second straight-to-series order in a day.

AMC is adding to its drama roster.

The cable network on Friday announced a straight-to-series pickup for martial arts drama Badlands.

Badlands is described as a genre-bending martial arts series very loosely based on the classic Chinese tale Journey to the West. In a land controlled by feudal barons, Badlands tells the story of a great warrior and a young boy who embark on a journey across a dangerous land to find enlightenment.

The home of Mad Men and The Walking Dead has ordered six hourlong episodes of the drama from AMC Studios for a premiere in late 2015 or 2016. The drama was created by writers-showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar (Smallville), who will exec produce alongside Stacey Sher and Michael Shamberg (Pulp Fiction) and martial arts filmmakers Daniel Wu (Tai Chi Zero) and Stephen Fung. Entertainment One will handle international distribution.

Badlands becomes AMC's third show picked up straight to series at the network, joining Breaking Bad prequel Better Call Saul and ratings hit The Walking Dead.

"We are incredibly excited to help Al and Miles, as well as Stacey and Michael from Double Feature to bring Badlands to life,” said AMC exec vp original programming Joel Stillerman. "This creative team has so much expertise in bringing a fresh take to classic genres from their film and television experience, and their take on martial arts will be no exception. Along with a beautiful story, they've also assembled the A-Team of martial arts fight choreography in Daniel Wu and Stephen Fung."

For AMC, Badlands comes at a good time for the network, which has seen its latest two original scripted dramas — Turn and Halt and Catch Fire — stumble out of the gate. While Revolutionary War drama Turn was renewed for a second season, a decision on critical darling but ratings underperformer Halt has yet to be made. Neither series has broken through in a major way as AMC looks to replace Breaking Bad and the exiting Mad Men.

Badlands joins a scripted roster that also includes veteran Hell on Wheels and dramas Knifeman, Galyntine and We Hate Paul Revere, the latter three of which are in the pilot stage. The network also is working on a Walking Dead companion series, which it is also eyeing for 2015.

For Gough and Millar, Badlands becomes their second series on the air and the second one ordered on Friday. The pickup comes just hours after MTV ordered its adaptation of Shannara — also a straight to series addition — with a 10-episode commitment.
Hmm. I don't have AMC.

[GeneChing]

WSJ blog discussing the ramifications...

7:11 pm HKT
Jul 14, 2014
Culture
AMC’s Successor to Don Draper: The Monkey King (http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2014/07/14/amcs-successor-to-don-draper-the-monkey-king/)

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-DR305_monkey_G_20140714070727.jpg
A monkey dressed as a character from Journey to the West is pictured at a zoo in Shenyang, Liaoning province on May 10, 2014.
Reuters

Can viewers suffering from “Mad Men” withdrawal seek solace in a 16th-century Chinese fable? U.S. television network AMC AMCX +0.61% hopes so.

The cable network announced Friday that it plans to produce six, one-hour episodes loosely based on the Journey to the West, a famed Chinese tale in which a ragtag group of adventurers including a monkey with supernatural powers and a creature who’s half human, half pig travel west to procure a set of holy scriptures. The martial arts drama will be titled “Badlands” and is slated for a late 2015 or early 2016 premiere.

The series’ title may conjure up images of Martin Sheen in Terrence Malik’s 1973 film of the same name, but this version of “Badlands” will tell “the story of a warrior and a young boy who travel across a dangerous land controlled by feudal barons to find enlightenment,” said AMC. The cable network said the show will be created by Al Gough and Miles Millar in partnership with Stacy Sher of Pulp Fiction, Michael Shamberg of Contagion and master martial arts filmmakers Stephen Fung and Daniel Wu.

AMC, fresh off its smash hit “Mad Men,” a drama chronicling the lives of employees at a 1950s ad agency, said it hopes “Badlands” can replicate that show’s success. “This creative team has so much expertise in bringing a fresh take to classic genres from their film and television experience, and their take on martial arts will be no exception,” said Joel Stillerman, AMC’s executive vice president of original programming, production and digital content.

While executives don’t say they’re trying to tap into the Chinese market with the new series, there’s a chance they might. The fact that Journey of the West is coming to U.S. television screens has been widely circulated on Chinese social media, where thousands of people have left comments, many lauding the news.

Some Chinese commentators on Monday were skeptical, saying that the series would surely to fail in attempting to capture the magic of Journey to the West, a tale that’s standard childhood fare in China.

Chinese viewers have been burned before. The original TV series “Journey to the West” was broadcast on China’s Central Television network in 1986 and has been remade countless times since. Many versions of the tale have sputtered amid poor special effects, bad costuming and cheesy dialogue. One version that aired on the Hong Kong station TVB earlier this year received a record 1,100 complaints, with viewers scoffing at the production quality and saying the choice of the show was too dated.

The “Badlands” storyline isn’t expected to exactly mirror the plot of the old fable. But some Chinese viewers don’t seem to mind new takes on the old story. A 3D movie version, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, pulled in $196.7 million in China last year.

– Laurie Burkitt and Te-Ping Chen

[GeneChing]

We have threads on Arrow (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67811-Arrow), Daredevil (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?19985-DareDevil-(spoilers)) (needs update), Iron Fist (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49086-Iron-Fist), & Luke Cage (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68058-Luke-Cage) (which I'm just starting now as an independent thread) but I felt this one needed the most luv because it's mentioned in the upcoming NOV+DEC 2014 issue ;)

Variety actually missed two more: Marco Polo (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?62877-Marco-Polo) and Kingdom (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68059-Kingdom) (another one which I'm just starting now).


Why Martial Arts Might Be the Next Big TV Trend (http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/martial-arts-badlands-daredevil-arrow-1201307305/)

http://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/arrow-martial-arts.jpg?w=670&h=377&crop=1
September 17, 2014 | 10:07AM PT
Whitney Friedlander
News Editor @loislane79

Forget kryptonite. The real killer for the superhero TV genre might be oversaturation.

Geoff Johns, CCO of DC Entertainment, is aware of this risk and is battling it through a diversification plan. This fall, the Warner Bros.-backed company will have four shows on three networks. It also has a fifth, the quirky, femme-skewing “iZombie,” in the warmer for the midseason on the CW.

“We’re creating this DC Universe world and introducing these DC heroes that we haven’t even gotten to talk about yet,” Johns says. “If you look at the shows we’re developing this season with Warner Brothers and all the networks, you can see they are all very different… Diversity in the properties and the tones and the shows is really important because there’s a huge audience out there and we want to have stuff for everybody. That goes from film to comics to games to TV shows.”

While this strategy has been successful with, say, financial advisers for generations, the key for television trends is in their ability to morph into the next big thing. This time, the emerging genre may be martial arts, since intense fight sequences are already a major part of many comicbook shows.

As fans of the CW’s “Arrow” know, DC character Oliver Queen was trained in a number of combat practices during his time on a remote island. The leads in Marvel’s Netflix properties “Daredevil” and “Iron Fist” also possess these skills, while the netcaster’s “Luke Cage” series focuses on a street fighter.

AMC has a different take on this trend, as the basic cabler has ordered martial arts drama “Badlands” straight to series. Although the show is based on the classic Chinese story “Journey to the West,” this is only time AMC has made such a commitment to a project that didn’t have a preexisting fanbase (unlike “The Walking Dead,” an adaptation of Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore’s popular Image Comics series, and “Breaking Bad” spinoff “Better Call Saul”).

Al Gough, who co-created and is showrunning “Badlands” with partner Miles Millar, said martial arts speaks to the visual and visceral components of television, plus “it’s something that’s not on TV right now … also, it’s something you can actually do week-to-week. It’s something that looks great and is highly visual.”

“I think there’s a great variety of martial arts that you can call on,” he says, adding, “oftentimes it’s a fight that comes down to two characters, and television has an intimacy that really lends itself to that.”

Gough and Miller know a thing or two about being on the forefront of a TV trend — they also created the long-running Superman origin series “Smallville” for the WB/CW. Gough acknowledges that there’s “obviously an appetite for those shows,” but they’re now a lot more ubiquitous than when “Smallville” premiered in 2001.

He wonders if special effects and flash are getting to be too much for audiences, predicting that “audiences want to get back to something that feels real and is very tactile and involves characters; not avatars.”

[GeneChing]

I trust you all read my Chollywood Rising column: Interview with Daniel Wu from our NOV+DEC 2014 issue (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=1178).


David Dobkin Boards AMC’s Martial Arts Drama Badlands (http://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/386225-david-dobkin-boards-amcs-martial-arts-drama-badlands)

BADLANDS BY SILAS LESNICK ON NOVEMBER 24, 2014

http://cdn1-www.comingsoon.net/assets/uploads/2014/11/badlands.jpg

David Dobkin, the director behind films like Clay Pigeons, Wedding Crashers, Shanghai Knights and, most recently, the Robert Downey Jr.-led The Judge, is set to serve as both series director and executive producer on AMC’s upcoming martial arts drama “Badlands.” What’s more, Emily Beecham (28 Weeks Later, The Village), Sarah Bolger (“The Tudors,” In America) and Oliver Stark (The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box, My Hero) have joined the cast as series regulars.

“Badlands” is said to be a genre-bending martial arts series very loosely based on the classic Chinese tale “Journey to the West.” In a land controlled by feudal barons, the series tells the story of a great warrior and a young boy who embark on a journey across a dangerous land to find enlightenment.

AMC has ordered six, one-hour episodes, with an expected premiere in late 2015 or early 2016. The project was created by writers/show runners Al Gough and Miles Millar (Shanghai Noon, “Smallville”). They’ll serve as executive producers along with Oscar-Nominated producers Stacy Sher and Michael Shamberg (Pulp Fiction, Contagion) and master martial arts filmmakers Daniel Wu (Tai Chi Zero) and Stephen Fung.

“I am thrilled to be directing ‘Badlands,’” Dobkin said, “Aside from the amazing group of people I get to work with – everyone at AMC, plus Stacy and Michael, and Al and Miles for the second time – it’s a brilliant, visionary project that finally gives the fan-boy in me something to dig my teeth into.”

From AMC Studios, “Badlands” will be distributed internationally by Entertainment One Television (eOne).

(Photo Credit: FayesVision.com / WENN.com)

[GeneChing]

If you haven't read it yet, check out my interview with Daniel Wu in the last issue (NOV+DEC 2014 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=1178)).



DEC 19
AMC's 'Badlands' Casts Its Lead (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/amcs-badlands-casts-lead-759534)
10:37 AM PST 12/19/2014 by Lesley Goldberg

International star Daniel Wu will topline the martial arts drama

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/thumbnail_570x321/2014/12/daniel_wu_a_l.jpg
AP Images

AMC's Badlands has cast its lead.

International film star Daniel Wu — who was already attached to the drama as an exec producer — will topline the martial arts drama, AMC announced Friday.

Badlands is described as a genre-bending martial arts series very loosely based on the classic Chinese tale Journey to the West. In a land controlled by feudal barons, Badlands tells the story of a ruthless, well-trained warrior named Sunny (Wu) and a young boy who embark on a journey across a dangerous land to find enlightenment.

Read more AMC Orders Martial Arts Drama 'Badlands' Straight to Series

Wu joins a cast that also includes Emily Beecham (28 Weeks Later, The Village), Sarah Bolger (The Tudors) and Oliver Stark (The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box).

The drama was created by writer-showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar (Smallville), who will exec produce alongside Stacey Sher and Michael Shamberg (Pulp Fiction) and martial arts filmmakers Wu (Tai Chi Zero) and Stephen Fung. Entertainment One will handle international distribution. David Dobkin (Shanghai Knights) will be the series director.

Wu has been featured in more than 60 films including City of Glass and The Heavenly Kings, the latter of which marked his directorial debut and earned him a best director Chinese Film Media Award.

AMC has ordered six hourlong episodes of Badlands, with a premiere targeted for late 2015 or early 2016.

Wu is repped by CAA.

Email: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
Twitter: @Snoodit

[GeneChing]

Orla Brady Joins ‘Badlands'; Christina Jackson In ‘Outsiders’ (http://deadline.com/2015/01/orla-brady-joins-badlands-christina-jackson-in-outsiders-1201356036/)
by The Deadline Team
January 22, 2015 3:46pm

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/orla-brady-christina-jackson.jpg?w=446&h=299&crop=1

Irish actress Orla Brady (Wallander) has landed a lead role in AMC’s direct-to-series martial arts drama Badlands, loosely based on the Chinese tale Journey To The West. In a land controlled by feudal barons, Badlands tells the story of a ruthless, well-trained warrior named Sunny (Daniel Wu) and a young boy who embark on a journey across a dangerous land to find enlightenment. Brady, repped by Domain and Independent Talent Group, will play Lydia, Quinn’s first wife, the Baroness who runs her domain with an iron grip. Brady most recently starred in the detective series Jo for TFI. She also starred in the British television series Mistresses, that the ABC series is based on.

Christina Jackson (Boardwalk Empire) has been cast in WGN America’s drama series Outsiders, a tale of struggle for power and control in the hills of Appalachia, from playwright Peter Mattei, producers Peter Tolan and Paul Giamatti, Sony Pictures TV and Tribune Studios. It tells the story of the Farrell clan, a family of outsiders who’ve been in these parts since before anyone can remember. Living off the grid and above the law on their mountaintop homestead, they’ll protect their world and defend their way of life using any means necessary. Jackson will play Sally-Ann, whose fascination with the Farrell clan and Hail (Kyle Gallner) will have powerful consequences.
So she's like Princess Iron Fan or what?

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg9KRYwnSeA

[GeneChing]

I've changed the thread title accordingly.


First Look: AMC's Into the Badlands brings martial arts back to TV (http://www.ew.com/article/2015/06/11/first-look-amcs-badlands-brings-martial-arts-back-tv)
by Shirley Li • @shirklesxp

http://www.ew.com/sites/default/files/styles/tout_image_612x380/public/i/2015/06/11/badlands_612x380.jpg?itok=g2UqCHwu
(James Dimmock/AMC)

Posted June 11 2015 — 2:00 PM EDT

For AMC’s post-Breaking Bad and Mad Men slate, the network’s tapping into a genre that’s been absent from the small screen for decades: martial arts. Into the Badlands, which the network ordered straight-to-series in 2014, will try to help the genre make a primetime comeback when it premieres in late 2015.

The drama stars Hong Kong import Daniel Wu as Sunny, a warrior who travels across dangerous lands controlled by feudal barons in order to find enlightenment. If that sounds like a tall tale, it is—the series is loosely based on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, which follows, in short, a monkey who travels in search of enlightenment and encounters a series of gods and other supernatural beings along the way.

There won’t be monkeys in Into the Badlands, but showrunner Al Gough tells EW the show will focus on making the on-screen martial arts as authentic as possible. Gough, who co-created Into the Badlands with Miles Millar (the two previously helmed Smallville and made films like Shanghai Noon), talked to EW about why it’s time for martial arts to appear on TV again. Plus, here’s EW’s exclusive first look at Wu in full costume:

http://www.ew.com/sites/default/files/i/2015/06/11/badlands-02.jpg
Image Credit: James Dimmock/AMC

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Why did you want to do a martial arts show now?

AL GOUGH: Miles and I had been kicking around the idea of doing a martial arts show on television for awhile. Miles and I have done, on the movies side, two movies with Jackie Chan and two movies with Jet Li, and so we felt this was something on television that wasn’t really beng explored. We wanted to pivot and do something new.

Why use Journey to the West? That’s a huge work to base anything on, even loosely.

Yeah, it was interesting. We thought further aspects of that story could be used as a template for the show. I think we owe as much to Hong Kong and Asian cinema, as well as Japanese samurai movies and things like Shogun Assassin and Lone Wolf and Cub. So there’s aspects of all of that. Our inspiration became a mashup of all these things we liked.

In other words, it’s not just based on Journey to the West. When I read the premise of the show, I wondered if you were going to cast a monkey or something.

No, no. [Laughs] I think really what our show is about is it’s a journey of enlightenment for Sunny, the lead character. That’s the whole arc. It’s his spiritual quest for enlightenment—and that’s what we took from it. We took the essence of that. The show is distilled from a lot of other influences that we’ve all loved.

What can a martial arts drama on television bring that’s different from other action-heavy series, like superhero shows?

What we really wanted to do was authentic martial arts. A lot of shows tend to do a version of authentic martial arts, and they execute it very well—but in Hong Kong, you see the people, you see the martial artists doing the moves. It’s like watching a dance. So what we have here is a full-time martial arts fight unit that Stephen Fung [an EP and Hong Kong actor] is directing. And that’s something that was very important to us, to get the right people to do it and that it’s authentic. I think when people see these fights, they haven’t seen them on television before. They’re not 35- or 40-second fights. They’re three-minute fights, and I gotta tell you, three minutes is a long time to do a martial arts fight.

Daniel Wu isn’t a household name stateside, but he is in China. How did he get involved?

Daniel was an executive producer on the show from the start, along with Stephen Fung, but Daniel auditioned for the role. He said, “I want to know I can get the role legitimately.” And I think he’s a fantastic actor who American audiences haven’t seen. He’s from San Francisco, moved to China, was discovered by Jackie Chan, and became a big star over there, but he hasn’t been exposed here. He’s a wu shu master, which is a form of martial arts, so his stunt work is amazing. And to be able to take somebody who’s a movie star in a foreign country and get him for American television, it’s just very exciting.

With all of these unfamiliar parts—a foreign actor, a genre that hasn’t been on TV for a long while—what do you consider the biggest challenges to doing this show? Do you think audiences will bite?

I think it has the challenges of any new show, but I think we have this wonderful tradition to pull from, an amazing cast led by Daniel, and it’s an original creation and we hope people embrace it. It’s fresh territory, there’s a huge fan base for martial arts films, it’s just an amazing part of cinema. It’s an open field, which is both incredibly exciting and king of daunting, but that’s how it should be.

[GeneChing]

AMC releases Comic-Con poster for martial arts drama Into the Badlands (http://www.flickeringmyth.com/2015/07/amc-releases-comic-con-poster-for-martial-arts-drama-into-the-badlands.html)
July 2, 2015 by Gary Collinson

Ahead of its San Diego Comic-Con International panel next Saturday, July 11th, AMC has debuted a SDCC poster for Into the Badlands, its upcoming genre-bending martial arts series starring Daniel Wu (The Man with the Iron Fists)…

http://www.flickeringmyth.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/into-the-badlands-poster-600x900.jpg

Created by Al Gough and Miles Millar (Smallville), Emily Beecham (The Village), Sarah Bolger (In America) and Oliver Stark (My Hero). Loosely based on the Chinese tale Journey to the West, it tells the story of a warrior (Wu) who is joined by a young boy on a journey across a dangerous land in search of enlightenment.

Into the Badlands is set to premiere later this year.

Get ready for a flood of buzz for this forum from Comic-Con

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KyHy4KRvIc

[GeneChing]

July 31, 2015 4:34pm PT by Kate Stanhope
'Into the Badlands' EPs Aim for "Artful" Martial Arts Series (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/badlands-eps-aim-artful-martial-812521)

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/scale_crop_768_433/2015/08/into_the_badlands_tca_panel.jpg
"These fights are like big dance numbers, and you see the dancers dancing," said co-showrunner Al Gough.

There will be blood, and lots of it, on AMC's newest original series.

This November, the cable network will premiere the new martial arts drama Into the Badlands from writer-showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar (Smallville).

Although there have been TV shows with action — and martial arts elements, specifically — before, the duo are hoping to break new ground with the series. "We've always sort of loved martial arts, and we looked around on television and there were no martial arts shows on television," Gough said at the Television Critics Association summer press tour Friday.

"Being on AMC, they elevated the zombie genre to something that was very artful, and that was our ambition for the show," said Millar.

Read More Comic-Con: AMC's 'Into the Badlands' Debuts First Full Trailer, Stars Talk Martial-Arts Boot Camp

A big part of that was bringing on experts in the field, such as martial arts filmmakers Stephen Fung, who serves as fight director and executive producer, and Daniel Wu (Tai Chi Zero), who executive producers and stars. "Everybody had a job to do," said Gough of the collaboration process.

Wu plays Sunny, a warrior who begins to question his path after meeting a young man (Aramis Knight) with special skills. Marton Csokas and Emily Beecham also star.

All of the actors in the series had to endure five weeks of training before production began. Additionally, the show had a large fight unit that filmed concurrently. "These fights are like big dance numbers and you see the dancers dancing," said Gough. "They have to be showstoppers."

However, the entire team emphasized the important role the fights will play in the storytelling as well. The series is hoping to lure AMC viewers to a martial arts show as much as it will likely lure martial art film fans to the network. "We knew the action had to be kick ass but we also knew we had to have a really compelling story," said Wu.

Added Fung: "All the action derives from the characters."

The executive producers said one of the most difficult things was finding the balance between the drama and the action. "In film, you don’t have to think about the length of a fight sequence. Here you're dealing with the specific length of an episode of television," said Gough, who estimated there will be approximately five minutes of fighting in every episode."It was an interesting math formula to figure out."

Into the Badlands premieres Nov. 15 at 10 p.m. on AMC.

Hope I can watch this via Xfinity...they carry most AMC series.

[GeneChing]

Daniel is on FIRE!!!


China Box Office: Daniel Wu’s ‘Mr Tumor’ Topples ‘Monster Hunt’ (http://variety.com/2015/film/asia/china-box-office-daniel-wu-mr-tumor-1201572025/)

http://i0.wp.com/pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/go-away-mr-tumor.jpg?crop=220px%2C0px%2C1236px%2C688px&resize=670%2C377
Courtesy of Wanda Media
August 17, 2015 | 07:36PM PT
Patrick Frater
Asia Bureau Chief

China finally produced a film to topple record breaker “Monster Hunt” from the top of the box office chart.

“Go Away Mr Tumor,” a romantic comedy starring Bai Baihe and Daniel Wu, star of AMC’s upcoming TV series “Into The Badlands” earned a comfortable $29.7 million in four days, giving a total of $31.5 million including previews.

“Monster Hunt” finally gave up its top position, but held on to second with a still strong $25.8 million and the second best per screen averages among the top ten. It has scored $356 million after 32 days, the second highest film of all time in China (behind “Furious 7”) and far ahead of “Lost in Thailand,” the number two Chinese movie.

Third place went to sports drama “To The Fore,” which climbed up from fourth, but saw its weekly gross eroded. It earned $8.86 million to claim $20.6 million after 11 days.

China’s top animation of all time “Monkey King: Hero Is Back” switched places with “To The Fore” and slipped to fourth. It earned $7.64 million in its sixth week, to deliver a cumulative score of $145 million after 38 days.

Fifth was “Pancake Man” which dropped from second, earning $6.38 million to push its total to $184 million after 31 days.

Children’s animation, “Roco Kingdom 4” entered the chart in sixth with $5.68 million in 4 days. It was followed by another newcomer “Detective Gui” a romance, suspense drama with Wang Luodan and Simon Yam among the cast.

Comedy animation “Mr Black: Green Star” held an unchanged eighth place with a weekly gross of $3.07 million, for a cumulative score of $9.29 million after 10 days.

“Kwai Boo,” yet another animated comedy, filled ninth spot, down from sixth. It earned $2.99 million to lift its 11 day cumulative total to $9.1 million.

Bringing up tenth spot was Ringo Lam’s “Wild City,” which fell from fifth. It earned $1.84 million, for a total of $23.7 million after 18 days.

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o5O_3BtDsk

[GeneChing]

This is great. Go AMC!

AMC schedules 'Kung Fu Fridays' to set the stage for NOLA-shot 'Into the Badlands' (http://www.nola.com/tv/index.ssf/2015/09/into_the_badlands_amc.html)

http://imgick.nola.com/home/nola-media/width960/img/tpphotos/photo/2015/09/15/badlands3jpg-c895151a001ce681.jpg
Daniel Wu in 'Into the Badlands.'
Dave Walker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
on September 16, 2015 at 1:00 AM

AMC will set the stage for the Nov. 15 premiere of the New Orleans-shot drama "Into the Badlands" by airing a series of middle-of-the-night martial-arts film classics, the network announced Tuesday (Sept. 15). The series starts this week -- at 12:06 a.m. Saturday (Sept. 19) New Orleans time -- with "Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen."

The six episodes of "Into the Badlands" star Daniel Wu and Aramis Knight, whose characters -- Sunny and M.K., respectively -- "embark on a spiritual journey across a dangerous land controlled by feudal barons," blurbs AMC. Creators and executive producers are Alfred Gough and Miles Millar ("Shanghai Noon," "Smallville"). Watch a video preview below.

The series is inspired by "Journey to the West," a classic of Chinese literature, and is set in "a world dominated by barons, ruling over a feudal system organized around the control of precious resources," said Joel Stillerman, president of programming for AMC, at the Summer TV Tour in Hollywood.

Millar further described the world, in which motorcycles are the most complicated technology widely available to the characters.

"When you create an original world, the details matter," he said. "So for us, we spent a lot of time talking about this world and its original creation. So in terms of the tech, the idea is that complex technology doesn't exist. There are no circuits or computers. Things like cars pre-1970's would exist, simple machines would exist, electricity would exist in a very simplified form.

"The society of the Badlands is based on feudal Japanese societies, so it's the barons, the shoguns, the clippers (or soldiers), and they're like the shoguns, the Samurais. And then we have the nomads, who are equivalent to the Ronin of Japanese society.

"So it's all the details, in terms of the world, (which you) need to feel consistent and real and have an authenticity to them, so when you see the world, you can instantly get into it and buy it."

Other September installments of the "Kung Fu Fridays" series, with AMC's capsule descriptions:

"Dragons Forever," 2:36 a.m. Saturday (Sept. 19) -- "Starring Jackie Chan and Sammo Kam-Bo Hung. Three successful Hong Kong lawyers are hired by a chemical company of questionable ethics and must eventually make a difficult decision when their employer's motives become clear."

"The Man From Nowhere," 12:04 a.m. Sept. 26 -- "Starring Bin Won and Sae-ron Kim. A quiet pawnshop keeper with a violent past takes on a drug- and organ- trafficking ring in hope of saving the child who is his only friend."

"Let The Bullets Fly," 2:32 a.m. Sept. 26 -- "Starring Yun-Fat Chow and Wen Jiang. The film is set in 1920s China where a bandit arrives in a remote provincial town posing as its new mayor, where he faces off against a tyrannical local nobleman."

Got a TV question? Contact Dave Walker at dwalker@nola.com or 504.826.3429. Read more TV coverage at NOLA.com/tv. He's @DaveWalkerTV on Twitter, and Dave Walker TV on Facebook.

[GeneChing]

We have been part of this too and will continue. Hope it's good.


Daniel Wu's martial arts TV series premieres in Nov. on AMC (http://www.redding.com/entertainment/daniel-wus-martial-arts-tv-series-premieres-in-nov-on-amc)
Associated Press
12:00 PM, Sep 15, 2015
18 mins ago

http://mediaassets.redding.com/photo/2015/09/16/2015SummerAMC_1442417099321_24054484_ver1.0_640_48 0.jpg
Copyright Associated Press
RICHARD SHOTWELL
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Hong Kong movie star Daniel Wu is bringing martial arts back to TV in the U.S. with his upcoming series "Into the Badlands," premiering Nov. 19 on AMC.

Wu, who stars on the show and is also an executive producer, shared his backstory with a panel of TV critics Friday.

Born in California, Wu fell into acting while on a post-college trip to Hong Kong. He was discovered in a bar for a TV commercial, which quickly led to his film career. He's gone on to make more than 60 movies.

The six-episode first season of "Badlands" is based on the Chinese novel "Journey to the West."

Wu plays a skilled warrior named Sunny who teams up with a young boy named M.K. (Aramis Knight) on a search for enlightenment in a dangerous land. Sunny teaches M.K. martial arts and he becomes an unrivaled fighter.

Each episode is to have at least five minutes of fight scenes, but Wu says both the story and martial arts are equally important.

"I knew the action had to be kick-ass but also knew we really needed a compelling story," he said.

The actor is excited to expand his career to America but says he is grateful to Hong Kong for making him a star.

"Everything I have now is because of what the Hong Kong (film) industry gave me," he said.

___

Online:

http://www.amc.com/shows/into-the-badlands

[GeneChing]

http://cdn.hitfix.com/photos/6138008/Into-the-Badlands-cast_article_story_large.jpg
Credit: AMC
Exclusive: Meet the cast of AMC's 'Into the Badlands'

IN A WORLD WITH NO GUNS, FIGHTING IS AN ART. (http://www.hitfix.com/harpy/exclusive-meet-the-cast-of-amcs-into-the-badlands)
By Donna ****ens @MildlyAmused | WEDNESDAY, SEP 30, 2015 10:12 AM

Zombies, Albuquerque attorneys, and 1960s office politics might be AMC’s forte, this this fall they hope to add genre-bending martial arts to their impressive resume. “Into the Badlands” mixes modern day technology with ancient fighting styles to create a strange alternate reality where guns don’t exist and feudal lords fight over land and opium.

Based on the classic Chinese story “Journey to the West,” AMC tells the tale of a great warrior and a young boy on a journey to enlightenment in a deadly land.

HitFix Harpy received an exclusive first look at the denizens who make up the Badlands. From feudal lords and devious wives to doctors and cogs, dig into the family at the center of "Into the Badlands" drama.

“Into the Badlands” premieres on AMC on November 15 at 10pm ET/PT, 9C.

Sunny - Played by Daniel Wu

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Photo Credit: James Minchin III/AMC

Sunny is Regent (Head Clipper) to the Badlands’ most powerful Baron, Quinn. He is the ideal right-hand man: a prodigiously skilled, merciless killer with a keen strategic mind, unflappable temperament and deep sense of loyalty. Found as a naked, starving child, Sunny remembers nothing about his origins or birth parents. He spent his youth as one of Quinn’s Colts (teenage Clippers in training), and was only nine years old when he took his first life. He has slain hundreds since, growing inured to the act of killing, even as he records each death with a black line tattooed (kill tat) on his back. Naturally solitary, he has never sought friends. But a blossoming romance with a doctor named Veil has opened Sunny up to different ideas, and together they dream of a future far away from the Badlands. Sunny unwittingly takes the first steps toward that future when he meets M.K., a teenage boy who harbors lethal powers. In taking M.K. as his Colt, Sunny will unravel the mystery of his own past – and awaken to his true purpose as a human being.

Quinn - Played by Marton Csokas

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Photo Credit: James Minchin III/AMC

Ruthless, enigmatic, shrewd and charming, Quinn is the Badlands’ preeminent Baron. A former Clipper, Quinn secured his position the old-fashioned way: he killed for it, murdering the very Baron who trained him. Given his own trajectory, it’s not surprising that Quinn spares no expense to ensure the satisfaction of his Clippers, who constitute the largest, best-trained and best-outfitted army in the Badlands. For three decades, Quinn has consistently outflanked and outmaneuvered his fellow Barons to keep the upper hand. But the political winds are shifting and Quinn is no longer a young man; his aura of invincibility is fading. However, Quinn will not go down without a fight and his desperation to maintain control makes him even more dangerous.

Lydia - Played by Orla Brady

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Photo Credit: James Minchin III/AMC

Lydia is Quinn’s first wife and is both his fiercest critic and most devoted follower. Without her astute counsel, he wouldn’t have ascended so far. While Lydia never doubted Quinn possessed the makings of a Baron, she is less sure about their son, Ryder. As much as she loves her only child and wants to see him succeed Quinn, she is well aware of his flaws. Ryder’s fortunes will undoubtedly have implications for Lydia, particularly given Quinn’s upcoming marriage to a beautiful young Cog, Jade. Lydia puts on an excellent show of indifference, while making it abundantly clear that she is still The Fort’s true Baroness and always will be.

M.K. - Played by Aramis Knight

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Photo Credit: James Minchin III/AMC

Saved from mercenary Nomads by Sunny, M.K. is taken to Quinn’s walled compound, The Fort. A seemingly average teenage boy, M.K. is anything but. Lurking inside him is a dark energy that is only unleashed when his skin is cut. No longer himself, he becomes an unstoppable force with heightened and brutally lethal martial arts skills. Haunted by his murderous capacity, M.K. tries to keep his unwanted powers a secret. But Sunny senses something different about the teen, and it isn’t long before M.K. is forced to tell the Clipper the truth. At the same time, the duo forms a bond when the boy saves Sunny’s life. Sunny recognizes, however dimly, the faraway place M.K. calls home. And M.K. knows that if Sunny can train him to harness the darkness within, there is hope they can both find their way home.


continued next post

[GeneChing]

The Widow - Played by Emily Beecham

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Photo Credit: James Minchin III/AMC

The Widow is the Badlands’ newest Baron. It is rumored, correctly, that she murdered her husband but few know the story behind her act. A brilliant martial artist, she has adopted a blue-winged butterfly as her Baronial symbol, representing a transformation from insignificance to beauty and power. Since succeeding her husband, The Widow has amassed a crew of young female warriors: her Butterflies. The Widow treats the Butterflies with maternal affection, has taught them how to fight and instilled in them self-confidence. With grand ambitions, The Widow has launched a brazen campaign against the formidable Quinn. She believes M.K. is the key to her success and will go to any length to find him.

Ryder - Played by Oliver Stark

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Photo Credit: James Minchin III/AMC

Ryder is Quinn’s only son and presumed heir. Impulsive and arrogant, Ryder might have become a different person had he not been kidnapped as a child. Quinn’s refusal to the pay the ransom resulted in Ryder’s torture and mutilation. The incident left Ryder scarred in body and soul, furious at his larger-than-life father but also desperate for his affection and approval. Quinn has always measured Ryder’s skills against Sunny’s, and Ryder knows he has fallen short. When Quinn’s assets come under attack, Ryder lobbies his father to change tactics and adopt a more aggressive approach, but is rebutted. As his father seems to weaken, Ryder grows ever more impatient.

Veil - Played by Madeleine Mantock

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Photo Credit: James Minchin III/AMC

Veil is a doctor who specializes in making and fitting “mimics”, prosthetic limbs. She is unlike anyone Sunny has ever known: principled and honest, loving and supportive. Orphaned as a baby, Veil was given by Quinn to his personal doctor. The child was a token of gratitude to the doctor who helped saved Lydia’s life when she delivered Ryder. Veil does her best to keep a low profile, but when Quinn becomes ill, he begs for her help. Realizing that it is impossible to refuse his request, Veil reluctantly agrees. It is a decision she instantly comes to regret.

Tilda - Played by Alexia Ioannides

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Photo Credit: James Minchin III/AMC

Jade - Played by Sarah Bolger
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Photo Credit: James Minchin III/AMC

Jade grew up as a Cog in Quinn’s house. Now in her early 20s, she is a beautiful young woman whose beguiling demeanor hides a core of ambition and tenacity. She is about to become Quinn’s wife, and aims to eclipse Lydia in her husband’s affections. Her experience growing up as a Cog gives Jade a different perspective and informs her opinions about how Quinn should run his opium empire. She agrees with Ryder that change is necessary, and she soon discovers the courage to say so. However, she does not disclose that what she shares with Ryder goes beyond political opinions.

http://cdn.hitfix.com/photos/6137808/ITBLPK_Composite_004_RGB_V4.jpg
Photo Credit: James Minchin III/AMC

Looks very promising. I'm quite hopeful.

[GeneChing]

https://atavist.com/data/files/organization/24442/image/derivative/scale~2000x0~1004ssdani-1442610680-36.jpg

Incognito (https://story.californiasunday.com/daniel-wu-into-the-badlands)
In China, Daniel Wu is a huge celebrity. In his hometown, he’s just like everyone else.
By Vanessa Hua

Photographs by Jon Snyder

The actor Daniel Wu is posing gamely inside the Art Deco movie house where he watched films as a teenager. He used to ride his skateboard to the *theater, which is just as he remembered it — though smaller, he says. As he stretches in the doorway for a photographer, a pair of customers approach, and he politely steps aside to let them buy tickets. Not once during our afternoon in his hometown of Orinda, a posh suburb east of San Francisco, does anyone recognize him.

In Hong Kong, Wu has starred in more than 60 films as well as adver*tisements for Seiko, L’Oréal, Canon, Cadillac, Erme*ne*gildo Zegna, and Adi*das. He can’t ride the subway because of the crush of fans who swarm to snap photos of him, his toddler daughter, and his wife, model Lisa S., an Amer*ican expat of French-Chinese-Jewish extraction. “It’s funny; I live a dual life,” says the 41-year-old Wu. In Hong Kong and China, he feels “like a caged bird. Having had that success over there and coming back here every year to visit my family and being able to walk down the street and basically be who I was before — it’s a very freeing feeling.”

In November, Wu may be giving up this oasis of anonymity with the premiere of the AMC martial arts series Into the Badlands, in which he has landed the rarest of roles: an Asian male lead. Armed with a saber and roundhouse kicks, Wu plays an assassin in a feudal, post-apocalyptic future. The show, which was shot in New Orleans against a backdrop of Southern plantations and steampunk saloons, will air in more than 125 countries as a part of the cable and satellite television network’s push abroad.

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Today at the bar at Casa Orinda, a dimly lit, 83-year-old cowboy roadhouse with vintage pistols mounted on the walls, Wu tells the owner, John Goyak, “I used to come here a lot when I was a kid.”

Goyak, who took over the business from his father, laughs. “I used to come here a lot when I was a kid.”

I’m meeting Wu in Orinda, population 19,003, because it is also my hometown — though we didn’t know each other. We went to rival schools a grade apart in a place that hits the headlines every few years for its competition and classism: the murder of a high school cheerleader by a less popular classmate (Rolling Stone and a made-for-TV movie starring Tori Spelling), a battle over leaf blowers (The New Yorker), and a fee squabble at a tony swim club (The Wall Street Journal).

Growing up in Orinda, Wu always felt different. At the time, Asians accounted for 3 percent of the population; his father, an engineer, and his mother, a business professor, said he should never forget that he is Chinese. He took an interest in martial arts after seeing Jet Li in The Shaolin Temple and started training at the age of 11 with an herbalist–painter–lawyer–acupuncturist–martial arts teacher. Jackie Chan, who today is a mentor, was a childhood hero.

In 1997, after graduating from the University of Oregon, Wu traveled to Hong Kong to witness its transfer from British to Chinese sovereignty. One night, he was having a drink in the Lan Kwai Fong bar district when he was invited to appear in a bank commercial, a $4,000 windfall that paid for a backpacking trip through Asia. Indie filmmaker Yonfan spotted Wu in the ad and, thinking that his upbringing in the West would make him willing to take on a controversial role, cast him as a lead in Bishonen, a love story between a gay hustler and a cop.

Wu has cross-cultural appeal in China: He’s Chinese and yet not, American and yet not.

Although Wu understood Can*tonese from watching kung fu movies, he spoke little of it. He recorded all of his lines and played them over and over, even while he slept, in the hope that he might absorb the dialect through “osmosis.” He began appearing in upward of six movies a year — “a blur,” he says, and an impressively rapid pace compared to stars of his sta*ture in the U.S., who may make one or two movies a year. Wu has a cross-cultural appeal in China: He’s Chinese and yet not, American and yet not. “I don’t fit in anywhere, nor do I feel uncomfortable anywhere,” he tells me. “I’ve been through the experience of living here, and people assuming I was a foreigner” — as happened when he attempted to vote in his first presidential election. Then he moved to Hong Kong, only to have locals tell him, “You’re not our people. You’re white!”

Martial arts movies eventually took a toll on Wu, who tore his ACL and broke his ankle. He left those roles for swords-and-slippers historical epics and police procedurals. He also tried directing, and he won best new director at the 2006 Hong Kong Film Awards for his first movie, a mockumentary about a boy band. For Badlands, the producer Stacey Sher initially tapped Wu as an executive producer for his martial arts expertise, and Wu suggested casting a young actor who could handle the rigors of fighting sequences. Producers, however, wanted an actor skilled in martial arts but also fluent in English. Wu was hired, and in the six months before filming began, he added 18 pounds of muscle to his lean build.

Wu’s first roles in English felt jarring, he says, because he had to figure out acting, pacing, and tone in his native tongue. “The first day on set, speaking English, I thought, Whoa, this is weird,” Wu says. “Then all of a sudden I realized I had so much freedom in dialogue” — he was able to improvise.

For decades, actors and singers of Chinese descent raised in the U.S. and Canada have sought out roles overseas that are still lacking in Hollywood. Of last year’s 100 top-grossing films released in the United States, only about 5 percent of speaking characters were Asian, and more than 40 of the movies had none at all. But a generation of viewers who came of age watching martial arts moves in the Matrix trilogy, Mission Impossible, and other action flicks may now be primed for change, and television shows such as Badlands and Netflix’s forthcoming Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon are aimed at them. Martial arts entertainment, Wu adds, sells well globally, in part because viewers don’t have to understand the story to enjoy the action.

More than 40 years ago, Bruce Lee pitched a show in which he would star as a martial arts warrior wandering the American Old West. David Carradine got the part, going yellowface in the iconic television hit Kung Fu. “Bruce Lee’s idea got stolen from him because the studios weren’t confident putting an Asian guy in the role,” Wu tells me. AMC is taking a gamble by casting Wu as the lead — not the comic relief and not the foreigner with the cute accent who never gets the girl. It’s a gamble, Wu says, that “rights that wrong.”

More to come for sure... ;)

[GeneChing]

Buzzing: Daniel Wu's miniseries signed for two seasons (http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/entertainment/buzzing-daniel-wus-miniseries-signed-for-two-seasons)
Oct 6, 2015, 5:00 am SGT

Daniel Wu's miniseries signed for two seasons

American cable network AMC has ordered a second season of actor Daniel Wu's post- apocalyptic martial arts miniseries, Into The Badlands, even before the first season debuts on Nov 15, says Apple Daily. The six-episode show is produced by Wu, who stars in it, and director Stephen Fung, who may appear in the second season which is expected to be shot in the middle of next year.
Not sure if this is true as I have yet to see anything in the regular trade journals.

[GeneChing]

From Cannes!


MIPCOM: AMC's 'Into the Badlands' Wants to Revive Martial Arts Genre, Says Daniel Wu

http://cdn2.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/675x380/2015/03/badlands_teaser_-_h_-_2015.jpg
AMC

by Etan Vlessing 10/7/2015 5:23am PDT

"The big success of 'The Walking Dead' are the characters, what they need to do to survive," he says in Cannes. "That's what we're going for."

Daniel Wu wants to revive the martial-arts genre absent from TV screens for decades with AMC's upcoming fantasy drama Into the Badlands just as the U.S. network transformed flesh-eating zombies into American pop culture icons with The Walking Dead.

"The big success of The Walking Dead are the characters, what they need to do to survive. That's what we're going for," Wu told The Hollywood Reporter, as he recalled the 1970s TV classic Kung Fu, starring David Carradine.

Wu knows why the martial-arts genre has long been missing from TV screens. "Martial-arts scenes are difficult to shoot in a short time," he said, pointing to a fight scene in a whirlpool of rain in Wong Kar-Wai's The Grandmaster that took 30 days to complete.

Into the Badlands, from the creators of Smallville, will see Wu play Sunny, a ruthless, well-trained warrior on a spiritual journey in a dangerous land controlled by feudal barons.

The Hong Kong import is no slouch at fighting. Wu had extensive martial arts training since he was 11 years-old, but hadn't done many aerial kicks before the AMC show started shooting in New Orleans.

"I can't jump as high as I could in my 20s, but we have wires to give me more airtime," he said. Wu added he and his fellow cast did a six-week martial-arts boot camp to become as much skilled dancers as smooth-moving kung fu fighters for show-stopping fight scenes.

"It's not a typical fisticuffs. It's dynamic, jaw-dropping fight scenes, visually, and beautiful overall," he said of choreographing kickass acrobatics for Into the Badlands. The fight scenes are shot with three cameras running simultaneously.

One gets a wide shot, another a medium shot and a Steadicam captures extremely tight and risky shots of fight sequences. "The camera is the third participant in the fight. [It's] fighting with us," Wu said.

The third camera has GPS coordinates, so it always stays level when it quickly moves in and out to capture the fighters battling hand-to-hand. Wu said fight scenes in Into the Badlands also call for extended takes, unlike Hollywood action movies with quick-cutting action scenes to ensure audiences never see mistakes by untrained fighters.

"The spectacle is in seeing a fight scene in a long take. We may have 30 or 40 moves in one go. That highlights the skill of the performers," he said. The series was created by writers-showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar, who will executive produce alongside Stacey Sher and Michael Shamberg (Pulp Fiction) and martial-arts filmmakers Daniel Wu (Tai Chi Zero) and Stephen Fung.

Wu toplines a cast that includes Emily Beecham (28 Weeks Later, The Village), Sarah Bolger (The Tudors) and Oliver Stark. The first season of Into the Badlands will debut on AMC on Nov. 15.

I received the press kit for this recently and it is one of the nicest I have ever seen. :cool:

[GeneChing]

'Into The Badlands' Star Daniel Wu Talks About Bringing The Spirituality Of Martial Arts To AMC Series At NYCC (http://www.ibtimes.com/badlands-star-daniel-wu-talks-about-bringing-spirituality-martial-arts-amc-series-2136426)
By Alex Garofalo @Ja9GarofaloTV a.garofalo@ibtimes.com on October 11 2015 5:48 PM EDT

http://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibtimes.com/files/styles/v2_article_large/public/2015/10/11/badlands.jpg
Daniel Wu, pictured as Sunny in "Into the Badlands" Season 1, teased his new role at New York Comic Con Saturday. AMC

For "Into the Badlands" star and executive producer Daniel Wu and fight director Stephen Fung, getting AMC to greenlight the upcoming martial arts series was easy. The pair told reporters at New York Comic Con Saturday the network called them just hours after their pitch to say they wanted the show. However, getting the martial arts series right was not so simple.

“Into the Badlands” tells the story of deadly, veteran warrior Sunny (Daniel Wu) who rescues a young boy named M.K. (Aramis Knight), leading to a perilous journey through the dangerous Badlands -- a feudal land ruled over by power hungry barons and their armies of Clippers -- to find enlightenment.

"It's very easy to do a watered down version of a martial arts show -- set up a camera rolling, do a few punches and get out," Fung told reporters at Comic Con.

While the series took great pains to get the choereography and authenticity of the "Hong Kong" style martial arts right in the show, Wu told Internatonal Business Times it was also important to preserve the spirituality of the art form.

"I think there is stuff we did want to avoid because I think 'Kung Fu' is very 'fortune cookie' in some ways -- 'take the pebble from my hand' and all," Wu said when asked if "Into the Badlands" drew inspiration from the 1970s series starring David Carradine. "We wanted to have that because I think it's important that in the martial arts we also show the spirituality of martial arts. I love UFC [Ultimate Fighting Championship] too, but you don't see the art of martial arts there. We wanted to make sure the sprituality side is there, but not in that cheesy 'Kung Fu' way. That's not to knock 'Kung Fu.' It had its moment. That show was like a stepping stone for us."

Wu went on the discuss the spiritual heart of the show.

"The martial arts spirituality is important because you need that balance. With the violence you also need the philosophy of martial arts to balance that out or else it just becomes all about the violence. Later as the story develops you see, with the secret [M.K.] has, more of a spiritual element of the show," Wu said. "We say the story is very loosely based on 'Journey to the West' which is how the Monkey King brought Buddhism from India to China. It's about all these challenges he meets on the way and how they transform him from a rebellious, naughty Monkey King into a Buddha himself. So, that's the real spritual backbone of the show -- you see this character Sunny looking for something greater than he has known."

Fans will have to tune in to the "Into the Badlands" premiere to see how the show brings martial arts to the small screen. The six-episode first season of the AMC series begins airing on Nov. 15.

continued next post

[GeneChing]

AMC’s ‘Into the Badlands’ EP/Fight Director on Making Martial Arts the New Zombie (http://observer.com/2015/10/amcs-into-the-badlands-epstunt-director-on-making-martial-arts-the-new-zombie/)
By Drew Grant | 10/11/15 9:22am

https://nyoobserver.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/13-into-the-badlands.jpg?quality=80&w=635
Daniel Wu as Sunny on AMC’s Into the Badlands.

Compared to the fan screening of The Walking Dead the night before–where the siren call of zombies and Norman Reedus filled Madison Square Gardens to capacity–the turnout for AMC’s other post-apocalyptic program, Into the Badlands, had a modest Comic Con turnout. Maybe it was only some 150+ people who filed into one of the seemingly endless Javits Center convention rooms to observer a panel for a show that doesn’t premiere until November 15th, and is loosely based on the Chinese story Journey to the West. But the two events shared one thing in common: they were both attended past capacity.

Though its plot may seem more “early aughts foreign film sensation” than “the next hit show from the network that brought you Breaking Bad and Mad Men,” Into the Badlands boasts a much more adventure-driven premise: in it, a transient warrior, Sunny (Daniel Wu, also an executive producer on the project) wanders a future where there are no guns–Snowpiercer, much?– and the feudal caste system has made a comeback, in a hardcore, Crouching Tiger-kind of way. After finding a special boy M.K. (Aramis Knight) literally inside a box , Sunny begins an epic quest through a world where martial arts imposes the martial rule.

Besides having the obvious appeal of nerd culture–swords! Hot, badass ladies fighting! Flying kicks!–AMC’s newest offering is notable for having such a strong international contingent both in front and behind the cameras. Stephen Fung is another executive producer of Into the Badlands, and more awesomely, is the show’s fight coordinator. Along with the perfectly nick-named Master DeeDee, Fung spent weeks training the actors in a “Martial Arts Boot Camp” before principal photography ever started filming.

After the panel, we spoke to Fung about the process of turning Hollywood actors into believable warriors.

Observer: What were some of the difficulties of translating this cinematic art form for the small screen?

Stephen Fung: It’s the action’s journey, if I may put it. It’s not a movie, where it’s a one-sitting experience and then it’s over after a couple hours. This could be many seasons. So I had to think about: Well, I can’t throw everything in the first season, let alone the first episode. We can’t show the full range of martial arts right away. The pilot has to be good; it has to have meat in it, but we can’t throw every trick in there.

So what we did was map out the characters and their journeys, and what kind of weapons they would choose, and we start from there. We start out with Sunny fighting bare hands, since we want the audience to see how good he is without the blades. We’ll save the blades for the next fight. So the tree fight: that’s a gritty style, a certain look; then the rain fight, which is more poetic. You just saw the fight with the Widow (during the panel), which is how a very strong woman fights, and it’s completely different than the other ones we’ve seen before. (Ed. note: you won’t be looking at stiletto heels the same way again.)

Each character has its own strength and weaknesses. Quinn, who is the most powerful baron in the land, he fights with one broad sword, which is all about power. It’s not about fancy moves, it’s all about slashing through your enemies.

Observer: So it’s all about the visceral experience of understanding the character through their fighting style?

Fung: Exactly. Another thing we wanted to do was to keep it pretty grounded. Nothing too supernatural in the fights. No flying.

Observer: There are videos online of you and Master Dee Dee (the martial arts coordinator) training the cast at a martial arts boot camp in preparation for the show. I have to think this must have been a STEEP learning curve for some of the actors. Can you talk about this process a little bit?

Fung: The boot camp took place two months before principal photography. And I’ve always believed that boot camps aren’t just for the actors to be prepared physically, but mentally. To get as close to the fighter’s mentality as possible. So we had people training for 9 to 4. Usually the day started off with some warmups, exercises, and we’d end the day with practicing moves specifically designed for the fights in the series. After that, wire work. Then they’d get to go home and rest, while me and Master Dee Dee would stay and choreograph the fight, which I would shoot on my camera. I’d go home at night, and edit it really quickly.

Then I’d bring it to the directors, and we’d talk about ways to make it better.

Observer: Which actor would you say is the most improved after the camp?

Fung: I think for sure Emily (Beechum, who plays The Widow) and Aramis (who plays M.K.) because he had so much work to do on the wires. You might be able to quick very high and well on the ground, but once you’re on the wire…the way you pivot, the way you use the power, it’s different. Because Aramis fights…differently, without giving too much away.

There’s a lot of wire work in Hollywood, and it’s used brilliantly. The difference is in China we’d have men physically holding the wires and pulling the actors up, whereas here it’s mechanical. It’s pretty electronic. But for this, we needed the feel to be so specific, the lands to be so different, that it was very difficult to do with machines. So that’s one of the differences.

Observer: What most surprised you about moving these fights from boot camp to location?

Fung: The fights themselves were very similar. The widow scene is almost exactly the same, but that’s because, you look at it: it’s all taken place in one large room. There’s some elevation, but it’s just like the place where we practiced. Now take episode two, where it’s a 50-1 fight scene, but it’s in a factory, and there are different levels, and by the end Sunny is on different levels of beams. We couldn’t really choreograph it, because our (training complex) was just one flat layer. We just had to count on our experience.

Some of it is surprisingly good. When we do the Hong Kong style, there is quite a bit of improvisation. That’s why we put a lot of pressure on the set decorators and art directors for the show: we couldn’t just make it up out of thin air, or look at a blueprint and imagine what the fight would look like.

Observer: It seems like the show has a very visceral element to it.

Fung: The thing about Hollywood is you guys have the best technology, the best equipment and all that. There’s a new convention call the MobyCam, which is a cross between a handheld cam and a steadicam. And the great thing about the Mobi-Cam is that you can have these cinematic big shots AND that Hong Kong film feel, like you are there in the room during the fight, which is all handheld. So for the opening fight, we had a clipper with a camera jumping down together with Sunny on wires. You see Sunny go down, and then the camera follows.

Observer: Do you think the show’s Chinese influence gave Badlands such great roles (and fights) for women?

Fung: Since the early days of Chinese cinema, there have been really strong female leads. From Mulan to Crouching Tiger, and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that female fighting is very poetic. It’s sexy. It’s just how their bodies are designed. When you see The Widow fight, she has these very specific stances that look good.

That’s the thing about teaching martial arts the Chinese way as opposed to Western cinema: the rhythm is different. Hong Kong is very “fight, fight, fight,” but then you break up and go into a stance. So at the end of the day it’s not about which martial arts style is being used, it’s about what looks cool. It’s the most important thing, because it’s the most unusual aspect of what this show is about.


continued from previous

[GeneChing]

Into the Badlands Brings Martial Arts Back to American TV—And It's a Bloodbath (http://io9.com/into-the-badlands-brings-martial-arts-back-to-american-1735831858)
Bryan Lufkin
Filed to: nycc 201510/10/15 8:15pm

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--qwOIRnif--/1468871593569666595.jpg

Kicks. Punches. Swords. A whole lotta blood. A who’s who crew of martial artists and choreographers, and, at last, an Asian lead for a modern TV drama. It’s Into the Badlands, and hopefully it kickstarts a new chapter in genre television.

Arguably, the last popular example of a martial arts TV show in the US was Kung Fu, which ended its run a whopping 40 years ago. AMC hopes to change that. The cable channel that brought us Mad Men, The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad held a cast and crew panel at New York Comic Con on Saturday for the upcoming Into the Badlands. They teased a scene from the pilot that showed The Village’s Emily Beecham as a blade-brandishing killer with acrobatic death moves. It was gory as ****. Like, Tarantino-grade.

The fight sequence was lightning-fast and unapologetically bloody, climaxing in a Street Fighter-like combo move that used double swords to make mincemeat of one foe, streams of blood squirting everywhere like water out of a leak-dotted balloon. There was also an axe-to-the-forehead that ended with a satisfying squish. Not gonna lie... it’s not for everybody. It was as over-the-top as a gory hack-and-slash game. (I loved it, but others won’t.)

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--Q7iMRSF5--/1468871593690310691.jpg
Emily Beecham as The Widow. Photo: James Dimmock/AMC

And yet? Beecham’s actual movements were mesmerizingly beautiful and elaborate. Her assault was packed full of complex content whose choreography might enchant viewers who otherwise find fighting movies unpalatable.

Stephen Fung, the show’s fight director who is also a famous actor and filmmaker in Asia, said that was the goal. He wanted to bring Hong Kong-style martial arts action to Into the Badlands.

“It’s not just perceived as fist-fighting—it’s more like a dance. We choreographed it like a dance. Each move is very specific,” Fung said. The martial arts used in the show borrow from an array of styles, kind of like Bruce Lee’s did.

“We wanted to marry that authentic Hong Kong [martial arts] style with an American drama, and we couldn’t have done it without these two gentlemen here,” said co-creator Al Gough, referring to Fung, as well as star, executive producer, and veteran actor Daniel Wu. Both are well-known in Hong Kong and China.

The cast of Into the Badlands, many of whom were new to martial arts, worked their asses off in a training camp that Fung led. He employed the same martial arts training system used by Jackie Chan and Jet Li for the boot camp, which also utilized the expertise of Huan-Chiu Ku, renowned martial arts choreographer who’s worked on Kill Bill and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

You’ll notice that there are no guns in this universe. The setting for Into the Badlands takes Hong Kong-influenced martial arts and plops them in lush wetlands and plantation-filled fields in the distant future. (The show is filmed in New Orleans.) It’s set 500 years from now, and it definitely blends visual cues from both Asia and America in a novel way. Meanwhile, everything’s run by barons who outlawed firearms a century prior, in order to prevent an uprising.

I’m a little nervous, since this show is yet another series set in a dystopian future. But while the fighting is borrowed from Chinese and Hong Kong martial arts cinema, the creators say the world’s social structure mimics feudal Japan, which is interesting: There are barons (like the shogunate) who control land and vital resources, and also manage fighting forces called clippers (samurai) amid a society of nomads (ronin). The creators said Kurosawa movies and medieval Japanese history were key influences.

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--qltjYLOy--/1468871593728482339.jpg
Daniel Wu as Sunny. Photo: James Minchin III/AMC

As for Wu, he has an extensive martial arts background (shaolin kung fu, wushu, muay thai) and plays main character Sunny, the top baron’s top clipper, who’s killed 400 people. One day, he rescues a young boy called M.K. (Aramis Knight, Ender’s Game) who apparently holds secrets to Sunny’s past, which prompts a journey that the Widow (badass killer Emily Beecham) regularly disrupts.

“It brings that big screen level of action that we’re used to in Hong Kong to the American small screen,” Wu said, and mentions there should be two big fight scenes per episode. He promised the fighting gets crazier as the season rolls on, and that each fight reveals something about the character.

All the characters are presented as morally ambiguous. The Widow, for example, is an apparent mentor to an army of young female warriors-in-training she calls “her butterflies.” Is it ethical to teach kids how to be lethal death machines? Maybe, maybe not. I mean, this universe seems pretty messed up. Only the strong survive.

“The only thing that really matters in this world is strength and weakness. Race, sex, none of it matters,” Gough says. “Martial arts is the great equalizer. It doesn’t matter if you’re male or female.”

Into the Badlands Brings Martial Arts Back to American TV—And It's a Bloodbath

Aramis Knight as M.K. Photo: James Minchin III/AMC

I also want to include: ‘Bout ‘effing time, a drama on TV that has an Asian star. We’ve finally been seeing more Asians in starring roles on the comedy side of things, with Fresh off the Boat, which premiered earlier this year, and the new Dr. Ken, which stars Ken Jeong. And of course there’s Steven Yeun, who plays a key role in The Walking Dead’s action ensemble.

When asked at the panel what he thought about being one of the few Asian leads (let alone Asian male leads) in American TV history, Wu said: “When have we seen an Asian-American lead in a show? Almost never. AMC was adamant that the lead is an Asian. For me, as an Asian-American kid growing up, I looked to people like Jet Li and Bruce Lee, because I couldn’t find people like me on the big screen. And now, 40 years later, to be able to be that person, that’s awesome.”

The show premieres on AMC November 15, and I’ll be recapping all of season one’s six gruesome, katana-slicing episodes right here on io9.

Top image: Alexia Ioannides as Tilda. Photo: Patti Perret/AMC

Email the author at bryan@gizmodo.com, or follow him on Twitter.

I'm going to the sneak tomorrow. :cool:

[GeneChing]

China switches submission to Go Away, Mr. Tumor (http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/china-switches-submission-to-go-away-mr-tumor)
http://res-5.cloudinary.com/htyz9sr25/image/private/t_show_retina_fit/ztkigftqjaehcjzyxlwp.jpg
By Kevin Ma

Mon, 12 October 2015, 09:50 AM (HKT)
Awards News

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released the official submission list for this year's Best Foreign Film contenders.

The biggest surprise in the list is China's submission, which was changed from Jean-Jacques ANNAUD's Wolf Totem 狼圖騰 to HAN Yan 韓延's box office hit Go Away Mr. Tumor 滾蛋吧！腫瘤君 (pictured).

Local media reported earlier that the French co-production had been chosen to represent China in the award race. Last month, director JIA Zhangke 賈樟柯 held a public campaign to have his film Mountains May Depart 山河故人 be considered.

Other Asian representatives for the award include The Last Reel (Cambodia), To the Fore 破風 (Hong Kong), Court (India), 100 Yen Love 百円の恋 (Japan), Men Who Save the World Lelaki harapan dunia (Malaysia), Heneral Luna (Philippines), 7 Letters (Singapore), How to Win at Checkers (Every Time) (Thailand) and Jackpot Trúng số! (Vietnam).

The last time an Asian film was nominated as a finalist in the category was two years, with Rithy PANH ប៉ាន់ រិទ្ធី's The Missing Picture L'Image manquante (2013). The last Asian film to win in the category was Japan's Departures おくりびと (2008).

GAMT stars Daniel Wu. Taiwan has submitted Assassin (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?48362-The-Assassin&p=1286684#post1286684).

[GeneChing]

Last night, I was at the Hollywood premiere of Inside the Badlands Ep.1. The show has a lot of potential. AMC is earnestly looking to serve the martial arts genre fans like it did for the horror genre fans with The Walking Dead. The fight scenes are solid - Ep.1. has two major fights, the second one is an homage to the rain fight in The Grandmaster (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?53227-The-Grandmaster) mashed up with the Crazy 88 fight in Kill Bill (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?18892-Kill-Bill). It's success will key off three factors: #1 if U.S. audiences can tell the difference between a decent fight scene and a mediocre one #2 if U.S. audiences will accept an Asian non-comedic lead in a TV show and #3 the global impact - this last one is the most telling factor as this may well be a gateway for AMC to penetrate the bamboo curtain.

At the ****tail reception, I had a great chat with AMC President Charles Collier, who was very open with me about his intentions with the series. I also had some nice chats with most of the cast (unfortunately Daniel Wu was in Hong Kong filming but I've already interviewed him on this for our next issue). I also got to speak briefly with Stephen Fung.

Photos coming. Our intrepid photographer, Greg Lynch Jr., who does video accompanied me to the sneak peak. I'lll post those on our Facebook as well as in our next issue soon.

[GeneChing]

Not to play the race card, but this is a breakthrough - an Asian lead in a non-comedic role.


Oct 13 2015, 2:46 pm ET
New AMC Show 'Into the Badlands' Praised for 'Groundbreaking' Casting (http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/new-amc-show-badlands-praised-groundbreaking-casting-n443741)
by Michael D. Nguyen

http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2015_42/1260376/into-the-badlands-season-1-first-look-sunny-wu-2-935_a233a9047bdc26013a53a00234494851.nbcnews-fp-1240-520.jpg
Daniel Wu plays Sunny in AMC's new show "Into the Badlands." James Minchin III / AMC

A new martial arts AMC television show, which features two Asian-American leads, is receiving strong buzz ahead of its fall premiere.

"Into the Badlands," starring Daniel Wu and Aramis Knight, is set in a undetermined future where warlord-like barons maintain power through the use of mercenaries known as "clippers." Although in some ways modern, the world has a notable absence of firearms, so combat is primarily hand-to-hand.

During a panel discussion last weekend at New York Comic Con, Wu was asked how he felt about being one of the few Asian leads of a television show in recent memory.

"I didn't think about it until after we were done...because I had a career for 18 years in Hong Kong where I didn't have to think about race at all," Wu responded. "And to come back here and be that, to think about when has it been since we've seen an Asian American lead in a show—almost never."

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Wu has had a long, diverse career in Hong Kong, including numerous starring roles and even singing in a boy band he founded.

http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2015_42/1260356/into-the-badlands-season-1-first-look-sunny-wu-935_191c1094d38900e1b5e49aca12dd8869.nbcnews-ux-600-480.jpg
The 40-year-old actor was originally brought in to produce the show. It was only later that he was cast as the lead role of Sunny, a feared clipper who begins to question his way of life.
Daniel Wu as Sunny in AMC's original series "Into the Badlands" James Minchin III / AMC

"It's awesome AMC was adamant. They were adamant that the lead was an Asian, [that] there was an Asian American to play this role," Wu told a packed auditorium of fans.

Aramis Knight, who is of Pakistani and East Indian descent, will star alongside Wu as M.K., a young man with yet-to-be-explained potential, who acts as the impetus for the show. Knight's past credits include roles in "Ender's Game" and the television series "Scorpion."

"I think not only is the martial arts groundbreaking but casting [Wu and I] as predominant characters is also groundbreaking. It's never been done before," Knight told NBC News, adding "I think it's sort of amazing that AMC was really the first to say, 'You know, we can sell a mixed race [person] as a lead."

http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2015_42/1260361/into-the-badlands-season-1-first-look-mk-knight-935_15d6ebf3b54a18ad1760b998580c7d42.nbcnews-ux-600-480.jpg
Aramis Knight as M.K. in AMC's original series "Into the Badlands" James Minchin III / AMC

The martial arts aspect of "Into the Badlands" was what drew in Wu and director Stephen Fung in the first place. Acrobatic combat was so central to the story and look of the show that Fung's Hong Kong fight unit was deployed along with the conventional dramatic unit. The result is a dystopian show featuring a distinctly Hong Kong vibe.

"We had this unit and it was running full time...when we say there's authentic Hong Kong martial arts, it's because we used a system that they use in China. This is the system that Jackie Chan uses, the system Jet Li uses, and obviously that Stephen [Fung] and Daniel [Wu] do," Al Gough, one of the show's creators, said.

"Into the Badlands" premieres November 15 on AMC.

The boy band comment is incorrect btw. That was for a satire film, The Heavenly Kings, for which Wu earned a Best New Director at the Hong Kong Film Awards (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?65254-Hong-Kong-Film-Awards).

[GeneChing]

Not to play the sex card, but there are a lot of sword hotties (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?41007-Sword-hotties) in this show...


AMC’s ‘Into the Badlands’ Celebrates Martial Arts, Strong Female Characters (http://variety.com/2015/scene/vpage/into-the-badlands-amc-martial-arts-strong-female-characters-1201617898/)

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/into-the-badlands-screening.jpg?w=670&h=377&crop=1
MOVI Inc./Variety/REX Shutterstock
October 14, 2015 | 04:23PM PT
Jacob Bryant

AMC’s newest show “Into the Badlands” held an intimate screening Tuesday at The London, West Hollywood, where creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar called it a passion project.

“Miles and I have always been huge fans of martial arts and martial arts movies and it’s something that’s not on television at the moment,” Gough said. “It was a passion project of ours.”

After working on shows like “Smallville,” where 22-episode seasons were the norm, the two said working on a six-episode season was refreshing and a newer challenge.

“With six episodes there is a different momentum and things really have to happen,” Millar said. “For us it was ‘how do you make the story interesting and develop the characters in that short amount of time?'”

“Into the Badlands” follows Sunny, a ruthless warrior played by Daniel Wu, and M.K., played by Aramis Knight, as they travel across the dangerous badlands on a spiritual journey. Through their journey they’ll encounter many of the feudal barons that control the Badlands.

What drew many of the cast members to the series, aside from the fight scenes, was the amount of strong female characters that resided in the Badlands.

“My character is the Widow, one of the only female barons in the Badlands,” Emily Beecham said. “She has a group of young women that she calls her Butterflies and she trains them to become very skilled fighters and teaches them that women should have an equal voice to men and they need to fight for it.”

The Widow is far from the only strong female role in the show. Sarah Bolger describes her character as Lady MacBeth-esque with an innocence and underlying ambition.

“What’s great is the female characters rule in a way that is not hand-and-fist,” Bolger said. “They rule psychologically and through intelligence and it’s great to be able to do that. There’s a juxtaposition between the gruesome brutality and the mind-manipulating. Our war is one of intellect.”

(Pictured: Madeleine Mantock, Emily Beecham, Orla Brady, Ally Ioannides and Sarah Bolger at the “Into the Badlands” after-party)


...and I was at that after party. And I got to get up-close-and-personal with four of the five ladies pictured above. Pix soon come. :cool:

[GeneChing]

See our facebook album Into the Badlands Hollywood Sneak Preview (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153775291079363.1073741886.135964689362&type=3) October 13 Taken at The London West Hollywood Photos by Greg Lynch Jr.

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/t31.0-8/12140066_10153775292664363_6204286400633477014_o.j pg
Emily Beecham

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/t31.0-8/12080265_10153775292639363_2508336882666853879_o.j pg
Sarah Bolger

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xat1/t31.0-8/12132454_10153775292449363_7107264724202957972_o.j pg
Madeleine Mantock

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/t31.0-8/12079979_10153775292014363_4179293010144057607_o.j pg
Ally Ioannides

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtp1/t31.0-8/12141171_10153775291769363_7326841995785000111_o.j pg
Aramis Knight

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtp1/t31.0-8/12110014_10153775291384363_7100959938491646066_o.j pg
Stephen Fung

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/t31.0-8/12138615_10153775292244363_8404585145315287737_o.j pg
Charlie Collier

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/t31.0-8/12109852_10153775291334363_2361840045092997146_o.j pg
Can anyone name all these people? I gave away the first one above.

[PalmStriker]

:D Great Pic's ! Rough Gig !

[GeneChing]

Here's a London-based website's take on this. This is really more about international distribution of the AMC brand than it will be about the U.S. reception of it.



Show of the week: Into the Badlands (http://tbivision.com/show-of-the-week/2015/10/show-week-badlands/498242/)

http://tbivision.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Into-the-Badlands-NYCC-Artwork-620x413.jpg

Into the Badlands is the latest original drama from The Walking Dead channel AMC. Set in a post-apocalyptic future, it is a genre-bending blend of martial arts-meets-western-meets-futuristic-action-series.

Based loosely on the classic 16th Century Chinese book Journey to the West, considered one of the great novels of Chinese literature, the series is set on a future earth, after the planet has been ravaged by a disaster.

Chinese-American film star Daniel Wu stars as Sunny, a clipper, an assassin-come-soldier in the employ of one of the warlords who controls the Badlands. The story follows his journey and that of M.K. (The Dark Knight Rises‘ Aramis Knight), a seemingly average teenage boy who actually has special powers.

Wu sat down with TBI at MIPCOM to talk about his new series and says his move from film into TV was a physically challenging, if rewarding, one.

“On typical martial arts film there are maybe three or four fight scenes and it is filmed over six months, this had two per episode and I was in every one and was fighting every day in the Louisiana heat wearing a leather trench coat,” Wu said. “I have made almost 70 films, but this is the hardest project I have done physically because so much is happening in a short space of time.”

AMC has shown some of the most iconic cable series of recent years, from Mad Men to Breaking Bad to The Walking Dead and its companion shows. In the US and internationally it certainly sees Into the Badlands as a show that will sit well alongside smash hit zombie series The Walking Dead.

Speaking when the former was announced, earlier this year, Bruce Tuchman, president, AMC and Sundance Channel Global, said: “We think Into the Badlands and Fear the Walking Dead will complement each other perfectly as we continue to grow our global footprint and support our pay-TV platform partners in expanding their subscriber base.”

Into the Badlands should appeal to a wide selection of action fans, spanning, as it does, everything from martial arts to Western.

“In the simplest sense it is in the martial arts genre, but it is a little more complex than that,” says Wu. “It is combining a lot of elements of Western cowboy films, Asian martial arts films, but in a post apocalyptic America setting, so a it is a mash up of a lot of things and a lot of genres I enjoy. We have taken it all and put it into one, which has been the challenge but also the exciting thing about making this and its success will pivot on that. It is something totally different you haven’t seen on television.”

The show: Into the Badlands
The producer: AMC Studios
The distributor: Entertainment One Television
The broadcaster: AMC (US)
The concept: Genre-bending action series set in a post-apocalyptic America where feudal barons rule and clippers (soldier-assassins) enforce the rules

Date added:
October 20, 2015
Company:
AMC, AMC Studios, Aramis Knight, Daniel Wu, Entertainment One Television, Into the Badlands, The Walking Dead

[GeneChing]

Regrettably, Marton Csokas and Orla Brady were the two stars at the Hollywood premiere that I did not get to meet. I ran out of time. My bad. :o



'Into The Badlands' Cast Previews Season 1 At NYCC; Meet The Baron And Baroness Of AMC's New Martial Arts Series (http://www.ibtimes.com/badlands-cast-previews-season-1-nycc-meet-baron-baroness-amcs-new-martial-arts-series-2136197)
By Alex Garofalo @Ja9GarofaloTV a.garofalo@ibtimes.com on October 11 2015 12:12 AM EDT

http://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibtimes.com/files/styles/v2_article_large/public/2015/10/10/badlands.jpg
Marton Csokas (left) and Orla Brady (right), pictured as Quinn (left) and Lydia (right) in "Into the Badlands" Season 1, teased their characters' relationship at New York Comic Con Oct. 10, 2015. AMC

Ahead of the November premiere of "Into the Badlands," the cast of the highly anticipated AMC series descended on New York Comic Con to introduce fans to the show's unique world. Unique is an understatement. AMC is billing the show as the first true martial arts-based series on television and the network has pulled out all the stops to bring the futuristic tale to the small screen.

The result is a lush world of feudal barons ruling over a warrior class of poor commoners in a gun-free, dystopian version of America. Marton Csokas, who plays Quinn, the Badlands' most powerful baron, and Orla Brady, who plays Lydia, Quinn's calculating wife, spent Comic Con teasing TV's most ruthless power couple since the Underwoods ("House of Cards").

Quinn and Lydia lord over their alloted section of the Badlands -- there are seven barons in total -- with the help of an army of former impoverished children known as Clippers. Series star Daniel Wu plays Sunny, the most feared Clipper of them all. Quinn keeps Sunny and the other Clippers under his thumb by convincing them they are better off under his rule than outside the Badlands where they would struggle to survive. Csokas told International Business Times at Comic Con Quinn's pitch is, at least, partly true.

"He probably believes that that's true, but he certainly is using it as a ruling rod," Csokas said. "But I think in part it is true."

After all, in the Badlands, no one can truly trust anyone else, not even their own son.

"Everybody that they come across wants to usurp, even in his own house. His son that he shares with Lydia wants to do exactly that," Csokas said. "He does not agree with how things are run and in the confidence of youth, which can overleap itself, if he was not psychologically dominated, he would be happy to kill Quinn. And in fact he does just that. All these forces to bring him down and what he has built -- it would end. I think he believes he is preserving the people in an extreme way. So, in the Darwinian sense I think he thinks he is doing what he has to because if he didn't somebody else would."

Meanwhile, Quinn's wife Lydia has her own perspective.

"She is in that curious position of not being empowered herself, but deriving her power from the people around her and having been married to the most powerful baron in the Badlands, she has been in a pretty good position" Orla Brady told IBT. "That is changing at the start of the show. [Quinn] is exercising his right to take another wife. It's not easy for Lydia. That's where she stands at the beginning of the story. She is literally seeing a younger version of herself. She sees ambition and knows that puts her in danger."

Lydia might not have any combat prowess, but she's still a fighter. In fact, elsewhere in the "Badlands" universe the wife of another baron has killed her husband and taken over as the first female baron, going by the name the Widow (Emily Beecham). The power move could serve as inspiration for Lydia, who wants to see her son take power.

"When someone does something that is an entirely new idea and you see that it is possible -- Quinn has a line in episode one [when he gets the news about the Widow] that is: 'I hope this doesn't give [Lydia] any ideas.' It's said as a bit of an aside, but many a truth is said in jest," Brady said. "I think a seed has been planted there."

However, predicting too much discord between the longtime partners might be premature.

"They have been a team for years. There is no reason for them to be against each other," Brady said.

"Even if [Quinn] wouldn't admit it, they would be lost without each other," Csokas said.

Fans will have to tune in to the "Into the Badlands" premiere to see how the couple's complicated (to say the least) relationship shakes out. The six-episode first season of the AMC series begins airing on Nov. 15.

[GeneChing]

Amazon Prime Acquires Daniel Wu’s ‘Into the Badlands’ in U.K. (http://variety.com/2015/digital/global/amazon-prime-acquires-badlands-1201625031/)

http://i1.wp.com/pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/bad_101_jd_0518_0948.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C2800px%2 C1559px&resize=670%2C377
Courtesy of James Dimmock/AMC
October 23, 2015 | 08:10AM PT
Leo Barraclough

LONDON — Amazon Prime Video has acquired exclusive streaming rights in the U.K. to AMC’s “Into the Badlands” from Entertainment One Television.

Each episode of the genre-bending martial arts series, loosely based on the Chinese classic tale “Journey to the West,” will be available to Amazon Prime members in the U.K. on a weekly basis from Nov. 17, after they air in the U.S. Entertainment One launched the show at TV market Mipcom earlier this month.

Set in a devastated future world controlled by powerful feudal barons, “Into the Badlands” tells the story of a ruthless warrior, Sunny (Daniel Wu, “Tai Chi Zero”), and a young boy, M.K. (Aramis Knight, “The Dark Knight Rises”), who embark on a spiritual odyssey across a dangerous land.

The show is created by executive producers/showrunners/writers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (“Smallville”), and executive produced by Stacey Sher and Michael Shamberg, director David Dobkin, fight director Stephen Fung and Daniel Wu.

Prime Video offers subscribers access to more than 15,000 movies and TV episodes, including “Transparent,” “Mr. Robot,” “Bosch,” “Hand of God,” “Vikings,” “Outlander” and “Ripper Street.”


I still have to figure a way to watch this as I don't have AMC (and this doesn't help me). I've seen the first two episodes so I'm good until December, I suppose. :(

[GeneChing]

This fight comes up early in the first episode.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=310RluewPj8

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WECDvOeENXU

[-N-]

This fight comes up early in the first episode.

Fight choreography and cinematography look kind of boring :(

[GeneChing]

Oops. That's an embarrassing mistake NY Daily News. :o



Steampunk meets kung fu in AMC’s latest drama ‘Into the Badlands’ (http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/amc-picks-kung-fu-drama-badlands-article-1.2418233)
BY Don Kaplan
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Friday, October 30, 2015, 5:59 PM

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To make “Badlands” work, they turned to accomplished fight coordinators like Stephen Wu who have worked with Jackie Chan and other martial arts masters. James Minchin III/AMC

It’s got some serious kick.

“Into the Badlands,” AMC’s new kung fu fantasy, aims to slice its way into people’s living rooms starting Nov. 15. The show will rely on the means and methods that have made classic Hong Kong cinema into one of the world’s most popular forms of entertainment.

It stars Daniel Wu as an assassin living 500 years from now who is forced to chop his way through a “Mad Max”-style future. Guns don’t exist there, and the deadliest weapons are swords, fists and feet.

“It’s a mashup of all the things we love,” says Alfred Gough, who created the drama with longtime collaborator Miles Millar (“Shanghai Noon,” “Smallville”). “It’s martial arts, science fiction and Japanese samurai — you know, the good stuff.”

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"Into the Badlands" stars Daniel Wu as an assassin living 500 years from now who is forced to chop his way through a “Mad Max”-style future. James Dimmock/AMC

The mash up is a strange one, but it works.

Wu uses his mastery of Chinese martial arts to pound, slice and disembowel his way through a post-apocalyptic world. The social structure mimics feudal Japan. There are barons (like the shogunate) who control land and vital resources and cling to power with personal armies of warriors called clippers (samurai). Outside the walls of their lush plantations (the show is filmed near New Orleans), they are pitted against a society of nomads (ronin).

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Madeleine Mantock plays Veil in "Into the Badlands." James Minchin III/AMC

Wu — a master at various kung fu styles, including shaolin, wushu and muay thai kickboxing — plays Sunny, an elite assassin and one of the closest advisers to Baron Quinn (Marton Csokas). He presides over a sprawling fort that looks a lot like a Southern plantation.

The chop-socky meets steampunk style show is loosely based on the classic Chinese tale “Journey to the West” and follows Sunny and a young boy who try to journey across a dangerous land to find enlightenment.

Emily Beecham (“28 Weeks Later,” “The Village”), Sarah Bolger (“The Tudors,” “In America”) and Oliver Stark (“The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box,” “My Hero”) also star.

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“If you want those highly stylized Hong Kong fight scenes, there’s no rule book. And it’s not something a traditional network would have the patience for," Miles Millar said. Patti Perret/AMC

“The only thing that really matters in this world is strength and weakness. Race, sex, none of it matters,” Gough says. “Martial arts is the great equalizer. It doesn’t matter if you’re male or female.”

But the task of bringing high-quality, cinema-style martial arts to U.S. TV is no small feat. That’s according to Gough and Millar, who oversaw two Jackie Chan films, “Shanghai Noon” and its sequel “Shanghai Knights.”

The pair was also behind “Martial Law,” the 1998 CBS show that starred Chan’s longtime pal and co-star, Sammo Hung.

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"The Tudors" star Sarah Bolger playsJade.
James Minchin III/AMC

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Marton Csokas is a scar-faced feudal boss.
Patti Perret/AMC

To make “Badlands” work, they turned to accomplished fight coordinators like Stephen Wu who have worked with Chan and other martial arts masters, and San Francisco-born Wu, who was discovered and managed by Chan.

“Making this show is challenging in every regard,” says Millar. “If you want those highly stylized Hong Kong fight scenes, there’s no rule book. And it’s not something a traditional network would have the patience for. These scenes are more like playing jazz. You do whatever makes it work. There’s a lot of freestyle maneuvering.”

To get to that level, the entire cast was sent to a martial arts boot camp for six weeks before production started. Participants learned the same martial arts training system used by Jackie Chan and Jet Li.

But the visceral fight scenes aren’t the only part of the show that requires painstaking attention.

AMC has set the bar so high with other groundbreaking programming, like “The Walking Dead” and “Mad Men,” that a nuanced storyline and rich character development is an integral part of “Badlands.” The show aims to take its place among other high-octane dramas, like “Sons of Anarchy” and “Game of Thrones.”

“AMC wanted to do something that was difficult and groundbreaking with this,” says Millar. “So the level of drama had to match the martial arts.”

[GeneChing]

Only relevant because of Daniel Wu.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA_8TY9Z5Zg

[GeneChing]

Only relevant because of Sarah Bolger.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii6-TeZgeWM

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/t31.0-8/12080265_10153775292639363_2508336882666853879_o.j pg

[GeneChing]

'Into the Badlands': Meet the New Dystopian Kung-Fu Plantation Western (http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/features/into-the-badlands-meet-the-new-dystopian-kung-fu-plantation-western-20151104)
AMC's latest would-be hit isn't a genre show — it's 'every' genre show rolled into one
By Rob Sheffield November 4, 2015

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Daniel Wu, center, in 'Into the Badlands.' James Minchin III/AMC

Kung-Fu and the Western: always an unkillable combination. Into the Badlands, AMC's post-apocalyptic martial-arts thriller set in the deep South — or what's left of it after civilization collpases — kicks off with a bang: Mystery man Daniel Wu rides in on his motorcycle wearing a red leather trench coat, shades and a ceremonial sword. Before he fights, he makes a point of removing the blade, because he prefers to handle his blood baths with his fists. (Wu is a veteran of Hong Kong action flicks like 2012's Tai Chi Zero; one of the fight directors is Master Dee Dee from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the Kill Bill movies.) Many corpses later, someone finally gets around to asking who the hell he is: "Got a name? You just show up, kill people and leave?"

The guy's name is Sunny, not the most terrifying name in the world, and he's a Clipper — a professional killer with more than 400 tattoos to mark his ever-increasing body count. Loosely based on a 16th-century Chinese tale, Journey to the West, about the adventures of a wandering Buddhist monk, Badlands conjures the ghost of Kung Fu, the classic Seventies yarn with David Carradine roaming the Wild West seeking enlightenment and kicking ass. Throw in some Game of Thrones intrigue, loads of Django Unchained Civil War plantation ambience, the spirit of Bruce Lee and the bleak vibe of The Walking Dead, and you've got Badlands.

The last remnants of known civilization are controlled by evil barons like Sunny's master, Quinn, the marvelous Marton Csokas. With his quasi-Amish beard and starched collars, the baron rules his opium empire while playing old blues records on the Victrola in his mansion, living large on a plantation surrounded by poppy fields. "People once thought there's a Holy Book," he proclaims in his Colonel Sanders drawl to his private army. "They believed it held the answers from a god that would save them. Boys, there is no god in the Badlands."

He controls the poppy supply; the Widow, played by Emily Beecham, controls the oil, along with her all-girl army of Butterflies. She's the liveliest villain in the tale — think Mad Men's Christina Hendricks in full-on Marilyn mode, except Joan Holloway Harris never got to enjoy the pleasure of separating the McCann Erickson creeps' skulls from their shoulders. Ally Ioannides is her deadliest protogree Tilda, the Butterfly warrior as a punk rock Arya.

It was the Baron who found Sunny as a child, shivering and abandoned, and trained him as a Clipper; he is now his bloodiest enforcer, with the tattoos to prove it. "No parents, no name, no past," the Baron says. "I figured if the Badlands hadn't killed him, there must be a strength inside him." (This is the kind of post-apocalyptic wasteland that has motorcycles, but not guns, which is convenient for professionals who specialize in kicking hombres in the face.) When a woman in his bed purrs, "I know buried under all this ink is a good man," Sunny just mutters, "You're wrong." But he's starting to wonder if there's a better way somewhere else. And on Into the Badlands, the tough question is who he'll have to kill to get there.

From The Archives Issue 1248: November 19, 2015




It's not quite "'every' genre show rolled into one". It's a genre we labelled three years ago: Chinese Steampunk (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?64489-Chinese-Shanghai-Steampunk). Hollywood is just catching up. ;)

[GeneChing]

The video is embedded so you have to follow the link to view it.

‘Into The Badlands’ Review: AMC Series A Good Return For Martial Arts To TV (http://deadline.com/2015/11/into-the-badlands-review-daniel-wu-amc-stephen-fung-1201609189/)
by Dominic Patten
November 5, 2015 12:49pm

It’s mainly the huge shadow of blockbuster series The Walking Dead, but it often feels like there is a lot of postapocalyptic programming on AMC. But honestly, with the most successful show on TV on your schedule, who wouldn’t mine that vein even deeper? Earlier this year we had spinoff Fear The Walking Dead, and now we have Into The Badlands, debuting on November 15 right after TWD.

Well, you’re in for a treat that night with the Daniel Wu-led martial arts series from Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. Into The Badlands, as my video review above says, is a smoldering, serpentine and supremely stylized series that does the legacy of Bruce Lee proud.

Masterfully choreographed by EP and fight director Stephen Fung and superbly executed by the charismatic American-born Hong Kong star Wu, the fight scenes in ITB are gravity defying and mind blowing in a pretty good yarn of a narrative. As a huge martial arts devotee, as I also say in my video review, the series has some of the best and most versatile moves you will ever see on either the small or big screen.

But action is nothing much without story and, though sometimes a bit slow in the carefully measured plot, the story in ITB is intriguingly based on the 16th century tale Journey To The West. The six-episode hourlong series depicts a Southern gothic-tinged, gun-free, godless America long after a great war, where seven barons rule the feudal lands with unsentimental ruthlessness enforced by armies of fighters called Clippers. And, to paraphrase Blade Runner, if you’re not Clipper, you’re little people.

Among the greatest of Clippers is Wu’s Sunny, who serves the Baron Quinn, played like ultimate Amish evil by the too-often-overlooked Marton Csoksas. Add to the mix a war brewing among the Barons and the newly empowered Widow, portrayed with icy cool by Emily Beecham, and you have an upside-down world about to flip even more. On top of that, there’s the mysterious and powerful M.K. (Aramis Knight), a young man Sunny saves and brings on as his protégé, and you have journey of change on many levels.

And it is a journey well worth taking – so suit up. Take a look at my Into The Badlands video review and tell us what you think.

[@PLUGO]

Check out the comics prequel on AMC.com (http://www.amc.com/shows/into-the-badlands/exclusives/digital-comic)
9651
965396549655

[GeneChing]

Premieres this Sunday!


There’s ‘Kung Fu,’ and, in ‘Into the Badlands,’ There’s Hong Kong Kung Fu (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/15/arts/television/theres-kung-fu-and-in-into-the-badlands-theres-hong-kong-kung-fu.html)
By ROBERT ITO NOV. 11, 2015

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Daniel Wu, star of AMC’s “Into the Badlands.” Credit James Dimmock/AMC

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. — In AMC’s new martial arts series, “Into the Badlands,” Daniel Wu plays Sunny, a motorcycle-riding, katana-wielding assassin whose loyalty to his flinty-eyed master is matched only by his prodigious kill count (400 and climbing).

Al Gough and Miles Millar, of “Smallville” fame, are the show’s proud creators, but on a recent afternoon at the Soho House club here, they were holding forth on another martial arts television series, “Kung Fu,” the 1970s drama with David Carradine as a Shaolin monk.

“I actually thought it was kind of boring,” Mr. Gough, 48, said of the series, which he first saw in reruns as a boy. “There wasn’t enough fighting in it. And then I realized, Oh my God, it’s a white dude.”

When “Into the Badlands” begins on Sunday, it will be the only martial arts drama on television, and one of the few to tackle the genre since “Kung Fu” aired four decades ago. Biographers of the martial arts legend Bruce Lee claim that he lost out on the lead role in that earlier series because network execs didn’t think American audiences would watch a TV show starring a Chinese-American martial artist, even a show ostensibly about a Chinese-American martial artist. The role went to Mr. Carradine, whose kung fu skills were lackluster and who was not, of course, Chinese.

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“Looking back, it was a travesty,” said Miles Millar, right, of David Carradine’s casting as a Chinese martial arts fighter in the 1970s show “Kung Fu.” Mr. Millar and Al Gough, left, are creators of “Into the Badlands.” Credit Emily Berl for The New York Times

“Looking back, it was a travesty,” Mr. Millar said.

In many ways, “Badlands” is an effort to right that wrong while simultaneously bringing authentic Hong Kong-style kung fu to American audiences. The producers assembled a team of specialists and stuntmen led by the fight director and actor Stephen Fung (“House of Fury,” “Tai Chi Hero”) and the martial arts choreographer Ku Huen Chiu (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”), and took them to Louisiana, where the series is filmed.

“Badlands” is set in a post-apocalyptic future in what was once the American Midwest, where all-powerful “barons” rule the land with the help of armies of warriors (think shoguns and samurai, except with oil fields). The show’s creators selected Mr. Wu, a Hong Kong star with more than 60 films to his credit, for the role of Sunny.

Born in Berkeley, Calif., and raised in nearby Orinda, Mr. Wu was initially brought on board as an executive producer involved in the martial arts side of the series. He balked at accepting the lead role because of the physical effort it entailed. “I was 40 when I started the show, and I wasn’t sure if my body could take it,” Mr. Wu said in a phone interview from Hong Kong.

His were valid concerns. As with action films in Hong Kong, the production of “Badlands” was divided between two units running concurrently: a main unit, with its full roster of actors and directors and makeup artists, and an equally large unit dedicated to fight scenes. The lead actor would have to work in both groups on a six-day-a-week schedule, combining full days with the main unit with the infamous training regimens required of Hong Kong-style martial arts filmmaking.

The search for the lead actor lasted four months, with the producers seeing scores of hopefuls from the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia. Most could do martial arts and a few could act, but very few could do both. “We saw people who, if there actually was a Badlands in real life, they could probably be Sunny,” Mr. Gough said, laughing. “But they couldn’t act.”

After prodding from the creators and producers, Mr. Wu finally agreed to take the role. “I think maybe that was our secret intention all along,” said an executive producer, Stacey Sher (“Django Unchained,” “Erin Brockovich”). “As a friend said to me, how can you do a martial arts television series with Daniel Wu that doesn’t star Daniel Wu?”

The show began production last summer in southeast Louisiana, where the cast and crew endured temperatures that spiked into the high 90s; New Orleans’s oppressive humidity; and swarms of large, hungry mosquitoes. Add to that the show’s accelerated shooting schedule (six days per fight scene, as opposed to two weeks in your typical Hong Kong film), and one can see why martial-arts series are so rare. “When we got into it, we were like, now we know why no one else is doing this,” Mr. Wu said. “Because it’s so hard.”

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Sammo Hung as a Shanghai policeman in Los Angeles in the 1990s CBS series “Martial Law” (here with Tammy Lauren). Credit Bob Greene/CBS

The series features two major fights per episode. Keen-eyed fans will spot homages to several well-known martial arts scenes, from the rain-soaked swordfight in Wong Kar-wai’s “The Grandmaster” to Bruce Lee’s battle royale in the Japanese dojo in “Fist of Fury” (a.k.a. “The Chinese Connection”). The level of violence equals those of Hong Kong action films, with eviscerations, snapped necks and impalements galore. In one scene, a master swordswoman named the Widow (Emily Beecham) juliennes a victim so neatly that all that’s left of him is a crimson cloud.

“We spent a lot of time talking to standards and practices,” Mr. Millar said.

In Hollywood action movies, directors mask their actors’ subpar fighting skills with shaky camera moves and extreme close-ups. In “Badlands,” the camera pulls way back, so that viewers can see 10 combatants (or 20, or 30) in a single shot. “The difference between American action and Hong Kong action is that in Hong Kong, you go wide,” Mr. Millar said.

“Badlands” isn’t the first martial arts outing for Mr. Gough and Mr. Millar. The first two films they wrote together were “Lethal Weapon 4,” with Jet Li, and the Jackie Chan film “Shanghai Noon.” In 1998, midway between “Kung Fu” and “Badlands,” the two were writers on the CBS series “Martial Law,” which featured the Hong Kong action film star Sammo Hung as a Chinese policeman fighting crime in Los Angeles. The series was notable not for its story line or acting, but for its lead’s top-notch kung fu credentials.

The show, Mr. Gough said, was sold to CBS on the strength of a single fight scene in a garage. “In some ways, it was the worst way to do a show,” he said.

For “Badlands,” the creators were determined to make sure that the story and acting were at least as good as the fight sequences, and that the cast was as diverse and gender-balanced as possible. Sunny’s fiercest rival, the Widow, is played by a British woman; his love interest is black (Madeleine Mantock); the actor who plays his boss (Marton Csokas) hails from New Zealand; and his young protégé is portrayed by a performer of German/East Indian/Pakistani descent (Aramis Knight).

When the writers created the show, Ms. Sher said, “all of the main barons were men.” But, she added, “my personal crusade is to turn everybody into a feminist.”

And then there’s Mr. Wu, that rarest of actors on American TV: an Asian-American romantic lead in a drama series (members of that tiny fraternity have been largely confined to comedies, including the short-lived “Selfie” and “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”). But it’s a milestone that Mr. Wu nearly overlooked, having starred in Hong Kong films for 18 years.

“I really didn’t think about it until people started asking me about it,” he said. “And then someone sent me a picture of the billboard on Melrose Avenue, and I was like, O.K., this is crazy — I can’t remember seeing a billboard of an Asian dude on an American show, like, ever.’”

[GeneChing]

I've been talking about the TV martial arts trend for months now.


Martial arts are alive and kicking on TV (http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2015/11/11/martial-arts-alive-and-kicking-tv/75458796/)
Bill Keveney, USA TODAY 11:11 a.m. EST November 11, 2015

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(Photo: James Minchin III, AMC)

Watch out, TV viewers. The small screen is filling up with martial-arts masters.

Sunny (Daniel Wu), a lethal enforcer in the future, feudal society of AMC’s Into the Badlands, is the latest to join a field that includes The Walking Dead’s Morgan, Sense8’s Sun Bak, Arrow and several characters in Netflix's Marco Polo. CBS also has Rush Hour, an adaptation of legend Jackie Chan’s film franchise, on the way.

“With the popularity of UFC and how martial arts (have) become mainstream, I think people are more receptive and want to see more of it,” Wu says. "We saw Kung Fu 40 years ago and shows like Martial Law and Walker, Texas Ranger that showcased (martial arts), but we’re hitting the point where it’s ... not a niche genre anymore.”

Here’s a rundown of contemporary warriors who wield hands, sticks and swords to attack and defend, along with a legend who kick-started the genre on TV nearly 50 years ago.

Sunny (Wu) of AMC’s Into the Badlands (premieres Sunday, 10 p.m. ET/PT)

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Clipper Sunny (Daniel Wu), right, trains M.K. (Aramis Knight) in AMC's 'Into the Badlands.' (Photo: James Dimmock, AMC)

Motorcycle-riding Sunny is a Clipper, an elite fighter who works for one of the seven barons who control a post-apocalyptic Midwest now known as the Badlands.

“We’re in a world where guns don’t exist and people have to survive on their warrior skills,” Wu says. “Even though we’re in a dystopian future where society has reset itself and there’s a certain amount of order, it’s still about power. And the way they solve problems is through violence.”

Wu, who was born in northern California and moved to Hong Kong as an adult, has enjoyed success in Chinese-language films, with Chan as a mentor. The actor’s martial-arts experience is put to good use in Badlands: He does almost all of his own stunt work.

“For Sunny, we wanted to not be stuck in one style. We wanted to be dynamic. If it’s 300 years in the future, there may not be one type of fighting style,” says Wu.

Morgan Jones (Lennie James) of AMC’s The Walking Dead (Sundays, 9 p.m. ET/PT)

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Morgan (Lennie James), left, takes part in martial-arts training with Eastman (John Carroll Lynch) in AMC's 'The Walking Dead.' (Photo: Gene Page, AMC)

The mysterious Morgan picked up martial-arts skills, including the ability to swing a mean Bo staff, and a philosophy during Aikido training with Eastman (John Carroll Lynch), turning him from killer to peacemaker.

“It is the way of the peaceful warrior,” says James. “The stick is a deadly weapon wielded in a certain way, but it is not necessarily a weapon that is designed to kill. Morgan’s thing is to protect himself but not necessarily by killing somebody else.”

Sparing lives, as Morgan has done with the dangerous Wolves, may have consequences in the Alexandria community, James says. “What may well have been a good decision for him when he was alone may not be a good decision for the rest of the (survivors’) group and other Alexandrians.”

The Arrow/Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) in CW’s Arrow (Wednesdays, 8 p.m. ET/PT)

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Stephen Amell plays the title character in the CW series, 'Arrow.' (Photo: Diyah Pera, The CW)

A bow and a quiver of arrows are hardly the only tools Star City’s hero has in his fight against evil. His fighting skills, many learned during his years on a remote island, include Eskrima, Muay Thai, Wing Chun, Jiu Jitsu and boxing.

Arrow’s skill set has global roots, fight/stunt coordinator James Banford says. “The countries of origin for Oliver's training ranges from China to Japan, Philippines, Russia, Thailand.”

Sun Bak (Doona Bae) of Netflix’s Sense8 (renewed for Season 2)

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Doona Bae, right, plays Sun Bak in Netflix's 'Sense8.' (Photo: Murray Close, Netflix)

Sun Bak is one of eight characters from around the world who find themselves mentally connected after experiencing a violent vision. They must figure out what happened, and why, as they evade an organization trying to capture them.

Bae began her martial arts training in Korea with Doo-Hung Jung, who designed Sun’s Hapkido variation, which includes a range of attack and defense styles.

Marco Polo cast (Netflix, Season 2 on its way)

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Olivia Cheng, in white, plays Mei Lin in Netflix's 'Marco Polo.' (Photo: Phil Bray, Netflix)

Martial arts are a group endeavor in the story of explorer Marco Polo (Lorenzo Richelmy) in 13th-century China. Jia Sidao (Chin Han) practices Mantis-style Kung Fu; blind monk Hundred Eyes (Tom Wu) displays a compilation of styles that series creator John Fusco calls Golden Lotus; and Mei Lin (Olivia Cheng) shows her skill with Tai Chi as well as the sword.

Kato (Bruce Lee) in ABC’s The Green Hornet (1967-68)

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Martial arts legend Bruce Lee, right, played Kato in the 1960s TV series, 'The Green Hornet.' (Photo: Silver Screen Collection, Getty Images)

The Green Hornet only lasted one season, but it helped launch the entertainment career of martial arts legend Lee, who played valet and crime-fighting partner, Kato.

Lee, who studied Wing Chun and developed a personal martial-arts philosophy, Jeet Kune Do, went on to a feature-film career that included Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon before he died at 32 in 1973.

Wu lists Lee as one of his idols. “He was amazing. He was able to incorporate his philosophies about life into his martial arts, into his acting. He had this tremendous charisma.”

[doug maverick]

I'm excited for this show(btw yes gene i am back on the forums..lol) its a niche market and niche is good, as the fans will be consistent i think the first episode will make a big splash but think the number will be considerably lower moving forward, i just really hope this succeeds.. feels like 98 all over again.

[GeneChing]

Read Daniel Wu on INTO THE BADLANDS (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1265)by me and get a sneak peak at our next cover. :cool:

Good to have you back, Doug! A lot happening in martial media nowadays and your input here is very welcome.

[GeneChing]

Read mine first tho. The one on the previous post. ;)


Into the Badlands puts gritty, stylized martial arts back on the small screen (http://www.ew.com/article/2015/11/13/into-the-badlands-daniel-wu-amc-preview)
Star Daniel Wu talks training actors with zero fighting experience, and what it means to bring back a 'kung fu' show — this time with an Asian actor in the lead
BY SHIRLEY LI • @SHIRKLESXP

http://www.ew.com/sites/default/files/styles/tout_image_612x380/public/i/2015/11/12/into-the-badlands.jpg?itok=_WSb5axS
(James Minchin III/AMC)
Into the Badlands
Posted November 13 2015 — 11:00 AM EST

In the distant future, seven powerful barons have risen out of a dystopian world to recreate a feudal society. In this feudal society, guns have been banned, but swords and spears and white-knuckled fighting are fair game. The barons use assassins named “clippers” to enforce their laws and to protect the resources they control. That law includes the fact that clippers may not start their own family, having devoted their lives to killing.

Got all that? The premise of Into the Badlands, AMC’s highly stylized martial arts drama, sounds far-fetched, but according to executive producer Alfred Gough, who along with EP Miles Millar helmed Smallville, the complexity of the idea is exactly what they wanted in the series. “We remain purposefully vague,” he says, noting that the concept spun out of wanting to do a martial arts series but also ground it in an original, compelling world. “My joke to AMC is that once zombies are done, this is kind of what happens. Zombies led to kung fu.”

And yet, for a kung fu show, it’s the kung fu part that proved to be the biggest challenge. Not only did the series require a separate fight unit to choreograph the impressive sequences, but the producers wanted a team that would be able to create film-level fighting for a television show. Because Gough and Millar had written the Jackie Chan-starring Shanghai Noon, the pair knew what it would take, bringing on martial arts coordinator Master Dee Dee, who previously worked on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Matrix, and Kill Bill. “It’s obviously quite an undertaking,” Gough explains, “but in order to have a Hong Kong style to the fights that we wanted, and that authenticity, that’s how we set it up. It was a very busy shoot.”

http://www.ew.com/sites/default/files/1447343501/Into-the-Badlands-02.jpg
Image Credit: Patti Perret/AMC

Just ask Daniel Wu, who stars as the series protagonist, a clipper named Sunny. The actor, 41, had to juggle filming fight sequences with acting and producing. Having practiced martial arts for 30 years and filmed dozens of Hong Kong films in his career, Wu had no trouble with the former, even though at one point while filming a fight, he cracked a rib — which he says wasn’t too big of a deal. “I had a lot of Advil,” he says with a laugh. “It was quite grueling to do fight scenes that would normally take three weeks and cram them into a six-day schedule.” Besides, he adds, Master Dee Dee and the fight unit had to train much of the cast, as most of the actors had no martial arts experience when they joined the series. “We had to go from zero to making them look like experts on screen,” Wu says. To do so, production spent six weeks training the actors for eight hours each day, teaching basic moves, fighting using a range of weapons, and wirework.

Among the newbies, 16-year-old Aramis Knight, who plays M.K., impressed Wu the most. The young actor quickly picked up the flashier wirework moves, including backflips and back handsprings. “He did them with pure confidence and landed them perfectly,” Wu recalls. “I mean, it’s impossible to turn anybody into an expert in six weeks no matter how hard you train, but you just have to know to give them what they need, to give them the tools they need to be able to perform.”

And judging by what’s on screen, that training has produced some eye-popping, intense fights. Wu’s clipper character fights enemies in the rain in one episode, bulls through more than 30 attackers in another, and, Wu teases, will face off in an epic battle against The Widow (Emily Beecham, below), a ruthless female baron, in which the pair tear through an armory and pick up various weapons to wield. Naturally, all that fighting makes the series pretty bloody. “I think the visual effects crew was pouring a lot of blood around,” Wu says. “Literally gallons on set.”

http://www.ew.com/sites/default/files/1447343501/Into-the-Badlands-03.jpg
Image Credit: James Dimmock/AMC

With all that said, Into the Badlands won’t just be six episodes of gory martial arts sequences, as visually striking as they are. Sunny begins the story as a hardened warrior, but after he meets M.K. and learns of his lover’s pregnancy, he aches to leave the brutal life of the baron-run society behind. “It’s about a journey to enlightenment,” Gough explains. “It’s a godless world, and M.K. and Sunny are going to go on this journey. At its core, it’s a show about these two people.”

It’s also a show that centers on an Asian character played by an Asian actor — a fact Wu acknowledges, but doesn’t think should be the takeaway of the show, even if Into the Badlands adds diversity into the TV landscape. “I’m not the kind of person to pull the race card, just because I think the quality of the show is what matters most,” he says. But, he adds, the story of how Bruce Lee’s idea for the 1970s series Kung Fu was allegedly taken from him (and cast a Caucasian actor as the lead) is one that has stuck with Wu throughout his career. “There was always a sad feeling about the truth of that show, which is that America at that time could not accept an Asian actor in the lead role of a television show,” Wu says. “And what I’m proud of is we’re able to right that wrong. It’s sad that it’s taken over 40 years for that to happen, but I’m glad that that’s happening.” In other words, Wu hopes the show can kick some ass — both on screen and off.

Into the Badlands premieres Sunday at 10 p.m. ET on AMC.

[Dragonzbane76]

just finished watching opening episode and was impressed. The fight scenes were theater quality. Very well done. Looking forward to seeing more.

[Jimbo]

I watched it last night. I agree that the fights are very well-done for a TV series. It will be interesting to see how the series develops. Hopefully it will be around long enough and develop a good following.

[Dragonzbane76]

agree jimbo, downfall of most MA's types of things is lack of storyline and development of characters. See what happens with this.

[GeneChing]

http://images.amcnetworks.com/amc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ITB_101_Platform_1920x1080.jpg

Season 1, Episode 1 (http://www.amc.com/shows/into-the-badlands/full-episodes/season-01/episode-01/the-fort) 93 days left
The Fort
The Badlands’ deadliest Clipper, Sunny, rescues a mysterious boy, M.K., who harbors a dark secret, but may also know the way out of the Badlands.
Full Episode

NO LOGIN REQUIRED

For those without AMC access, AMC has put it online.

[GeneChing]

‘Into The Badlands’ Ratings: AMC Martial Arts Drama Is Fourth-Biggest Cable TV Premiere Ever (http://www.ibtimes.com/badlands-ratings-amc-martial-arts-drama-fourth-biggest-cable-tv-premiere-ever-2188633)
By Oriana Schwindt @schwindter O.Schwindt@ibtimes.com on November 17 2015 2:49 PM EST

http://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibtimes.com/files/styles/v2_article_large/public/2015/11/12/badlands.jpg
Sunny (Daniel Wu, pictured) is a deadly warrior in a dangerous world in "Into the Badlands" Season 1. AMC

AMC’s launch strategy for martial arts drama “Into the Badlands” appears to have paid off: The show’s post-“The Walking Dead” debut brought in about 6.4 million total viewers and 4.06 million in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic. It’s the biggest launch of the fall season in that all-important demo, smacking down not only new cable shows like FX’s “The ******* Executioner” but also NBC’s “Blindspot,” which grabbed the attention of 3.9 million 18-49ers, and CBS’ “Supergirl,” which notched about the same. (The total “Supergirl” audience is still tops, though, with just shy of 13 million.)

It’s a very promising start for AMC's non-spinoff series, though below the monster 8 million demo viewers of its newbie predecessor, “Fear the Walking Dead.” “Fear,” of course, had the advantage of being touted as a prequel to one of TV’s biggest hits (“The Walking Dead”). “Badlands” had to keep “Dead”’s audience intrigued while introducing an entirely new world to viewers. (Having your show’s protagonist dispatch more than half a dozen foes before the title sequence seems like an effective way of achieving that goal.) It’s also the fourth-best cable series debut ever in the demo, behind “Fear” and “Breaking Bad” spinoff “Better Call Saul.” USA’s 2002 drama “The Dead Zone” is, weirdly, No. 3.

“Badlands” followed a “Walking Dead” (original flavor) that was up about 5 percent from last Sunday’s episode, according to Nielsen ratings. The next two episodes will also air after “Walking Dead,” before the latter goes on hiatus until 2016, and the real test of “Badlands”’ audience will begin. Still, the network can comfortably pop some wheelies today.

AMC won’t have an official comment until ratings for Sunday night plus the next three days have been counted, as is standard procedure these days for many cable networks.

Season two, here we come!

[GeneChing]

I hope it kicks up our shares too. And by 'our' I mean all of Kung Fu (http://www.martialartsmart.com/kung-fu-tai-chi-shaolin-styles.html). ;)

Kung Fu Thriller Could Kick Up AMC Shares (http://www.barrons.com/articles/kung-fu-thriller-could-kick-up-amc-shares-1448083784)
“Into the Badlands” looks like a hit for AMC. Together with “The Walking Dead,” it could help boost the shares 20%
November 21, 2015

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/ON-BO169_foloku_D_20151120213255.jpg

AMC Networks has diversified beyond biting into kicking and swordplay. Last weekend, zombie thriller The Walking Dead brought in 12.9 million viewers, up 3% from the prior week, and 6.4 million of them stuck around for the debut of Into the Badlands, which looks a little like Kung Fu with a sprinkling of Mad Max and The Hunger Games. That gives Badlands one of the strongest cable starts ever.

Shares of AMC Networks (ticker: AMCX) are up a quick 12%, to just over $80, since we recommended them two months ago (“A New Zombie Outbreak Could Lift AMC,” Sept. 7). Readers should stick with them, for three reasons. First, they remain about 10% cheaper than the broad Standard & Poor’s 500 index, with better earnings growth potential. Second, the reason they’re not more expensive is the network’s heavy reliance on The Walking Dead, which increasingly looks like a nice problem to have. Not only is the show still going strong, but an offshoot that ran from August to October, Fear the Walking Dead had the highest-rated first season in cable history. Earnings per share for AMC are expected to jump 39% this year to just over $5. And next year, Fear runs for 15 episodes, up from six this year.

Third, AMC has an excellent shot at coming up with another breakout hit. It’s too early to say on Badlands. Maybe it’s Better Call Saul, the Breaking Bad spinoff, which averaged nearly six million viewers in its first season this year and returns next year. Maybe it’s Preacher, a cult comic book that comes to screen next summer featuring gunfighters, an Irish vampire, cannibals, and someone named Arseface. Seth Rogen is a co-writer.

A new hit could lift the stock from 16 times earnings to 17 times which, based on next year’s recently raised consensus of $5.69 a share, would mean a 20% rise from here to about $97.

-- Jack Hough

E-mail: editors@barrons.com

[GeneChing]

Limited time offer from AMC


http://images.amcnetworks.com/amc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ITB_102_Platform_1920x1080.jpg

Season 1, Episode 2 85 days left
Fist Like a Bullet (http://www.amc.com/shows/into-the-badlands/full-episodes/season-01/episode-02/fist-like-a-bullet)
M.K. finds refuge in an unlikely and dangerous place, while Sunny’s loyalty is tested when Quinn tries to force him to commit an unspeakable act.
Full Episode

NO LOGIN REQUIRED

[boxerbilly]

Watched 2 episodes. Probably not going to continue to watch this one. Not for me.

[Jimbo]

After seeing the first episode, I've forgotten to watch it anymore. Not that I purposely wanted to miss it, but I just forget, or am occupied with other things. Just based on my impression of what I did see, I hope they develop the characters and the storyline better. Although the fight scenes were good, I didn't find any of the characters relatable, or even interesting. Maybe it's developed since then.

[GeneChing]

...and Emily Beecham.


How Martial Arts Influenced Emily Beecham’s American Debut (http://www.backstage.com/interview/how-martial-arts-influenced-emily-beechams-american-debut/)
By Benjamin Lindsay | Posted Nov. 17, 2015, 11 a.m.

http://cdn-media.backstage.com/files/media/uploads/zinnia/Spotlight_On_1111_Ross_Ferguson2.jpg.300x450_q100. jpg
Photo Source: Ross Ferguson

It’s not just Brit actor Emily Beecham’s looks that kill. As the Widow in AMC’s postapocalyptic epic “Into the Badlands,” she mastered mixed martial arts, making one hell of an entrance in her American debut.

On playing the Widow.
“The Badlands is run by barons, and she is one of the few female barons. [It’s] a very ruthless, violent world. Guns are banned, so people fight with martial arts. She’s an amazingly skilled martial arts fighter as well as a feminist figure. She fights and stands up for herself, and this aggravates a lot of the other barons who want to keep this system of the Badlands running the way it is. She rocks the boat.”

On bringing a feminist to the screen.
“Women don’t really have much of a voice in this world. It’s largely a male-dominated environment, and the Widow has had to fight against that. She’s a really exciting character and it’s very relevant to today. Gender and sexual violence is touched upon in the show.”

On working in America.
“I’m actually half-American, so I’m surprised I didn’t come out sooner. [Coming here] was very natural. I really like it. They make a lot of bold projects here on television. The budgets here are a lot bigger. The scale of it—there’s so much more potential. It looks a lot more filmic. You can do a lot of bold things, a lot of big productions.”

On training for “Into the Badlands.”
“We did a five-week martial arts training before the shoot. I booked the job about four months before we shot, so it was quite a long time in advance. We had a lot of time to prepare. I went to LAMDA, which is a drama school in London, and we did a lot of combat there. I was quite good at all that. I had done a lot of dance before and I’m quite flexible, so we had to be able to increase our flexibility and our muscle strength during the training. It’s visually amazing, the fight choreography. It’s very inventive.”

On keeping her character grounded.
“[You have] to understand what it is that she wants and her context in the whole world—where she stands. One of our first questions when we first started was the social and economic situation of the whole world. How did we get here? What do we want? How has life changed? So that was the first challenge, just to make it real for myself and to understand what context everything was in and how my character felt and what her history was. She has quite a dark history. She’s made a lot of sacrifices in her life to get to where she is.



A quick Q&A with The Widow from AMC's hot new show! (http://www.channel24.co.za/TV/News/a-quick-qa-with-the-widow-from-amcs-hot-new-show-20151126)
2015-11-26 07:03

http://cdn.24.co.za/files/Cms/General/d/928/5c9e4467182d4e44b5821359fa652156.jpg
Emily Beecham is The Widow! (AMC)

Cape Town – AMC’s new martial arts drama, Into the Badlands is an instant hit.
A whopping 8.1 million viewers tuned in to its debut in the US which was simultaneously screened across the globe.
South Africans don't have to miss out on the action as it screens within minutes of the US screening on Monday at 04:10 on AMC (DStv 140). There is a repeat screening during primetime at 20:00.
Set in a devastated future world controlled by powerful feudal barons, Into the Badlands tells the story of a ruthless warrior and a young boy who embark on a spiritual odyssey.
The Badlands is divided among seven rival Barons who control the resources.
The land’s newest Baron, The Widow (Emily Beecham), has become a thorn in the side of the other Barons.
We had a quick chat with Emily about her role, those insane fighting scenes and what it’s like to kick ass in stilettos!

http://cdn.24.co.za/files/Cms/General/d/887/766efc8e5fef49418d0af090f43618c8.jpg

Will you tell me a bit more about your character, The Widow.
The Widow is a very strong character. She has faced a lot of obstacles and adversity to get to where she is. She is an incredibly skilled martial artist fighter. She claimed the title of baroness after murdering her husband and son. She is fighting for the equality of both men and women. She is an idealist and wants to change the system, which means she’s going to throw a spanner in the works and cause lots of trouble for the other barons.

What attracted you to the role of The Widow when you first read the script?
She came across as a very strong, unusual and inventive character. I have never read a character like that before. I immediately felt like I knew how I wanted to play her and how I wanted her to look. She was a warrior and a trailblazer and she was a really exciting character to me. She didn’t play up her sexuality she wasn’t searching for admiration but she used her sexuality as a tool much like a weapon in order to manipulate and try to get to where she wanted to be. I liked that she was such a strong leader.

Have you had any previous martial arts training? How did you train for the role?
The training was very intense! It was over five weeks and five days a week. We worked on our flexibility and our strength and we were taught how to use weapons. The Widow’s weapons are daggers and katanas, I specifically worked with them.

You kick ass in heels and wield knives, how much practice went into perfecting that?
(Laughs) I had some stilettos that I occasionally practiced in. But I it tried to avoid it because I thought it would be a very bad idea if I broke my ankle before shooting started. I generally wore the heels when they were in shot but if I could get away with it I would cheat and wear flats. It was really a challenge to fight in heels but it was easier spinning in the heels because you are on your toes. I practiced my knife skills with blunt daggers, I was constantly wielding them around on set.

http://cdn.24.co.za/files/Cms/General/d/889/fcba2992eec04dcdb275d231362469af.jpg

If you could have one of The Widow's attributes what would it be?
Her savvy leadership qualities!

Describe the show in three words.
Wild, rock ‘n roll, fantastical!

What do you hope viewers will take away from Into the Badlands?
I think a lot of people will want to do martial arts after they see the show. People will see it as a beautiful art, and hopefully they will be inspired to take it up as a sport. I think the show is set to have somewhat of a cult following.


‘Into the Badlands’ Star Emily Beecham on Fight Scenes: ‘All the Sweat Is Completely Real’ (http://www.thewrap.com/into-the-badlands-star-emily-beecham-on-fight-scenes-all-the-sweat-is-completely-real/)
TV | By Joe Otterson on November 29, 2015 @ 10:00 am Follow @JoeOtterson

http://www.thewrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/into-the-badlands-emily-beecham.jpg
Patti Perrett/AMC

“It gives it that rough edginess that I think makes it feel more real,” The Widow tells TheWrap
(Spoiler alert: Please do not read on if you haven’t watched Sunday’s episode of “Into the Badlands”)
Emily Beecham, who plays The Widow on “Into the Badlands,” wants fans to rest assured that the fighting on the AMC show is more realistic than they realize.
“All the sweat is completely real,” Beecham told TheWrap of the show that films in Louisiana, a state well known for its humid conditions. “It gives it that rough edginess that I think makes it feel more real.”
Beecham enjoys her role on the martial arts-heavy series, but admits that she had no prior fighting training before being cast on the show.
See video: New 'Into the Badlands' Clip Promises Epic Swordfight Between The Widow, Quinn (Exclusive)
“It was a completely new experience for me,” she said. “I’ve never done action before. I had a small bit of stage combat training at my drama school but it was a very different, very slow medieval style.”
She credits action unit director Stephen Fung, well known for his work in Hong Kong cinema, with preparing her and others in the cast for the show’s intense fight scenes. However, some of the moves required extra effort. Episode 2 opens with The Widow engaging in a massive brawl at a bar that includes some pretty acrobatic maneuvers on her part.
“I found the back bend stab really difficult, because you need really good stomach muscles for that so it was really challenging,” Beecham said. “And also getting up from the splits and stabbing someone is near impossible, so I had to get wired for that.”
On the show, The Widow is currently plotting how to overthrow Quinn (Marton Csokas), the strongest Baron in the Badlands. She unsuccessfully tried to kill Quinn’s son, Ryder (Oliver Stark), but Sunny (Daniel Wu) and M.K. (Aramis Knight) were able to save him.
How Quinn will respond remains to be seen. But Beecham believes that her character’s greatest asset is not her strength, but her mind.”I think her strength lies in her intelligence and keeping her wits about her and using tactics,” she said. “So that’s how she sort of pulls the rug from under Quinn’s feet.”
“Into the Badlands” airs Sundays after “The Walking Dead” at 10 p.m. on AMC.

She's even hotter in person. :cool:

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/t31.0-8/12140066_10153775292664363_6204286400633477014_o.j pg

[boxerbilly]

...and Emily Beecham.







She's even hotter in person. :cool:

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/t31.0-8/12140066_10153775292664363_6204286400633477014_o.j pg

Rub our faces in it man. Good for you !!!!

[GeneChing]

Then there's this:

https://cdn.abemedia.co.uk/0x1080/fishlove/images/collections/john-swannell/emily-beecham.jpg

[-N-]

Well, I watched 3 episodes.

I tried to like it, but the fight scenes just don't do it for me.


Star Daniel Wu talks training actors with zero fighting experience [...]

The zero experience really shows. There's not much you can do when working with that.

[mickey]

Greetings,

I could not get past 15 minutes of the first episode. I completely lost interest when the boy made a slight move to get away from the protagonist and the guy says something like, :there's nowhere to run to." Immediately I knew that line was incongruous to the protagonis's character given to what already transpired. He should have said something like, "If I have to break something to keep you nearby, I will do it." Not only do I blame the writers of the script, I blame the actors for not really taking the time to study their characters.


mickey

[-N-]

Not only do I blame the writers of the script, I blame the actors for not really taking the time to study their characters.

I can give the writing and acting a pass if the fights are good. But this one misses on all three.

This is about about on par with the overall quality.

http://www.amc.com/shows/into-the-badlands/exclusives/the-world#killing-anchor

Impressive if you are a strip mall mcdojo martial arts student, I suppose. :rolleyes:

[Jimbo]

Sometimes I can excuse defects in acting and storyline if the fights are good, but other times I can't. Even many of the lowest-budgeted old-school independent kung fu movies of the 70s had someone you could root for or against. Somebody had to be interesting enough for whatever reason, whether protagonist or villain, enough to care either way.

In the case of Into the Badlands, as far as what I saw, I simply couldn't care either way. IMO, the whole futuristic post-apocolyptic thing has gotten a bit old. And since this is a series, a character(s) and the story have to be compelling enough to make the viewer care enough to tune in week after week. Otherwise, no matter how well the fights are choreographed, the series will disappear. I just saw a bleak, depressing concept without any characters I could like, or at least relate to or root for. Now, maybe the show has evolved a bit since the first episode. If I can remember to watch, I guess I'll find out.

[GeneChing]

I'm still enjoying it. But then again, I can still smell Emily on my elbow. ;)

Here's episode 3

http://images.amcnetworks.com/amc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ITB_103_Platform_1920x10801.jpg

Season 1, Episode 3 76 days left
White Stork Spreads Wings (http://www.amc.com/shows/into-the-badlands/full-episodes/season-01/episode-03/white-stork-spreads-wings)
As Sunny begins to train M.K., the boy struggles to learn discipline. Meanwhile, Quinn seeks retribution against The Widow and faces the consequences.

[mickey]

Greetings,

Gene,

About your facial expression with the redhead. Was it the food?


mickey

[Jimbo]

Gene,

I actually hope that the show succeeds. It's only like what?...one of only 2 or 3 shows in this country with an east Asian male lead, and of those, the only one who's manly. The other Asian male images are nerdy, except for Daniel Dae Kim on Hawaii Five-O, but he's only a supporting character (he really should be the lead, since he and his character are far more interesting than the leading actors who play McGarrett and Dano). Even today, there are so relatively few opportunities for Asian male actors in Hollywood, especially as leading men. If Into the Badlands doesn't succeed, who knows when another opportunity for such a leading character will ever come up (anybody remember Vanishing Son or Martial Law)?

[-N-]

I'm still enjoying it. But then again, I can still smell Emily on my elbow. ;)

She's a hottie :)


Gene,

I actually hope that the show succeeds. It's only like what?...one of only 2 or 3 shows in this country with an east Asian male lead, and of those, the only one who's manly. The other Asian male images are nerdy, except for Daniel Dae Kim on Hawaii Five-O [...]

Yep. Not expecting much though.

And on the kung fu skills, or lack thereof - lots of actors with no background can be made to look good.

Zhang Zi Yi, Maggie Cheung, Michelle Yeoh, Chow Yun Fat, Wu Chun did fine.

So the Badlands actors trained for 6 weeks. Zhang Zi Yi trained for 6 months for The Grandmaster.

http://www.wsj.com/video/zhang-ziyi-kung-fu-fighter/19697878-D141-43C2-8A45-9400B1D6EB23.html

The attention to detail shows both in the skill, choreography, and filming.

Emily Beechum makes a point about big bold production approach in America. I think that carries over to the detriment of the fight scenes - big, bold, but superficial.

[boxerbilly]

I am with Jimbo. It is the story and acting. Maybe the director. They often kill actors ability. Some times that is for the best. Other times big mistake.

I had not even considered the lack of Asian male leads in Hollywood. True. That is a shame. I think Hollywood should sheep dip actors from Asia since they have so many great ones there. Start there anyway. But in the past , it has not always worked out well. It may be again, the directors. Or just different approaches and things get lost on the crossover.

I always hoped Robert Ito would have got his own show back when I was a boy. He was a ballet dancer too. I like ballet.

[Jimbo]

Billy,

They could get actors from Asia, but there are already quite a few very good Asian-American actors right here already. If they can best fit the role, IMO they should get first priority. And interestingly enough, a number of the actors in Asia (Hong Kong/China, S. Korea, etc.) are either American (or Canadian)-born, or at least had grown up in the States/Canada. Into the Badlands' Daniel Wu is originally from the Bay Area. Other notables include Andy On, Philip Ng, and even Donnie Yen (who was born overseas but grew up in Boston). These are only a few examples. There are some Asian-American actors who started out here, but do a higher percentage of their work overseas (some have relocated overseas, some have not) in order to get work, or better work. And the latter type are not always MA-related actors.

[GeneChing]

Actually, I haven't seen it yet myself. :o I won't get the chance to catch it for a few more days. This is a great formula for success of the series with us martial artist fans - have guest martial artists do cameos and reoccurring roles in the show.

As for the series success, well, like I alluded to here and in my coverage on this, it's all about China and season 2. And I just got news that it has succeeded on both fronts.


AMC's 'Into the Badlands' Sells to Chinese Streamer LeTV (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/amcs-badlands-sells-chinese-streamer-845398)

http://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/675x380/2015/11/into_the_badlands.jpg
"Into the Badlands"

by Patrick Brzeski 12/3/2015 4:12am PST
The postapocalyptic martial arts drama stars Chinese actor Daniel Wu and is loosely based on a beloved Chinese classic novel.

Entertainment One (eOne) has licensed AMC's Into the Badlands to LeTV in China. The postapocalyptic martial arts drama, loosely based on the beloved and oft-adapted Chinese classic novel Journey to the West, will launch on LeTV's streaming video services in early 2016.

"We're delighted to partner with LeTV, one of the largest online platforms in China, to bring this blockbuster series to the Chinese audience," said eOne regional sales director Ben Bishop.

In addition to Mainland China, eOne has licensed Into the Badlands to AMC Global in over 125 countries, including regions throughout Asia, Benelux, Latin America, Central Europe and Spain, as well as to Foxtel in Australia, SoHo in New Zealand and CMore in Scandinavia.

Set in a devastated future world controlled by powerful feudal barons, Into the Badlands tells the story of a ruthless warrior, Sunny (Daniel Wu, a major star in mainland China), and a young boy, M.K. (Aramis Knight, The Dark Knight Rises), who embark on a spiritual odyssey across a dangerous land.

Created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the series debuted on AMC in the U.S. as television’s highest-rated series premiere this fall among adults ages 18-49 in live/same day ratings.


From Daniel Wu's facebook (https://www.facebook.com/wuyanzu/?fref=nf):

Into The Badlands has been renewed for a second season. So fans, please continue to support the show as well as you have. Things like voting on IMDB help a lot, so thanks fans!


Greetings,

Gene,

About your facial expression with the redhead. Was it the food?


mickey
Um, it was the open bar. Needed a few shots of Johnny Walker Black to chat up those starlets. :o

Here's EP 4

http://images.amcnetworks.com/amc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/into-the-badlands-mk-knight-sunny-wu-quinn-csokas-104-Post-1920x1080.jpg

Season 1, Episode 4 73 days left
Two Tigers Subdue Dragons (http://www.amc.com/shows/into-the-badlands/full-episodes/season-01/episode-04/two-tigers-subdue-dragons)
Sunny and M.K. try to figure out how to control the boy’s power, while Quinn sets a dangerous parlay with a rival Baron to help fight The Widow.
Full Episode

[GeneChing]

Again from Daniel Wu's facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/wuyanzu/?fref=nf) (looks like he's got someone posting for him who messed up :o)

[LL] Hi everyone!
So I made a mistake earlier about how the show was renewed. That information was incorrect! I am sorry, because that information will be announced appropriately. I made that assumption because, like you, I'm a big fan of the show and Daniel (so I just automatically thought it was, but I was wrong!).
Your feedback has been much appreciated. If anything, it just shows how passionate the fan base has been.
-Lyon

[GeneChing]

I was told Cung had a cameo in the series at the premiere. And then a pic of Cung came up on Daniel Wu's instagram:

thatdanielwu (https://www.instagram.com/p/-66w75PCA0/?taken-by=thatdanielwu)

Anyone know who this guy is? @cungle185 was kicking ass in sanda while I was competing in wushu more than 20 years ago. I would try and catch his fights in between my events. He was the first person I ever saw use a scissor kick take down in competition. He's also is in #intothebadlands. Episode 4 coming up in 2 days! Make sure you check it out! #AMC #UFC #mma

Maybe it's the 5th episode? Maybe the finale? :confused:

[GeneChing]

http://images.amcnetworks.com/amc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/ITB_105_Platform_v2_1920x1080.jpg

Season 1, Episode 5 65 days left
Snake Creeps Down (http://www.amc.com/shows/into-the-badlands/full-episodes/season-01/episode-05/snake-creeps-down)
As Sunny secures his escape from the Fort, Quinn grows suspicious, while The Widow’s decisions set her on a collision course with Sunny and M.K.



RATINGS: AMC’S “INTO THE BADLANDS” DECLINES THIS WEEK (http://headlineplanet.com/home/2015/12/15/ratings-amcs-into-the-badlands-slips-this-week/)
BY BRIAN CANTOR
15 DEC 2015

It dropped this week, but "Into The Badlands" remained solid from a competitive standpoint.

In its second week without “The Walking Dead” lead-in support, AMC’s “Into The Badlands” remained strong from a competitive standpoint. It was Sunday night’s #2 original cable program in adults 18-49.

Sunday’s episode did, however, suffer week-to-week losses in adults 18-49 and total viewership.

Per live+same-day Nielsen data, Sunday’s episode drew a 0.96 adults 18-49 rating and 2.209 million total viewers. The numbers trail the 1.06 rating and 2.424 million viewership mark posted by last week’s episode.

Sunday’s episode was the series’ fifth. That's too bad. Ep. 5 had the most amusing fight so far. Sunny vs. the Widow in the dungeon armoury...because every fort keeps its armoury next to its dungeon...but it had swords, morning stars, a guandao (http://www.martialartsmart.com/45-88ss.html) and tiger hooks (http://www.martialartsmart.com/45-007.html), so I was amused.

[Jimbo]

Last night I did something I rarely ever do; I watched TV long enough for a back-to-back Into the Badlands marathon, up through the season finale with Cung Le. All in all, I have to admit that, IMO, the show seemed to have improved a bit over the debut episode, as well as the fights. There was enough to hold my interest, at least. However, I don't get the impression that the series will be long-running.

Plot-wise, it's still basically a post-apocalyptic mob story. Everybody only out for themselves, and out to get everybody else, including whacking one's own allies. Everybody jockeying to become a baron (or a Don). It's just an ugly world (except for The Widow, lol).

Funny thing is, at first I didn't even recognize Cung Le when he first appeared. Good work. As in some of his work in movies, Cung can look very imposing onscreen.

[GeneChing]

The Cover Story, INTO THE BADLANDS with Daniel Wu (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=1275) by Gene Ching, from our JANUARY+FEBRUARY 2016 issue (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=1269) is online.

[GeneChing]

Will there be a Season 2? I hope so.


'Into the Badlands' Season 2 News: AMC Has High Possibilities Of Another Season In 2016? (http://www.breathecast.com/articles/into-the-badlands-season-2-news-amc-has-high-possibilities-of-another-season-in-2016-32113/)
John LandichoJan 01, 2016 06:59 PM EST

http://cdn.breathecast.com/data/images/full/31066/820_790534884390829_6662895826912081327_n-jpg.jpg?w=600

The very first season of "Into The Badlands" has impressed a lot of people as it was considered as one of the "best new series of 2015." AMC's new series is looking to take things to a higher level as they highly consider another season which will air in 2016.

According to Tech Times, the show averaged "viewers of 3.2 million adults 19 to 49 and 3.3 million adults 25 to 54." The season finale did a good job as well, getting around 3.6 million viewers. It's a good job for the show and the network but the possible next season would be a good opportunity to turn that "good" into a "great."

While the numbers aren't good enough yet to be compared to "The Walking Dead" or "Fear The Walking Dead," the show ranked 3rd highest among all the freshman series on any network on cable ("Fear The Walking Dead" is at the No. 2 spot and the No. 1 belongs to "Better Call Saul," AMC's prequel to "Breaking Bad."). That alone should convince the network executives to push through with another season.

"'Into the Badlands' was built to be entertaining, action-packed television, and this team delivered. We're very appreciative of the many millions of fans who have joined us in the Badlands each week," AMC President Charlie Collier said according to Tech Times.

"Into the Badlands" aired its pilot episode on November 15, 2015. It got a score of 51 percent from Rotten Tomatoes while getting an average audience score of 85 percent. It also has a score of 8.3/10 from the International Movie Database.

[GeneChing]

‘Into the Badlands’ Renewed for Season 2 at AMC (http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/into-the-badlands-renewed-season-2-amc-1201725696/)
News Editor Laura Prudom

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/itb_presskitspread3_v12.jpg?w=670&h=377&crop=1
'Into the Badlands' Renewed Season 2 COURTESY AMC

MARCH 8, 2016 | 01:43PM PT
AMC has renewed martial arts drama “Into the Badlands” for Season 2, the cabler announced Tuesday.

The drama will return for a 10-episode second season that is slated to premiere on AMC in 2017.

The show delivered the third highest-rated first season in U.S. cable TV history, averaging 5.6 million viewers per episode.

“With its deep dive into authentic martial arts, the visually stunning ‘Into the Badlands’ proved to be unlike anything else on television,” said Charlie Collier, president of AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios. “Co-creators and showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar, along with a talented team of producers, cast and crew, brought us an artfully crafted series. We’re eager to return to the world of barons and blades and spend even more time with these compelling and evolving characters across an expanded second season.”

“We can’t imagine any other network bold enough to embrace a show like this,” said Gough and Millar in a statement. “We are incredibly grateful to Charlie, Joel and the entire AMC team for taking this leap of faith with us and we look forward to continuing the journey into the Badlands!”

AMC Global will once again premiere Season 2 within minutes of the show’s U.S. broadcast in markets around the world, as it did with Season 1, which aired in 125 countries simultaneous with its U.S. broadcast.

From AMC Studios, “Into the Badlands” was created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, who serve as showrunners, writers and executive producers. It’s executive produced by Stacey Sher and Michael Shamberg, director David Dobkin, fight director Stephen Fung and Daniel Wu.

“Into the Badlands” stars Wu as Sunny; Marton Csokas as Quinn; Aramis Knight as M.K.; Oliver Stark as Ryder; Emily Beecham as The Widow; Orla Brady as Lydia; Sarah Bolger as Jade; Ally Ioannides as Tilda; and Madeleine Mantock as Veil.

I'm so relieved. It would have sucked if we went with that cover story (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=1269) for a one-season wonder. :cool:

[-N-]

“With its deep dive into authentic martial arts, the visually stunning ‘Into the Badlands’ proved to be unlike anything else on television,”

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[GeneChing]

This haas always been the underlying intention of this show - penetrate new markets.


Into the Badlands Licensed into 260-Plus Territories (http://worldscreen.com/tvdrama/into-the-badlands-licensed-into-260-plus-territories/)
Kristin Brzoznowski 35 mins ago
SPI International

LONDON/LOS ANGELES: Entertainment One (eOne) has placed the martial arts drama Into the Badlands into more than 260 territories around the world, including deals with Amazon in the U.K. and Germany and HBO in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

Further sales include to Universum Film for Austria, Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland; Viacom in Italy; and TV2 in Norway. eOne previously licensed the AMC Studios drama to LeTV in China, Foxtel in Australia, SoHo in New Zealand and CMore in Scandinavia, as well as to AMC Global in over 125 countries, including regions throughout Asia, Benelux, Latin America, Central Europe and Spain.

The announcement comes on the heels of AMC’s renewal of the series for a ten-episode second season. eOne handles the international distribution in all media for Into the Badlands through its exclusive multiyear output agreement with AMC Networks for all original scripted series.

“The overwhelming global interest in this series has been incredible, it is a testament to the superb writing and talent,” said Stuart Baxter, the president of eOne Television International. “We’re delighted the series has been renewed for season two and look forward to providing buyers with more gripping episodes that will keep their audiences tuning in.”

“With incredible martial arts and compelling characters, Into the Badlands is an innovative and visually stunning drama that complements the strong lineup of original series being produced by AMC Studios,” added Charlie Collier, the president of AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios. “We’re pleased the first season resonated so strongly with global audiences and look forward to continuing our partnership with eOne to bring more of this distinctive series to viewers worldwide.”

[GeneChing]

Martial arts drama 'Into the Badlands' adds LaToya Morgan (https://www.yahoo.com/news/martial-arts-drama-badlands-adds-latoya-morgan-144839763.html)
AFP Relax News
•June 28, 2016

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/_2tpWAP9otDBB7HJSDXg3g--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9MTI4MDtoPTk2MDtpbD 1wbGFuZQ--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_US/News/US-AFPRelax/_into_the_badla.f1d6f135726.original.jpg
'Into the Badlands' series poster

AMC's second season of "Into the Badlands" is gaining Image Award-nominated writer LaToya Morgan as work continues on the 2017 show.

Morgan most recently collaborated with AMC on "Turn: Washington's Spies," for which Episode 2 of Season 3, "False Flag," won her a NAACP Image Award nod.

She also has credits on "American Horror Story: The Orderly," dramatic comedy "Shameless," and crime thriller "Complications"; future projects include a biopic of civil rights icon Angela Davis, as Deadline reports.

The first season of "Into the Badlands" starred Daniel Wu of action film "New Police Story," Emily Beecham ("Hail, Caesar,") Orla Brady ("Wuthering Heights,") Sarah Bolger ("The Tudors,") and Aramis Knight ("Teen Wolf.")

It was nominated for Best Genre Series at February 2016's Satellite Awards ceremony.

It's funny that they credited Daniel Wu with New Police Story (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?34146-Jackie-Chan-s-NEW-POLICE-STORY) and not Warcraft (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69449-Warcraft). :rolleyes:

[GeneChing]

...if it happens. :rolleyes:



'Into the Badlands' Season 2 spoilers: 'Kung Fu Yoga' star Jackie Chan to make special appearance? (http://en.yibada.com/articles/169763/20161026/badlands-season-2-spoilers-kung-fu-yoga-jackie-chan.htm)
Maolen E. | Oct 26, 2016 08:34 AM EDT

http://images.en.yibada.com/data/thumbs/full/134356/685/0/0/0/jackie-chan-arrives-at-a-press-conference-and-photocall-for-bleeding-steel-at-sydney-opera-house-on-july-28-2016-in-sydney-australia.jpg
Jackie Chan arrives at a press conference and photocall for Bleeding Steel at Sydney Opera House on July 28, 2016 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo : Getty Images/Brendon Thorne)

Production is underway for AMC's "Into the Badlands" Season 2. Latest spoiler hint at the potential cameo appearance of legendary actor Jackie Chan, 62, in the AMC series.
Hong Kong-American actor Daniel Wu, 42, recently talked about his "Into the Badlands" character. In particular, he gave a light on what Sunny is like and what does the tattoo marks on his back speaks to.
"Sunny's been brought up from a slave child to become this killer," Wu told BT.com. "He knew that in his world, he had to excel at what he did and that's what he did. Up until the story starts, he kind of had an unwavering loyalty to his barren, Quinn."
Wu added Sunny's 404 tattoo marks on his back represents the total number of individuals he successfully killed. However, his world starts to change when Veil (Madeleine Mantock) becomes pregnant. In order to survive, the pair needs to escape the Badlands, a ruthless region controlled by medieval noblemen.
The "Overheard 3" actor goes ahead to say that they will try to ask the "Kung Fu Yoga" actor to make a special appearance in the upcoming episodes. The latter was Wu's manager for 11-years.
"He did help us promote us show with a viral video when we first started the first season," Wu added. "And he made a little clip about how he was disappointed that he wasn't involved, so maybe we'll try and get him involved at a certain point!"
Premiered on Nov. 15, 2015, "Into the Badlands" Season 1 delivered the third highest-rated show in American cable TV history, Deadline reported. The AMC series averaged 5.6 million viewers per episode, including 3.4 million adults from ages 18 to 49 in Live+7 ratings.
Due to its immense success, AMC renewed "Into the Badlands" for a 10-episode second season. It is expected to hit the airwaves in early 2017.
Stay tuned for more updates as they arrive. While waiting, check out "Into the Badlands" Season 1 below:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eZ4n0zAup8

[GeneChing]

Into the Badlands’ Emily Beecham takes us behind the scenes of the hit AMC show (http://tv.bt.com/tv/amc-on-bt-tv/into-the-badlands-emily-beecham-takes-us-behind-the-scenes-of-the-hit-amc-show-11364107575343)
Martial arts, wires and guerrilla fight scenes – actress Emily Beecham, who plays The Widow, lets us in on some Into the Badlands secrets.

http://tv.bt.com/images/into-the-badlands-136410536340503901-161014152859.jpg
Last updated: 26 October 2016, 21:19 BST

With complicated fight scenes and martial arts moves, the actors on brand new AMC drama Into the Badlands make incredible stunts look easy.

We wanted to find out a bit more about what goes on behind the scenes, so we caught up with actress Emily Beecham who plays The Widow to give us the inside track…

It's intense

“I’d only done some ballet and yoga before – no martial arts! So it’s intense, but everyone’s very experienced – the fight unit directors and stunt people, so it always looks really great. The fight scenes look very fun, interesting and exciting!”

http://home.bt.com/images/intothebadlands-136410757522502601

It can be dangerous

“There’s a scene in series one where I’m having a sword fight with somebody and it was on very slippery terrain on brick. We were sliding so much we were just going all over the place but managed to pull it off in the end. Goodness knows how!”

It’s inspired by Quentin Tarantino

“I think the fight scenes have a flavour of Tarantino’s fight scenes in that they’re creative, can sometimes be humorous and they’re very stylised and fun. So I think there’s definitely some Tarantino vibes. But in the lead-up to filming I watched a few Kung Fu and martial arts movies and things like that. A lot of Chinese movies with some incredible fight scenes in there. They are athletes those actors – they are really incredible. We weren’t choreographing them until we got onto the set so we just had to go with the flow really – do it in style!”

It’s filmed guerrilla-style

“I didn’t quite know how we were going to shoot the martial arts scenes but it was guerrilla-style. So we had some fight training and got familiar with different weapons and moves and then on the day we were actually taught these fight moves when we’re there. So we’d run through them a couple of times, shoot it and do it full speed and full energy and hope for the best that you don’t hurt anybody!”

It can be genuinely frightening…

“I learnt this sequence and then we go onto the set and I was winched onto a wall. So I’m walking sideways on a wall whilst fighting in this scene and it looks completely different when you’re hanging slightly upside down. So you just have to go for it and hope for the best!”

She plays a character who’s unpopular in the Badlands

http://home.bt.com/images/intothebadlands-136410757528402601

“I play the only female Barren in the Badlands, called The Widow. She’s very strong, determined and has sacrificed her own personal life for this cause which makes her a really interesting and mysterious character.

“She’s always making the decision that you’d least expect and she wants to change the whole system of how the Badlands are run. She fights for the women in the Badlands who don’t really have much of a voice to have equality but she faces a lot of adversity. She hasn’t made a lot of friends in the Badlands… A lot of people don’t really like her at all or what she’s doing!”

Into the Badlands airs on Monday October 24 at 9pm on AMC.

Into the Badlands is available free of charge exclusively in the UK to all BT TV customers on AMC, BT TV 332/381 HD and On Demand.

It is also available for all BT Sport Pack subscribers on Sky Guide channel 192.

'female Barren'? Baroness. :rolleyes:

[GeneChing]

As some of you know, I went to Dublin last week to visit the sets of Into the Badlands Season 2. I'm under embargo until March about that, but AMC just sent me this press release, so I can share this.



Today, AMC released first look photos from season two of its martial arts drama “Into the Badlands.” The series has scored with critics and fans for its immersive world and the artistry of its elaborate fight sequences. The ten episode second season will debut in March of 2017.

Season two of “Into the Badlands” finds Sunny and M.K. separated and scattered to the wind, each imprisoned in unlikely places. While M.K. struggles to control his powers, Sunny is determined to fight his way back into the Badlands to find his family or die trying. On their journey, Clipper and Colt are assisted by mysterious, new allies whose motivations may be anything but pure. Meanwhile, The Widow continues to consolidate power against the other Barons, while a dark and mysterious threat prepares to exact revenge on them all. Alliances are struck, friendships betrayed, and by season's end, Sunny and M.K.'s lives will be forever altered with devastating consequences.

“Into the Badlands” was created by showrunners/executive producers/writers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar and executive produced by Oscar®-nominated producers Stacey Sher and Michael Shamberg, director David Dobkin, fight director Stephen Fung and Daniel Wu. The series stars Wu (Tai Chi Zero) as Sunny; Marton Csokas (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) as Quinn; Aramis Knight (The Dark Knight Rises) as M.K.; Oliver Stark (“Luther”) as Ryder; Emily Beecham (28 Weeks Later) as The Widow; Orla Brady (“Dr. Who,” “Fringe”) as Lydia; Sarah Bolger (“Once Upon a Time,” “The Tudors”) as Jade; Ally Ioannides (“Parenthood”) as Tilda; Madeleine Mantock (Edge of Tomorrow) as Veil; Stephen Lang (Avatar, Don’t Breathe) as Waldo and Nick Frost as Bajie (Shaun of the Dead).

10177
Daniel Wu as Sunny and Nick Frost as Bajie

10178
Daniel Wu as Sunny

10179
Emily Beecham as The Widow

10180
Nick Frost as Bajie

10181
Sarah Bolger as Jade

[GeneChing]

However, this happened last Sunday in Dublin, a week after the AMC set visit. I spent some extra time in Ireland for vacation, and just before I was about to come home, Daniel Wu invited me to join him and the INTO THE BADLANDS fight team for dim sum. It was an honor. Daniel is such a gentleman, and truly exemplifies wude.

https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p526x296/15267641_10207621925048040_8703782290965662084_n.j pg?oh=8e72e01281d4263890319679a4fc1ffc&oe=58B9E86F
Me with Daniel Wu, Stephen Fung, & Master Dee Dee Ku of INTO THE BADLANDS

[GeneChing]

Daniel also invited me out for coffee after dim sum. It's so amusing to me as he is this major Chinese movie star, but when we get talking about Chinese martial arts, he's just like any other practitioner with his enthusiasm and earnestness.


November 18, 2016 Laura Sirikul
Into the Badlands’ Daniel Wu on Sunny’s new journey this season (http://nerdreactor.com/2016/11/18/into-the-badlands-daniel-wu-interview/)

http://nerdreactor.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/intothebadlands3-800x471.jpg

With the recent release of Into the Badlands: The Complete First Season on Blu-ray+Digital HD and DVD, we can finally prepare for this spring’s second season where we’ll find out just what happened to our heroes and villains. Filming the series in Dublin, Ireland, executive producer and star of the series Daniel Wu took a break to chat about Sunny’s journey from the first season, what to expect from season two, possible guest stars, Nick Frost, and how they plan on upping the martial arts.

Spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen the first season.

Into the Badlands tells the story of clipper/assassin Sunny (Wu) and his life living in the Badlands with his tyrannical baron, Quinn. With news of his lover’s pregnancy and meeting MK, a mysterious teenager with powers, Sunny becomes conflicted and stops at nothing to leave the Badlands and finally find peace from his past.

“Now that we’re doing Season Two. I look at season one as a backstory that sets up the whole premise of what the Badlands is and where they are,” Wu tells us. “In season two, we start to answer more questions that are raised in season one. It’s almost like a background story – extended pilot, where it sets up what the world is. Season two will really get delved into the character’s story. In season one, we get a good idea what rules are and the barons. What Quinn is and the ruler of the area is – the relationship between the characters. In season two, we go much deeper into that and their motivations.”

When talking to Wu about the upcoming season, he couldn’t seem to hold back his excitement. He tells us, “I think season two’s writing is amazing. I’m really happy with it. We’re here in Dublin, Ireland, filming this season as opposed to New Orleans. It will have this much more epic feel to it than we did last season. There is actually a journey element this season where we’re actually traveling through the land. Through the outlying territories back into the Badlands, you’ll see a whole different kind of landscape than what we saw last season. The characters are much deeper and much more interesting. The storylines are separated, but I think it kind of helps the show in a very interesting way. There are many subplots and many storylines that all converge at the end of the season.”

At the end of season one, MK is taken by the monks in yellow robes, Widow and her Butterflies escaped, and Sunny finally had the courage and strength to kill Quinn, the man who raised him.

“The reason why Sunny was so tentative throughout the season to really act against Quinn is because he was brainwashed into thinking that he couldn’t and that he owes his loyalty to him,” Wu explained. “For him, there was a whole struggle the first season because once he found Veil pregnant, it opened up this whole side of him that he never knew he had, because he finally created a life instead of taking a life. That caused a big change in him and that made everything that he was about. Then here comes along MK with this idea of Azra that both of them may be from and questions everything he knew that was a reality. That was all fake. Quinn set up the rules. Quinn set up everything. He thought he was following the right path, but when he realized Veil is pregnant and meeting MK, he realized maybe the world he’s in wasn’t the world that he wanted to be in. The big struggle throughout the whole season was can he do it? Can he make it out? Can he extricate himself out from the Badlands? From this system? It’s kind of like the Mafia. Once you get in, it’s really hard to get out. There are relationships that you build over time that are really hard to break. So his tentativeness to actually off Quinn was because of that. There are moments way before that that he could have done it, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He’s pushed to the final end when Quinn has basically turned on everyone. His paranoia has gotten to a point where it’s dangerous for everybody that Sunny may not survive this – that his family may not survive this. He had to take action. I think the real point of it all didn’t hit him until the end when he’s sitting on the River King’s boat chained up to the thing. I think that primal scream he lets out in the end – that frustration of ‘Why didn’t I act sooner?'”

With the death of Quinn and Sunny being taken prisoner by the River King, you can be sure our hero will rise to the challenge. Wu assures us that Sunny will be back, but will have experienced life outside of the Badlands. But the world in the Badlands is no longer the same. There will be war. There will be bloodshed. There will also be more barons from this world.

Wu revealed, “With Quinn’s apparent death, it’s caused a big uproar [in the Badlands]. Widow is coming to power. All the other barons are vying to get control of what Quinn has and off the Widow at the same time. The Widow has come to power by way of means not the normal process of baronship. Her path and struggles continue on. Sunny’s struggle is trying to get back into the Badlands – trying to find MK. He has no idea where MK went. Trying to find Veil.”

We last left MK being taken by mysterious monks, led by martial artist Cung Lee. Wu confirmed the return of Le, “You will see him much more. MK ends up with those people in the monastery there. He undergoes this whole training process. So Cung is a very important part of that. I think you’ll see more fights from him as well.”

But will we see any other possible cameos? There were previous rumors of a fellow martial artist and close friend of Wu, Jackie Chan joining the team. Wu immediately shut those rumors down. “The question that was posed to me was, ‘Would you like to have Jackie Chan?’ I said, ‘Of course, I’d love to have him do a cameo on the show, but he’s extremely busy at the moment.’ So we’ll see,” Wu shared. “He did say, when he did a promo viral video for us helping to promote the show, ‘I’m happy for you, but I’m not happy that I’m not involved.’ So, at some point, I will ask him if he wants to get involved.”

Wu did share about their newest cast member Nick Frost joining the team, “We got the introduction of a new character played by Nick Frost who plays Bajie. Sunny meets [him] in the first episode who unfortunately is stuck with him for the rest of the season. So you see their relationship build and this partnership between the two of them and how they’re helping each other.”

Frost plays Bajie, a schemer with questionable morals who finds himself allied with Sunny. Wu tells us, “With his character and the relationship between the two of us, there is more levity in the show. I think it was very grave and dark last season so it’s nice to have him involved and bring that element into the show. We are kind of a genre mashup anyways, so it’s nice to liven it up a little bit more with Nick’s character and what he is.”

But don’t expect the series to turn into a comedy. Wu promises that the dark elements will still be there. “The range will still be dark, but in those moments of darkness, you could have moments of levity as well. So it doesn’t feel so heavy on the viewer as well. I also like the chemistry between me and Nick Frost and how you are able to see a different side of Sunny. Instead of the stoic side of Sunny, you get to see him actually express himself.”

As for the martial arts, which was highly praised by critics and fans last season, we should expect the action choreography team to step up their game even higher. Huan-Chiu Ku (or as Wu refers to as Master Didi) returns as choreographer and action director for a few episodes with Stephen Fung taking on the role of director for two episodes. Martial arts choreographer Andy Chang, who has worked with Sammo Hung, signed on this season as action director for some episodes. So, expect some new stuff to be shown this season.

“There is going to be a lot more different elements this season,” said Wu. “We have an homage to Jackie Chan style fighting where there is a little bit of comedy involved, which you’ll see with the Nick Frost character. We have some cool stuff. We brought in a couple of parkour people. Parkour is really popular in England, France, and all over Europe here. So we brought in a bunch of martial artists who know parkour skills, so we will see a different style in terms of being able to do crazy acrobatic moves without any wirework. We just keep broadening the spectrum of how all things work. Also, Sunny’s journey now – in episode one, in almost every fight, he won, but in this season, his fighting as a sort of adversely to it. So it’s not so easy for him to take on twenty or forty guys like last season. He will seem more vulnerable, but equally badass.”

To relive the first season, Into the Badlands Blu-ray and DVD is available now from Anchor Bay Entertainment. The Blu-ray and DVD contain awesome bonus features including a look inside the Badlands, the characters, the martial arts, and digital comic. You can also stream it live through Amazon Prime Video and iTunes. You can also catch all out our reviews here.

Into the Badlands returns Spring 2017 on AMC.

[PalmStriker]

:) Very COOL , Gene ! Still waiting to see you in a cameo role in one of these productions. (with sword of course).

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GeT-nNdR6c



:) Very COOL , Gene ! Still waiting to see you in a cameo role in one of these productions. (with sword of course).

I'm totally down with that. And the first film that does get me a cameo will get ample coverage in our publications. I'm not proud. I'd totally self-promote that way. Heck, INTO THE BADLANDS got me to Ireland, so I'll be returning the favor with lots of coverage. :cool:

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OuKt8KCCqI

[GeneChing]

The first season was only 6 episodes so it's a short binge as TV goes.


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C0x3GwlUQAIInx0.jpg:large

Into the Badlands (https://twitter.com/intothebadlands?lang=en) ‏@IntotheBadlands 24h 24 hours ago
Start training for the #IntotheBadlands Marathon, coming at you Friday, December 30 at 5|4c on @AMC_TV.


Friday, Dec 30 (http://www.amc.com/schedule?tz=&featured=into-the-badlands&mast=1126968?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_content=watch-the-season-1-marathon-of-into-the-badlands&utm_campaign=into-the-badlands)

http://images.amcnetworks.com/amc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/into-the-badlands-101-sunny-wu-post-800x600-150x150.jpg
5:00PM
Into the Badlands
Season 1, Episode 1
Into the Badlands TV14 (SVL)
The Fort
The Badlands' deadliest Clipper rescues a mysterious boy with a dark secret, but who may know the way out.

http://images.amcnetworks.com/amc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Into-the-badlands-102-sunny-wu-post-800x600-150x150.jpg
6:00PM
Into the Badlands
Season 1, Episode 2
Into the Badlands TVMA (VL)
Fist Like a Bullet
Quinn tries to force Sunny to commit an unspeakable act, thereby testing Sunny's loyaltie

http://images.amcnetworks.com/amc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/into-the-badlands-103-veil-mantock-sunny-wu-800x600-150x150.jpg
7:00PM
Into the Badlands
Season 1, Episode 3
Into the Badlands TV14 (SVL)
White Stork Spreads Wings
Sunny begins training M.K.; Quinn seeks retribution against The Widow.

http://images.amcnetworks.com/amc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/into-the-badlands-mk-knight-sunny-wu-quinn-csokas-104-Post-800x600-150x150.jpg
8:00PM
Into the Badlands
Season 1, Episode 4
Into the Badlands TV14 (VL)
Two Tigers Subdue Dragons
Sunny and M.K. try to figure out how to control the boy's power; Quinn sets a dangerous parlay.

http://images.amcnetworks.com/amc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/ITB-post-105-800x600-150x150.jpg
9:00PM
Into the Badlands
Season 1, Episode 5
Into the Badlands TV14 (VL)
Snake Creeps Down
Sunny secures his escape, and Quinn grows suspicious.

http://images.amcnetworks.com/amc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/into-the-badlands-106-sunny-wu-800x600-150x150.jpg
10:00PM
Into the Badlands
Season 1, Episode 6
Into the Badlands TV14 (VL)
Hand of Five Poisons
Sunny and M.K. fight to escape Quinn's grip; the Baron's enemies conspire to take him down.
Hand of Five Poisons

[GeneChing]

This is why I ttt-ed the Tomb Raider reboot (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69467-Tomb-Raider-reboot) thread on Monday. Daniel Wu told me that he probably can't make our KUNG FU TAI CHI 25TH ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69762-KUNG-FU-TAI-CHI-25TH-ANNIVERSARY-FESTIVAL-May-19-21-2017-San-Jose-CA) this year because he has committed to this project. (Get the hint? Warcraft (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69449-Warcraft))


‘Tomb Raider’ Reboot Adds ‘Into the Badlands’ Star Daniel Wu (EXCLUSIVE) (http://variety.com/2017/film/news/tomb-raider-reboot-daniel-wu-1201958245/)
Justin Kroll
Film Reporter
@krolljvar

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/daniel-wu-tomb-raider.jpg?w=670&h=377&crop=1
MEDIAPUNCH/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK
JANUARY 11, 2017 | 11:34AM PT

Daniel Wu is set to join the reboot of WB/MGM/GK Films’ “Tomb Raider,” the latest adaptation of the popular video game, starring Alicia Vikander as the iconic character Lara Croft.

Warner Bros. recently announced the movie — from Norwegian director Roar Uthaug — will be released on March 16, 2018.

Wu will play Lu Ren, a ship captain who partners with Croft on a quest to find her father.

MGM joined the project in 2013, acquiring rights to the video game to develop the feature in partnership with Graham King’s GK Films. King, who obtained “Tomb Raider” in 2011 from Square Enix, will serve as producer.

Cassidy Lange is overseeing production for MGM and Niija Kuykendall is handling production for Warner Bros.

The original “Tomb Raider” video game was released in 1996 by London-based Eidos Interactive, which is now part of Square Enix. Square Enix released a reboot in 2013 with a younger, 21-year-old Croft being sent off on her first big adventure amid amped-up action and set pieces.

Paramount’s two films starring Angelina Jolie as the British archaeologist were released in 2001 and 2003, and grossed a combined $431 million worldwide.

Warner Bros. will co-produce the pic with MGM and GK Films.

Wu is the star of the martial arts series “Into the Badlands,” which returns to AMC for its second season this spring. He is repped by CAA, Leverage Management, and attorney P.J. Shapiro.

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nvn1laEhI_A

Fight for justice. Fight for redemption. Fight for family. Don’t miss the Season 2 premiere on Sunday, March 19 at 10/9c on AMC.

[GeneChing]

Fight As Your Favorite Characters From Into the Badlands in New Mobile Game (http://www.amc.com/shows/into-the-badlands/talk/2017/01/fight-as-your-favorite-characters-from-into-the-badlands-in-new-mobile-game)
Posted by Ashleen Wicklow
3 days ago

Fight As Your Favorite Characters From Into the Badlands in New Mobile Game

Be among the first to take a new journey into the Badlands with the mobile game from AMC and Reliance Games, Into the Badlands Blade Battle. Now available in beta on Android (coming soon to iOS), the game features a series of epic quests in an unforgiving world where you can fight as your favorite heroes and villains from the series, including Sunny, the Widow, M.K., Waldo, Quinn and more. Featuring the first of its kind, one-vs.-many combat experience, Into the Badlands Blade Battle is easy to play and hard to put down.

Watch a new teaser for the game here. (http://www.amc.com/shows/into-the-badlands/video-extras/into-the-badlands-blade-battle-mobile-game-teaser-trailer)

Become a Beta Tester on Android (https://accounts.google.com/ServiceLogin?passive=1209600&continue=https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.reliancegames.itb&followup=https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.reliancegames.itb), where you can…

http://images.amcnetworks.com/amc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/into-the-badlands-blade-battle-alliance-rivals-1200x500.jpg

JOURNEY INTO THE BADLANDS
Experience the life of an Into the Badlands warrior as depicted in the TV series. Defy the odds and defeat mighty bosses with special abilities. Dominate in events to win top rank and milestone rewards.

http://images.amcnetworks.com/amc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/into-the-badlands-blade-battle-character-list-1200x500.jpg

BUILD THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR ROSTER
Customize your Badlands Team from a roster of 19 heroes with unique weapons and combat styles. Unlock special abilities and powers with Rare, Epic and Legendary heroes.

http://images.amcnetworks.com/amc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/into-the-badlands-blade-battle-form-alliances-1200x500.jpg

FORGE POWERFUL ALLIANCES
Form a clan to share hero cards, build your own warrior community and battle enemies in Alliance Rivals. Rise up the leaderboards to become the world’s best Badlands Baron.

http://images.amcnetworks.com/amc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/into-the-badlands-blade-battle-fight-one-vs-many-1200x500.jpg

BATTLE IN ICONIC LOCATIONS
Play and slay in the Cogs’ Pit, Quinn’s Fort, the Widow’s Lodge, Wall Street, the Dollhouse and other key locations from the show. Search the lands for chests and unlock new characters via scouting.

Play Into the Badlands Blade Battle now. (https://accounts.google.com/ServiceLogin?passive=1209600&continue=https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.reliancegames.itb&followup=https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.reliancegames.itb)

Into the Badlands returns this Spring. For all of the latest updates on Season 2, sign up for the Insiders Club (http://www.amc.com/shows/into-the-badlands/exclusives/newsletter-subscription).

Looks amusing. I'm just not into mobile games personally. I'm hoping for merch soon. :cool:

[GeneChing]

Looks like Iron Fist is poaching from Into The Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67844-Into-The-Badlands).


Iron Fist Episode Titles Inspired By Shaolin Kung Fu Moves (http://www.mymbuzz.com/2017/01/23/iron-fist-episode-titles-inspired-by-shaolin-kung-fu-moves/)
January 23, 2017 Dave Golder

http://www.mymbuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/ironfist.jpg

Bleeding Cool has spotted on the BBFC website that the British Board Of Film Censors is currently rating the episodes of Netflix’s Marvel’s Iron Fist and revealing most of the series’ episode titles and directors in the process.
A lot of the episode titles themselves appear to be based in moves used in Shaolin Kung Fu, though on a more metaphorical level they could also possibly be spoilery as well.
1: Snow Gives Way (dir. John Dahl)
2: Shadow Hawk Takes Flight (dir. John Dahl)
3: Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch (dir. Tom Shankland)
4: Eight Diagram Dragon Palm
5: Under Leaf Pluck Lotus (dir. Uta Briesewitz)
6: Immortal Emerges From Cave
7: Felling With Tree Routes (dir. Farren Blackburn)
8: The Blessing Of Many Fractures (dir. Kevin Tancharoen)
9: The Mistress Of All Agonies (dir. Jet Wilkinson)
10: Unlisted
11: Lead Horse Back To Stable (dir. Deborah Chow)
12: Unlisted
13: Dragon Plays With Fire (dir. Stephen Surjik)
Iron Fist debuts on Netflix on 17 March.

Into The Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67844-Into-The-Badlands) Season 2 premieres March 19.

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYvWvstL5is

[GeneChing]

Okay, I gotta confess. What I luv about Into the Badlands, aside from the fact that it has introduced me to Daniel Wu and then took me to Ireland, is that it has the hottest sword hottie I've seen in years.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfLjRpZt2Hw

And I've seen her up close. :cool:

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/12118764_10204949899849080_5600155370074699625_n.j pg?oh=4fa074c01f630618d6e51eea287708f2&oe=5905226A

Sure, sure, I'm gloating. But here's tonight's bum out. I got sent the screener for Season Two - Eps 1 & 2 this morning. I've looking forward to watching them tonight all day long because it's been a really rough work week already and it's only Wednesday. I got home, poured myself a nice shot of Irish Whiskey and then realized my password needs to be approved. And that won't happen until the next working day. :(

At least I have the whiskey. :rolleyes:

[@PLUGO]

In March, five DC Comics titles will be polybagged with a free comic advertising the AMC TV show Into The Badlands, the second series of which premieres in the US on Sunday, March 19 at 10pm ET.

Into The Badlands Special #1, written by series co-producer Matt Okumura, with art by Steve Ellis and cover by Leinil Yu, focuses on Quinn, the preeminent Baron, who rules with an iron fist. This is the story of his first kill. Follow young Quinn’s journey in Issue 1: Pole of a Falling Star to discover Quinn’s humble beginnings as a lowly cog and the violence that inspired his meteoric rise.

This 32-page custom comic features a 24-page story plus a four-page section that introduces the series’ characters. Which, ironically, is more story content than you usually get in a DC comic.

It will be distributed inside bagged copies of Green Arrow #18, Harley Quinn #15, Deathstroke #14, Red Hood & The Outlaws #8 and Suicide Squad #13.

10247 (https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/02/23/dc-comics-to-get-a-free-into-the-badlands-comic-with-every-issue-of-green-arrow-harley-quinn-deathstroke-red-hood-and-suicide-squad/)

[GeneChing]

The Martial Arts Show That Is Destroying Asian Stereotypes on Screen (https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/the-martial-arts-show-that-is-destroying-asian-stereotypes-on-screen)
SAMANTHA LUI
Feb 27 2017, 5:18am

https://video-images.vice.com/articles/58a5e24486854762ad80b662/lede/1487865251203-HOLLYWOOD-HEADER_DAN.png

Actor Daniel Wu discusses his new show, 'Into the Badlands' and how Asian actors have to keep fighting for more diversity.

Daniel Wu did not expect to be the star of AMC's Into the Badlands. Starring in the show would require him to take on complex fighting scenes. And in his 40s, he wasn't sure if his body would be up for it.

"I was like, I'm 40 now, and I've already done my martial arts thing. I'm not sure if I want to get back into it again," Wu told me over the phone from South Africa, where he's filming the upcoming Tomb Raider film.

At the time, Wu was set to serve as an executive producer for the show because of his martial arts experience. After all, he had already appeared in Hong Kong action films such as Tai Chi Hero and Naked Weapon while in the US, and he also had roles in The Man with the Iron Fists and Warcraft. But when actor after actor auditioned for the lead role of the mighty warrior Sunny, no one except him seemed right for the part. "[The producers] were like, 'We looked far and wide, and we're either finding great actors who don't know any martial arts, or martial artists who don't know acting. You're one of the few people who can do both. Can you consider doing this?'"

Despite his initial reservations about taking the role, Wu gave the part a second chance. He worked out and trained every day until his body got back into shape. When he saw the results, he decided to commit.

Into the Badlands, which begins its second season on March 19, is loosely based on the Chinese tale Journey to the West. The show takes place in a post-apocalyptic world controlled by feudal barons. Wu plays the skilled lethal fighter—a "clipper"—Sunny, who also has a mysterious past. During the series, he yearns for a future free from his unpredictable and dangerous boss. Along for the ride is an orphan with special powers, M.K. (Aramis Knight), who repeatedly crosses Sunny's path. Together, the two develop a teacher-student relationship and embark on a journey in search of enlightenment.

When the show first premiered in 2015, it received generally positive reviews, with praise especially directed at its fighting scenes. Tim Goodman of the Hollywood Reporter called the show "a bloody, fun and entertaining non-zombie counterpart to The Walking Dead." Maureen Ryan of Variety compared the series to "classic Samurai films and kinetic action fare churned out by Hong Kong maestros of furious fists."

The show's success has given Wu, now 42, recognition among American audiences. But for those who are fans of Asian cinema, he's already a familiar face.

Born and raised in California, Wu traveled to Asia in 1997 to witness the Handover of Hong Kong. At the time, he had just finished university with hopes of coming back to the US to become an architect. But one day, while at a bar, Wu was asked to star in a television commercial. That opportunity led to Wu's first role in a film called Bishonen, where he played a gay police officer. "Once I was on set, I fell in love with the whole process. I was like, 'I gotta keep doing this.'" It was then that he realized that he needed to stay in Hong Kong longer. So, after starring in films like City of Glass and Young and Dangerous: The Prequel, Wu was soon signed on to Jackie Chan's production company, JC Group.

As a Chinese kid in America, Wu would often watch Kung Fu movies starring Chan, Bruce Lee, and Jet Li. In fact, it was those three actors who inspired him to take up martial arts. "I started learning Kung Fu because of the movies. When I was seven years old, I saw Jet Li's first movie Shaolin Temple, and I was like, 'I gotta learn that stuff,'" Wu said. "Being Chinese American in California, I also felt a connection to my culture doing that stuff. That's what made me want to learn it."

https://video-images.vice.com/_uncategorized/1487267107656-New-Police-Story-images-1131e0c1-bc4c-42b8-966c-df76f8ba839.jpeg
Poster for New Police Story (2004). Courtesy of Emperor Motion Pictures

Wu's ability to do martial arts has served him well on the screen in Asia. He went on to star in action-packed films like New Police Story, House of Fury, and Gen-X Cops. With his success overseas, it wasn't long until people started to encourage him to try and make his way back into the US.

However, getting roles back home was harder than he thought.

"I went to the States, and I went for meetings, but nothing really came of it. Obviously ten to 15 years ago, I don't think America was diverse as it is now in terms of what you're seeing on television," Wu said.

"I thought, OK, forget it. I got a career going on in Asia. I'm not going to worry about the States. The United States is my home, but if they're not offering me a career there because of my race, then what am I going to do about it?"

Wu continued to act mostly in Asia, taking on a number of different roles to avoid being stereotyped as a martial artist. He played romantic leads, cops, and violent criminals. But in the end, it was his martial arts experience that helped him get back to the US with Into the Badlands.

As an executive producer, Wu played a vital part in making sure the fight scenes in Into the Badlands looked authentic. To ensure this, Wu brought in Hong Kong stunt choreographer Huan-Chiu Ku (a.k.a. Master Dee Dee) and director Stephen Fung to help with the fight scenes.

"The only way you can get this done is with a Hong Kong team because you got to work fast. We have eight days per episode, and there are two fights per episode," Wu said. "I don't think a lot of Western teams could pull it off. Hong Kong teams are used to that."

The authenticity of the show's fight scenes could also be attributed to the cast's grueling workout schedule. Before shooting, Wu trained every day for four to five months. After that, the cast took part in "Fight Camp," which includes eight to nine hours of intensive training every day for five weeks. There, they covered everything from sword fighting, acrobatics, and martial arts such as taekwondo and wushu.

But training for the show is only part of what makes the action on the show so convincing. For Wu, who grew up practicing wushu, there's also an art to making the fights look good on the screen.

"To be a screen martial artist, you need to know all the aspects of martial arts, plus weapons, plus tumbling and gymnastics to be a really good mover," he said. "I've seen really good on-screen martial artists who have never learned martial arts. They just happen to be really good, athletic people, and they understand how it needs to look on screen and are amazing at it."

But while many watch Into the Badlands for the action, the show also breaks new ground with an Asian American male lead. On the show, Wu's character is complicated; he has a good heart but is one of the most brutal killers alive. A former assassin, his character struggles to break away from his dark past.

Wu says the role allows him to play someone he's never been before: the antihero. "Most of the characters I've played are more straight, clear-cut, good guys or bad guys. This character, he's got a really dirty bad past, but he's trying to become good," he explained.

The complexity of Wu's character is groundbreaking, according to Keith Chow, the founder of pop culture website the Nerds of Color. He says Asian actors are often stereotyped into martial arts roles with little depth to their characters. "Ultimately, they're there to be the mentor to teach the white guy, like Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid. Mr. Miyagi is kind of a trope, the wise old Asian man who teaches the white hero to be heroic," he said.

continued next post

[GeneChing]

While Wu does indeed play a martial artist on Into the Badlands, Chow says the role of Sunny has many layers. In the past, he adds, Asian actors have mostly been depicted as one-dimensional. Moreover, they're often portrayed in a non-romantic way.

"There was a point in the 90s where you had a bunch of Hong Kong movie stars come [to America]. Chow Yun Fat had a couple of movies, Jet Li did a couple of movies," Chow said, adding that this took place after the success of Rush Hour, which starred Jackie Chan. "They would definitely desexualize the male action star. Usually in Western action movies, the hero kisses the girl at the end, but Jet Li gets a chaste hug. There was a barrier to how you could depict an Asian action star."

https://video-images.vice.com/_uncategorized/1487267342404-BAD_103_PP_0615_0148_V1.jpeg
Madeleine Mantock and Daniel Wu in Into the Badlands. Courtesy of Patti Perret/AMC

In Into the Badlands, Wu gets to play the romantic lead. His character Sunny gets involved in an interracial relationship with Veil (played by Madeleine Mantock), which fans of the show praised online with the Twitter hashtag #ColorMeBadlands. "I think it's amazing that it just so happens to be an Asian male with a black girl on the show," said Wu. "I don't think that's ever happened on television before."

Chow says the role of Sunny is a rarity in Hollywood. Oftentimes, Asian American actors are asked to play "the nerd, the Fu Manchu, the dragon lady, the perpetual foreigner, and the martial artist." In Into the Badlands, however, "Daniel Wu['s character] has a love life, and he has complicated feelings. He's the deadliest assassin, but he's also kind-hearted," Chow said. "Usually, Asian characters have been defined solely by their ability to do martial arts. They've never been able to be beyond that."

The role of Sunny is one of a handful of action roles given to Asian American actors in recent years. Right now, a live-action Mulan film is in the works with plans to feature an all-Asian cast. Another show, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, also features Asian American talent like Ming-Na Wen and Chloe Bennett.

This is certainly a shift from stereotypical and whitewashed portrayals of Asian characters in the past. In Breakfast at Tiffany's, Mr. Yunioshi (portrayed by Mickey Rooney) was accused of yellowface for wearing makeup and a prosthetic mouthpiece to look like a caricatured version of a Japanese person. In Sixteen Candles, the character Long Duk Dong (played by Gedde Watanabe) was also criticized for being racially insensitive to Asians when his stilted English was used for comedic effect. And more recently in the film Cloud Atlas, Jim Sturgess's character takes the form of an Asian man—to which Media Action Network for Asian Americans president Guy Aoki responded to by saying, "It's a double standard: White actors are allowed to play anything—except black characters—and have the dominant roles; Asian male actors are nonexistent. And Pacific Islanders are played by blacks."

And the fight for more diversity still persists today. In a recent episode of comedian Bobby Lee's podcast TigerBelly, he talks about his experience running into The Walking Dead star Steven Yeun at an audition for a role that only had five lines because of the few opportunities offered to Asian actors in the business. In another opinion piece, actor Justin Chon recounts his experience at an audition where he was asked to perform with "an Asian accent." And, of course, there's the new film The Great Wall, which has been accused of casting Matt Damon in a "white savior" role.

Wu acknowledges, however, that there has been a lot of progress in television and film when it comes to including more diverse actors. With Into the Badlands as an example, Wu says producers consciously made the roles open to people of all races: "Producers just have to cast more diverse," he said. "When you become race-specific, you almost can't avoid stereotypes in some ways. So, you have to fight against that."

Wu says he also didn't realize how progressive his character was until the show came out. "I didn't really think about it because I've been in Hong Kong for 20 years for my career where I didn't think about race at all because everybody was Chinese in movies," he explained. "Being one of the few Asian American leads on a show on television, there's only a handful. When I looked at it from that perspective, I go, 'Wow. That is quite progressive.'"

But even though Wu is proud of his involvement with Into the Badlands, he says he's being careful not to be stereotyped into martial arts roles. "America may know me as Sunny, the martial arts actor… but I've done more than 70 films in Asia that range from being a nerd to being a company boss to being a gangster," he said, before adding that he'd like to film a comedy next.

As for his advice for other actors? Wu says they should keep fighting for more diversity. "As an actor, you're much more passive about the whole selection process. So all you have to do is be strong and turn down the roles that you think are not right for you and go for the roles that you think are really great," he said.

"It's a sacrifice, and it's really hard to do when you're trying to make a living off of it. But you also have to stand your ground as well."

Follow Samantha Lui on Twitter.

My NDA expires tomorrow. Expect my coverage then. I went INTO THE BADLANDS and lived to tell... :cool:

[GeneChing]

Here is the first article of my extensive coverage of AMC's INTO THE BADLANDS.

Read INTO THE BADLANDS: Enter the Pig (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1343) by Gene Ching.

Season Two of INTO THE BADLANDS premieres on March 19th.

[GeneChing]

AMC was so pleased with our coverage that they gave us an exclusive teaser.

Exclusive INTO THE BADLANDS Season Two Teaser (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1346)

It's only exclusive for a few hours (such is the internet) so please give it a watch to get our view count up. That way, we can bring you more exclusive content like this.

[GeneChing]

I bought Season 1 off iTunes when my screener failed (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67844-Into-The-Badlands&p=1300084#post1300084)and binged it all in one night. It's quite bingeworthy. Now it's free everywhere - Xfinity, Netflix, they even had it free on the AMC site for while.

But here are some Badlands teasers off the AMC site:


INTO THE BADLANDS: THE COMPLETE SEASON 1 FIGHTS (http://www.amc.com/shows/into-the-badlands/video-extras/season-01/episode-06/into-the-badlands-the-complete-season-1-fights)
Revisit all the action-packed martial arts fights from the first season of the epic drama Into the Badlands.



INTO THE BADLANDS SEASON 1 IN TWO MINUTES (http://www.amc.com/shows/into-the-badlands/video-extras/into-the-badlands-season-1-in-two-minutes)
Get a quick recap of all the high-flying action in Season 1 before the new season kicks off on Sunday, March 19 at 10/9c.


INTO THE BADLANDS: A LOOK AT SEASON 2 (http://www.amc.com/shows/into-the-badlands/video-extras/season-02/episode-00/into-the-badlands-a-look-at-season-2)
The cast and creators discuss Sunny’s new journey and how new characters and new locations expand the world. Don’t miss the Season 2 premiere Sunday, March 19 at 10/9c on AMC.

I've also seen S2E1-3 now (my screener finally worked). Season 2 definitely raised the bar, and I'm not just saying that because the Widow told me to.

[GeneChing]

Into the Badlands Q&A — Miles Millar and Alfred Gough (Co-Creators/Executive Producers) (http://www.amc.com/shows/into-the-badlands/talk/2017/03/into-the-badlands-qa-miles-millar-and-alfred-gough-co-creatorsexecutive-producers?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_content=can-sunny-make-it-back-into-the-badlands-without-killing&utm_campaign=into-the-badlands)
Posted by Adam Bryant
17 hours ago

http://images.amcnetworks.com/amc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/into-the-badlands-201-the-widow-emily-beecham.jpg

Miles Millar and Alfred Gough, the co-creators and executive producers of Into the Badlands, discuss why Season 2 is more “epic,” what Nick Frost’s new character brings to the show, and whether Sunny can get back to Veil without shedding more blood.

Q: You shot the second season in Ireland. What did the new location offer you in terms of storytelling?

Miles Millar: We loved shooting in New Orleans during the first season. It gave us a very lush look and it was very American, but we did feel it was limited in terms of the landscapes. The opportunity arose to move the show to Ireland and we jumped at the diversity of locations – you have epic mountains, incredible seascapes, cliffs, an amazing variety of forests, lakes and also urban ruins. It allowed us to get more epic, and that’s really the touchstone word for the season: It’s epic, and we wanted to get out and really see the world and show the audience the world of the Badlands. I think the choice to shoot in Ireland really allowed us to do that on a grand scale.

Alfred Gough: I think [in] Season 1 we heard about a lot of the world outside the Fort and the Sanctuary, but we didn’t really see it. This season, we’re really able to do that. We’ll be outside the Badlands; we’ll be in the Badlands and able to see more of it; we’re going to meet more Barons. The whole thing was able to open up. A lot of the things we talked about or you heard about in Season 1, we’re actually able to visualize in Season 2.

Q: Six months have passed in the story since the end of Season 1. How hard has that time been for Sunny and M.K., who were both taken out of the Badlands last season?

AG: I think for Sunny, it’s been particularly hard. When you meet him, he’s in a chain gang being marched into a massive mine somewhere in the outlying territories. He’s essentially been a slave for six months and he’s finally gotten to this destination where he’s now spending the rest of his life doing hard labor. So, he’s in a very bad place. M.K. has been taken to the Abbot Monastery up in the mountains and is being trained to control his gift – the dark power that we saw in Season 1 – and I think his training in some ways has been a gift because he’s been able to start to figure out how to control it, though he still has a lot of questions. He’s still M.K., and he’s in a very rigid environment where he has to follow orders and as we know, that’s something that M.K.’s never done very well. He’s really yearning for answers, and Sunny’s yearning to escape.

Q: What can you say about their respective drives to get back to the Badlands?

AG: Sunny’s very much trying to get out and get back to Veil and his baby. For M.K., as he starts to try to figure out how to control his power, it’s really about unlocking painful memories from his past and what really happened to his mother. He was searching for his mother in Season 1 and wanted to get back to Azra. So as he goes through his training in the Monastery, it also starts to unlock these painful memories which he’ll have to deal with. Sunny’s more on a spiritual quest and trying to not be the killer he’s been trained to be. Not only does he physically need to get back to Veil and the baby, but he also has to be a different man when he does. He doesn’t want to be the cold Clipper we knew in Season 1. For M.K., he’ll find out that unlocking those secrets brings its own pain, and he’s going to be forced to face himself. His is very much [on] an emotional journey, looking inward, to try to figure out how to control the gift he has.

Q: Did you create the character of Bajie with Nick Frost in mind? How did his casting come about?
MM: We actually wanted some more humor on the show, so we created this character, batted around the idea in the writers’ room and the guy we thought would be amazing would be Nick Frost. We actually wrote the role for Nick Frost and then we sent it to his agent and thought we were never going to get him. Lo and behold, Nick was in London, I was in London and we met for a coffee at a really crappy café in London, and he said he loved the script, loved the idea of the role and wanted to do it! It was unbelievable to write a role for someone, have them say yes and then have it work as well as it did. Nick is a huge element this season, and I think that character adds a whole new dimension to what the series is. The interaction between Bajie and Sunny and Nick and Daniel is great. It’s what you want from a buddy show. We’re really excited about that relationship and the energy, humor and mystery that Bajie brings to the show.

Q: How would you describe Bajie and his relationship with Sunny as the season begins?

AG: When you first meet Bajie in the mines where Sunny is, there’s definitely an element of distrust. Bajie is about Bajie, and he always has an angle. I think what’s interesting about this relationship is it’s going to grow into a friendship, but it starts out as pragmatic. Bajie’s always on Bajie’s side and if that means screwing over Sunny, he’ll do it – certainly initially – and then it grows to a friendship and we realize as we get further into the season that Bajie’s harboring a bigger secret as well. He’s not just there to be the comic relief. He has a bigger part to play in the world and in the series.

continued next post

[GeneChing]

Q: While Sunny and M.K. are struggling, The Widow seems to be thriving. What is her journey like this season?

AG: The Widow’s interesting because she was sort of on the run last season and obviously wounded at the end. Tilda didn’t give her the poison, so she’s alive and they’ve put their relationship back together. Her agenda of wanting her land to be a sanctuary for the Cogs and giving women and the displaced a voice in this world is growing. It’s a growing movement, but what she’s realizing is that she was a fighter and now has become a bigger symbol and political leader, which is not something she wears easily. That part of the job doesn’t come so easily and in the quest for what she sees as the greater good, what is it going to do to her personally? What are the compromises? How is she going to have to corrupt herself to get what she wants? What does it do to her relationship with Tilda? There’s no black and white in this world. Everybody makes choices for their own interests and for what they think the greater good is, and I think the Widow really symbolizes that.

Q: How have the power dynamics shifted among the Barons in the new season?

MM: This season, we see more Barons, we see the politics, we see the interactions between Barons, we see the maneuverings…the political games that happen on a global stage here happen on a microcosm in the Badlands… Quinn has left a power vacuum, but Ryder and Jade have stepped up, and this season, we see them actually being efficient Barons. Unlike Quinn and Lydia’s relationship, we see equality and a partnership between Jade and Ryder. What we like to do on the show is take characters and relationships that the audience thinks they know and expect and really twist that and change allegiances. This show is about the gray. Almost all of the people are killers and there’s moral ambiguity about heroes and villains. Sunny’s killed more than anybody, yet he’s our “hero.” We’re always dealing with this idea of what is morality in this world — who is right and who is wrong; who is good and who is bad. Everyone is in the Venn diagram of both.

Q: The martial arts is obviously a huge piece of the show. How did the fighting evolve this season? Will we see more characters getting in on the action?

AG: There will definitely be more characters getting in on the action. As the world gets bigger and as we meet more characters, you’ll definitely see more characters fighting. We tried to add new twists to the martial arts and add new styles so that you see different types of fighting. With Sunny and Bajie, you have some stuff that’s more comedic and with M.K. at the Monastery, you’re more in the world of Crouching Tiger, but there are all sorts of fighting styles in between. You’ll get to see more characters that you didn’t see fight in Season 1 fighting in Season 2, and those that you saw fighting in Season 1 have stepped up their game even more.

MM: Each episode has a signature fight, but there’s a lot more people fighting. It’s always about trying to expand the world and never settling. We’ve had some amazing sequences last year, but I think we’ve topped ourselves this year. It’s always about how we do better, how we evolve the martial arts, and how we make it distinct and different and something like the audience hasn’t seen before on television.

Q: Season 2 has almost double the amount of episodes of Season 1. How, if at all, did that create challenges or opportunities with the story you wanted to tell this season?

AG: Ten episodes definitely gave us a chance to expand in a good way and spend time exploring the different characters and their journeys and go to different places. With Season 1, six episodes is a tricky number because by the time you get started, it’s like you’ve got to start wrapping it up. It needed to feel like a satisfying journey but also leave a lot of doors open for where the show can go in Season 2 and beyond.

MM: The first season for us was almost like a super-pilot and this is really the first season that we get to see the world and have time to get under the skin of the characters and see a much bigger slice of what the future is.

Q: Who do think you would be in the Badlands? Baron, Clipper, Cog, Nomad, Abbot, or something else entirely?

AG: I think I’d be dead! [Laughs]

MM: I’d probably be a Cog somewhere. I definitely wouldn’t be a Clipper.

Q: What are you most excited for fans to see in Season 2?

MM: For me, I think the world-building and the chance to see more of the world is really exciting. The introduction of Nick Frost really changes a lot in terms of the tone of the show and I think he brings a lot out of Sunny. At the end of the season, I think where we end with our characters is very emotional and very satisfying. I think the show really hits its stride this season. When you create a show, you never know how it’s going to go or if there are enough stories to tell. For us, at the end of the season, we left wanting to go back into the Badlands and see where these characters go. It was really exciting to write it, create it, visualize it, see those fights and see those characters come to life. It is a nonstop roller coaster in every way. It steps up from Season 1 in a big way.

AG: It really delivers on the promise of Season 1, so I think people coming back who were incredibly loyal and vocal fans of the show will not be disappointed.

Into the Badlands premieres Sunday, March 19 at 10/9c on AMC. For the latest information and exclusives from Season 2 of Into the Badlands, sign up for the Insiders Club.

I've been privy to the first three episodes of Season 2. SPOILER ALERT Sunny can NOT get back to Veil without shedding more blood. END SPOILER

[GeneChing]

S March 16, 2017, 6:00 AM
Daniel Wu on why he almost didn't star on "Into the Badlands" (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/daniel-wu-into-the-badlands-interview/)

Daniel Wu stars on “Into the Badlands,” an AMC martial arts drama about Sunny, a talented warrior who is trying to reunite with his family. Wu talked to CBS News about what fans can expect in Season 2, what it’s like to train for a martial arts show and how his transition from Hong Kong to Hollywood has been going.

You play Sunny on “Into the Badlands,” a warrior who is trying to reunite with his family. It’s returning for its second season, when Sunny meets a new foe and a new friend. Can you tell me more?

In Season 1, you meet Sunny where he starts -- a feared assassin killer. He’s high up in the ranks. The beginning of Season 2, you see where he ended up -- rock bottom. He’s a slave and his nobleness is gone and he has one thing on his mind -- to get back with his family. Unfortunately, he’s chained to Bajie, a character played by Nick Frost, so for better or for worse, he’s stuck to him. But he seems to know the world outside the Badlands, and Sunny kind of needs him to get him to find his family.

You do a lot of sword work on the show. What is the training like for you off-camera?

For the show, we have five weeks of fight camp and we train all the actors that have to fight in the show, and I work on specific things like swordwork and weapons and most of it for me is a rehashing of what I learned in the past and brushing up rusty skills.

It sounds very exhausting.

Yes, very, very. Especially actors who are not used to that -- if you have a basis and discipline, you know work will pay off, but for them, sometimes they’re like, “What are we doing? This is horrible.”

You said you have a background in martial arts?

I started martial arts when I was 11 and I started learning traditional Shaolin Kung Fu because I saw “Shaolin Temple” and I wanted to learn exactly what Jet Li did. Then I switched to competitive Wushu, a form-based martial arts. As a kid, I thought that was cool, so I dabbled in everything.

Do you think you could play this role if you didn’t have previous experience in martial arts?

No. No, no. You really have to have a foundation, I think. When I first started working on the show, I was only an executive producer in charge of martial arts and I had not put myself forward to play Sunny. In my head, I was like, we should find someone late 20s or early 30s because if it goes on for six or seven years, your body has to last that long and I was 40. Can I still be doing that at 48? Even now, I’m not sure.

So we went and auditioned hundreds of people and got really great martial artists who were not great actors or vice versa, and you need a balance. We met four or five guys who were both, and the producers turned to me and said, “You know, you can do this. You know you can do both.”

What do you think about the “Great Wall” controversy over Matt Damon’s casting in the film?

I haven’t seen the movie so it’s hard for me to say but I think they were trying to get Chinese stars and American stars together. Everyone I know is trying to figure out that formula where they can integrate Chinese and American stars, and it’s really hard to do. I don’t think anyone has done it successfully yet. I don’t think it was whitewashing; it was just trying to integrate two cultures in one thing for box office results and maybe they were too greedy, but I don’t think it was made that way.

Are you trying to get in on the Hollywood and China crossover as well?

I’ve already been involved with that. “Warcraft” was a situation like that. It opened opportunities for them in China and “Tomb Raider” -- why they cast me in “Tomb Raider” was also for the same reasons.

How is working with Alicia Vikander in the upcoming “Tomb Raider” movie?

It’s been an interesting project. It’s cool to see Alicia in it and it’s ironic and interesting: If you remember Angelina Jolie in “Tomb Raider,” she won the Oscar for “Girl, Interrupted” and became an action star.

Alicia is very similar in that she was doing other indie movies and won an Oscar for “The Danish Girl,” which has the same word in there, and jumped into being an action star and she’s a powerhouse. I’m so impressed with her. She’s a great actress but she’s taking the action on with gusto. I’ve never seen someone do it before and be so fearless, so it’s fun to see that and see this side of her emerge and be able to support that as well. My character is a guy -- she comes to his crappy, s***ty junk boat in Hong Kong and she tries to enlist me to go find her father, so I help her on this journey.

“Into the Badlands” returns on March 19 at 10 p.m. on AMC.

I'll have something exclusive tomorrow for KungFuMagazine.com.

[GeneChing]

THE WORLD OF INTO THE BADLANDS

http://media.amc.com/amctv-pr_com/epk/into-the-badlands/season-2/v2/images/main/itb-guide-section4.jpg
(http://www.amc.com/shows/into-the-badlands/exclusives/the-world?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_content=check-out-our-interactive-map-of-the-badlands&utm_campaign=into-the-badlands)

Alfred Gough, one of the show's creators, told me they were going to show this. More to come from him on this tomorrow, in more of my exclusive coverage.

[GeneChing]

What's the connection between Badlands and St. Patrick's Day? Read INTO THE BADLANDS: Where in the World are the Badlands? (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1349)by Gene Ching. Season Two of INTO THE BADLANDS premieres on March 19th.

[GeneChing]

‘Into the Badlands’: The Hong Kong Secret That Makes the Show’s Amazing Martial Arts Possible (http://www.indiewire.com/2017/03/amc-into-the-badlands-season-2-martial-arts-daniel-wu-1201796263/)
Stars Daniel Wu, Emily Beecham and Nick Frost explain why the show's guerrilla approach to action choreography is essential to its success.

Liz Shannon Miller Mar 25, 2017 10:00 am @lizlet

http://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/bad_201_ap_0829_-0269-rt.jpg?w=780
Antony Platt/AMC

The “Into the Badlands” set is a fascinating aural environment when the show’s epic fights are being filmed.

That’s thanks to the blend of accents amongst the crew — American, English, Irish — as well as the Cantonese instructions being barked out as The Widow (Emily Beecham), Tilda (Ally Ioannides), and their many stunt doubles spin about and spar with each other, filming action so in-your-face that before certain shots, cameramen have to put on lacrosse helmets.

It’s a blend of sounds that echoes the show’s own eclectic nature. “Badlands” has stood out since its premiere in November 2015 as a show that blends genres and boasts one of the most bonkers narratives on television. Set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where fighting ability might be the only thing that keeps you from a bloody (and we mean BLOODY) death, the series draws direct inspiration from the great samurai films of the past, with some modern flair and wuxia twists. The end result is like nothing else on television.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2fdCPQssm8

IndieWire traveled to Ireland last fall to watch the AMC martial arts drama in mid-production, and discovered how “Badlands” pulls off some of the best action being filmed right now: Despite the fast-paced and quick-turnaround nature of episodic TV, they’ve imported a strategy to spend weeks on it.

At any one time during the season, there are two production units operating simultaneously, known as the “drama unit” and the “fight unit.” While the drama unit moves the story forward, the fight unit spends days slavishly executing the complex, meticulous fight sequences – helping the show stand out in a sea of blandness when it comes to martial arts.

And here’s the secret: The Hong Kong approach to fight sequences means that actors never have to memorize an entire dance all at once.

“They stand on set and they talk very loudly in Cantonese for 25 minutes and they do bits of stunts and they throw people around — they come up with 10 moves or 12 moves and you go off and learn those while they light the shot,” said Nick Frost, who joins the cast for Season 2 as a series regular. “And then you come back and you do those 12 moves, and the process begins again.”

It’s a guerrilla approach that means, according to Beecham, “I don’t know what I’m going to do in the next shot ever.” Instead, she and the other actors put their trust in “Master Didi,” aka martial arts coordinator Huan-Chiu Ku, who trained with the legendary Yuen Woo-ping (“The Matrix”) and has worked on the “Kill Bill” films, “Once Upon a Time in China II,” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”

http://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/bad_201_ap_0830_-0270-rt.jpg?w=780

Star Daniel Wu was originally brought on board by producer Stacey Sher to put together the martial arts on “Into the Badlands.” He was instrumental in bringing Master Didi to the series, in his role as an executive producer, but without any intention of starring in the series himself.

“I said, ‘You know, you guys should cast somebody who’s in their late 20s, early 30s. Because if the show is successful, it could go on for six, seven, eight years, right? You’d need this kid to be able to last that long — physically,'” Wu laughed. “I was 40 when we started. And I was like, ‘If we go to where I’m 46, 47, 48, I’m not sure that my body’s going to hold up that long.’ It’s like being a professional athlete and an actor at the same time. And most professional athletes are retired by 40.”

But after Wu fell in love with the character, and the casting process didn’t turn up the perfect candidate, he decided to give it a try. “I started doing a week of heavy training, just to see how my body would react, and it reacted really well. I was able to come back into and said ‘OK, I think I can do this, let’s give it a shot,'” he said.

For Wu, the Hong Kong approach is “imperative” when it comes to the fast-paced nature of television. “They’re used to working at that kind of pace and that kind of style, where you just learn that sequence, practice it a couple of times and shoot it.”

Frost also appreciated the approach. “It takes a lot of the pressure off the actor in making it look like the first time you’ve done it. Once you do the choreography you learn what’s coming next. The key is to forget it so you don’t look for the next hit, so it seems like you’re actually fighting,” he said.

And that contributes to a major benefit for Wu — by keeping things loose, the action never feels over-rehearsed, which he always wants to avoid. “If you over-rehearse anything, whether it’s acting or fighting, it becomes really dead, it loses its life,” he said. “Like the fight in ‘The Matrix’ with Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne — it was very obvious to me that they’d done it hundreds of times, because he’s blocking before the fist even comes in.”

http://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/bad_202_ap_0901_0272-rt.jpg?w=780

Season 2 brings a new level of levity to the show thanks to the addition of Frost. One fight sequence in Episode 2 even features him and Wu fighting together in chains. “It was just nice being chained to Daniel for 10 days,” Frost said. “He’s a good egg and I can’t think of many other people I’d want to be chained to. I think it really helped break the ice — when you’re chained together for ten days and you only become unchained when you have to use the bathroom. You get down to the nitty gritty quite early on.”

Switching between the drama and fight units, Frost noted, offered its own rewards. “One is a relief from the other,” he said. “If you’ve been fighting for four or five days, it’s nice to go onto drama knowing that you don’t have to beat up 10 men, it’s a nice physical relief. And then vice versa — you’ve been doing lots of scenes with loads of dialogue, it’s nice to know that you can just do this all day long.”

Having a separate fight unit is a luxury many shows that feature action sequences don’t have, but time is still the real enemy. While “Badlands” might be able to spend eight days on two or three individual fight scenes, that’s nothing compared to some of the classics they’re trying to emulate.

“On War Kong-wai’s movie ‘The Grandmaster,’ the fist fight scene in in the rain — which we homage in Season 1 with our rain fight scene — took 30 days to film. Just for one fight sequence,” Wu said. “We’re trying to do that level of fighting — not just the fighting and choreography, but the cinematography and all the camerawork, lighting, everything. But we only have eight days per episode.”

That makes the finished “Into the Badlands” product even more impressive. “It’s crazy and frenetic while we’re making it,” Wu said, “but once it’s assembled and you see this final graceful balletic thing, it’s like, wow, we were all a part of that. That’s really cool.”

“Into the Badlands” airs Sundays at 10 p.m. on AMC.

I only got advanced screeners until ep 3, so y'all are caught up to me now. Check out my article On the Set of Into the Badlands in the May+June 2017 issue (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=1348), on stands now!

[GeneChing]

INTO THE BADLANDS: Women Warriors and Whitewashing (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1347)

Another article in my INTO THE BADLANDS series, in conjunction with my print article On the Set of Into the Badlands in our May+June 2017 issue (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=1348).

[GeneChing]

The latest AMC ITB blog:


Into the Badlands Q&A — Aramis Knight (M.K.) (http://www.amc.com/shows/into-the-badlands/talk/2017/03/into-the-badlands-qa-aramis-knight-m-k?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_content=qa-aramis-knight-on-mks-struggle-with-his-dark-gift&utm_campaign=into-the-badlands)
Posted by Shavonne Bell
3 days ago
http://images.amcnetworks.com/amc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/into-the-badlands-202-mk-knight-qa-1200x707.jpg

Aramis Knight, who plays M.K. on AMC’s Into the Badlands, talks about facing off against himself, what’s difficult about reverse choreography and the biggest lesson M.K. has yet to learn.

Q: How did you prepare, both physically and mentally, to come back for Season 2?

A: Just like we did in Season 1, they sent us through a training period. We did six weeks of training before we began filming, which was huge not only for the martial arts but for the cast dynamic and cast chemistry. It’s hard to keep up without that bit of training. A lot of us train in the off-season and we all became better martial artists even when the show wasn’t on, so coming back, we were really prepared. I learned a lot last season that I was able to apply towards the second season, which I was really happy about. Besides Daniel Wu, no one had martial arts experience, but we all caught a knack for it. We knew it was such an important part of the show and we all really applied ourselves.

Q: What’s it been like digging into M.K.’s past and understanding more about his dark mysterious power?

A: It’s been really awesome. I’m really appreciative that he’s sort of the spiritual guide of the show. No one’s ever done that on a martial arts show since the ‘80s, so it’s nice to be a part of a new revolution. Everyone really feels for him and can relate to his journey as he’s trying to find his way home. I think there’s going to be loads of people out there who can find some refuge in the character of M.K.

Q: In Episode 2, you literally get to play your character’s dark side. How does your approach change when playing that version of M.K.? Is it tough walking that fine line and finding a balance?

A: It’s really rough because you have to differentiate between the two characters. You have to understand when M.K. is in his altered state and when he’s in his normal state. That was something I really had to make very distinct and I was doing costume changes every ten minutes. It was something I really had to think about and understand. I worked with Paco [Cabezas] and Nick [Copus] and all of our other directors as well.

Q: How were those scenes pulled together where M.K. faces off against himself? What was the biggest challenge of shooting them?

A: I would say the biggest challenge is learning the reverse of the choreography. When you work one-on-one in choreography, you’re relying on the other person to know their part as well, but then when you switch, it’s really confusing because you’re relying on what you’re doing and you have to remember what the other person was doing. It was difficult to remember the moves and then remember to do the opposite. If you’re hitting right, you’re blocking left, so each time I had to remember what I was doing last time. It was difficult but at the same time, it was amazing. How many people can say they played not just two characters but two versions of one person? I think it’s really awesome and it leaves the audience to think about what it means to them.

Q: A fellow novice saw his own dark power as something to be praised. How does M.K. see his?

A: For M.K., it’s a bit more of a burden than it is a blessing. Whereas some of the boys have thrived on the bloodthirsty killing that comes with the power, M.K. has gone through so much because of it. He’s lost his mom because of it and he’s probably killed loads of people that he never meant to kill. It’s something that constantly hangs over his head. I think M.K. has a sense of empathy that I think is lacking in the Badlands and among the boys his age in the world. I think that’s something very new that you see. You also see him spark something in Sunny as well when we see Sunny’s good side. You really start to see his true colors and not the trained killer he’s perceived as.

Q: The Abbot Monastery looks quite peaceful. What was it like filming there? Did you find any places to take a breather?

A: Absolutely. It was very relaxing. There were candles everywhere! I loved working with Chipo Chung [the Master], who’s an amazing actress, and she did so much for the show and made me feel so comforted. That was something that was really necessary for the Monastery, and you want [the audience] to wonder if it’s a good place for M.K. or a bad place for him. I think, slowly, you start to realize it’s a bit of both.

Q: How does the dynamic between M.K. and the Master develop as he undergoes this journey of transformation?

A: It’s similar to how Sunny and M.K. worked it out and how Ava and M.K. worked it out with the teacher-pupil relationship, but I think something that’s very different about this is that M.K. doesn’t quite understand the Master’s motives. He understood that Sunny was trying to get him home and shared a common goal with him and he understands what Ava wants from him, but I don’t think he exactly knows what the Master has in store because she is a woman of so many secrets. He’s quite confused and maybe a bit off-put. Is she a mother figure or is this his demise? He has to make that own decision for himself.

Q: What’s the biggest lesson you think M.K. has to learn before he can leave the Monastery?

A: I think his biggest lesson is to not underestimate any opponent, whether it’s someone who’s older or smaller, and to really try his best no matter what. I think you saw that in Season 1 with Waldo, but you see it even more in Season 2 with Ava. He under-appreciates the value Ava has fighting-wise and the wisdom she’s gained from living at the Monastery her whole life. He teases her a bit and gets his ass kicked because of it.

Q: Similar to Sunny, M.K. is off in a totally new environment. What was your experience filming away from most of the cast?

A: It was quite different. I really enjoyed working with Daniel every day in Season 1 because our characters had such an amazing, father-son dynamic. That was something I relied on for Sunny and M.K. It was interesting to do my own thing and have him do his own thing, but it was really an adjustment and felt like a completely different show. It was all about Sunny and M.K.’s journey together, but now it’s our journey back to each other. We see a lot of progression in the characters and it’s cool to see them still be so persistent in finding each other even while separated.

[GeneChing]

I'm with Team Widow. She has all the finest sword hotties (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?41007-Sword-hotties).


Into the Badlands Q&A — Emily Beecham (The Widow) (http://www.amc.com/shows/into-the-badlands/talk/2017/04/into-the-badlands-qa-emily-beecham-the-widow?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_content=qa-emily-beecham-on-how-the-widow-will-walk-the-walk&utm_campaign=into-the-badlands)
Posted by Shavonne Bell
3 days ago

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Emily Beecham, who plays the Widow on AMC’s Into the Badlands, talks about her character’s goal to uproot the system, the vulnerabilities she sees in playing her, and why the Widow and Waldo are working together now.

Q: What was your training like for Season 2? Did you do anything differently?

A: My training for Season 2 was more yoga-based. It was slightly adjusted and we worked more on strength and flexibility. It was three weeks long and it was a more gradual training, which was helpful. I had to start at 100 miles per hour with doing that first scene in Episode 1, which was a week-long shoot, and most of it was me going up and down staircases with a katana. I’ve learned a lot about my body and how to keep it healthy to be able to do these extreme things, and it’s had an effect on my life. You have to look after your muscles and joints because the fighting is very high impact, and you could very easily injure yourself. There are aches that don’t go away for a long time if you don’t look after yourself. I’m definitely a lot more flexible, which makes things a lot easier. [Laughs]

Q: How would you describe the new dynamic between the Widow and Tilda, who’s taking on more responsibilities as a Regent now?

A: Tilda is growing up. She’s becoming a woman and starting to form strong opinions of her own. So, it’s natural that she’s going to start questioning the Widow, challenging her and not wanting to do all the things the Widow wants her to do. The dynamic shifts a bit and the Widow starts to lose a little bit of power over her. It starts to become more of an equal relationship and more of a friendship of trust and accomplice, rather than the motherly relationship like in Season 1. Tilda provides the Widow with strength and encourages her when the Widow is being doubtful. She’s becoming a supporting team member.

Q: In Episode 3, even the Widow questions why Waldo’s helping her for nothing in return. Is there reason to be suspicious of his loyalty considering he betrayed his own Baron?

A: He probably believes the other Barons are worse options, and she’s the better of all the evils. [Laughs] She’s got more progressive ideas and is more willing to compromise and try to do something different, so I think that’s probably the appeal for Waldo. He treats her like she’s naive and like she doesn’t properly understand the consequences and repercussions of her actions, so he’s trying to guide her because she’s quite impulsive.

Q: Waldo has also mentioned “blowing up the whole system.” Are they a good fit for each other?

A: I think they make a good team. He’s had so much experience and has the wisdom, which she lacks, and she’s got the power and the money and the will. I think they make a really strong team if they can learn to get along. If they make the right choices, they’re a very strong team together. One has what the other lacks and vice-versa.

Q: Can you say more about the Widow’s ambitious vision for the future and giving her followers free will to join her?

A: Her ideals are the same as in Season 1. She still questions herself, which is good. She questions her ideals and doesn’t get side-tracked by the thrill of gaining power in the competition. She’s very driven in that way, but she also cares quite deeply for her cause. She often checks in on herself and whether she’s capable of being a good leader. She has to step into these shoes now that she’s gained power and a lot more followers. Now, she has to walk the walk. Her goals are very much the same, but her situation is changing quite quickly.

Q: Do you think the political aspects that come along with that are more than she bargained for?

A: She knows that words aren’t really her thing even though she’s really good at swinging a sword and being a warrior. That’s what makes her nervous – that she won’t be able to step up to the mark. She starts to realize she does need an advisor and that’s why she has Waldo. She’s only human at the end of the day.

Q: At the end of the episode, the Widow is walking into a tricky situation at the Baron conclave. Do you see your character as fearless or can you identify some of her vulnerabilities?

A: She’s fearless to a certain extent, but when she has to face this very real situation, she doesn’t quite know what to do and she knows she has to behave like she does. In order to press further with who you want to become, you have to take risks, put yourself out there… That’s the only way to discover you’re actually capable. She may find that she has the talent, but she doesn’t know if she’s just going to be lousy. There’s a lot to lose. There are a lot of people who are relying on her and need her to succeed. There’s a lot at stake for herself, for her cause, and for her Clippers and Cogs and everyone who follows her.

Q: What does it mean to you to play such a strong, empowered woman? What do you hope she represents for viewers?

A: I hope she represents a strong woman with a mind to create. She has all the qualities of other male Barons, and she’s a force to be reckoned with. She’s an independent female leader and she’s got a lot of different sides to her. It’s such an exciting role to play.

Q: As the Widow continues towards her hopes of leading a revolution, what will be some of her biggest challenges?

A: She’s already gained a lot of followers, which was her goal in Season 1, but her next challenge is to actually make these changes that she’s promised and to make it all happen. Her biggest challenge is to make the right decisions as a leader and make a positive impact to actually change the whole system of the Badlands in the way that she has promised. She has to negotiate with these other Barons, who are quite dangerous, in order to keep her position while at the same time she’s fighting for her cause. It’s a bit of a juggling act for her.

Read a Q&A with Aramis Knight, who plays M.K.

Watch full episodes of Into the Badlands on Xbox One, Apple TV, Roku, AMC mobile apps and amc.com.

Into the Badlands airs Sundays at 10/9c.

[GeneChing]

INTERVIEW, MARTIAL ARTS, TELEVISION

One-on-One with Into the Badlands’ Daniel Wu (https://thenerdsofcolor.org/2017/04/03/one-on-one-with-into-the-badlands-daniel-wu/)
AMC’s Into the Badlands is in their second season and are going strong with their viewership, storyline, and martial arts. Unlike other series that attempts the martial arts genre, Into the Badlands’ stellar moves can be attributed to executive producer, and star of the series, Daniel Wu.

The Nerds of Color got a chance to sit down and chat with the actor about the second season and what makes the show so appealing to audiences.

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LAURA: So, the series is getting a lot of comparisons with another controversial “martial arts” show that was released on the same weekend as season two of your show. Into the Badlands was deemed the cure to your Iron Fist blues and the show that Iron Fist should have been. With the controversy over the Asian American Iron Fist campaign and critics panning Iron Fist for the lack of martial arts, what are your thoughts regarding these issues?

DANIEL: I think if you’re going to sell a show as a martial arts show and you don’t have martial arts in it or the martial arts sucks, then that’s obviously a problem. When we created this show, Badlands, our main point was to try to bring Hong Kong level martial arts action to American television. That was our goal. That was our main goal. Everything else was trying to make a good show — secondary to that main goal. Of course, we want to have a good show so you have to have a good story, good characters, and all that kind of stuff. But, that’s what we were selling and that’s what we’re going to do. That’s what we did sell in the first season. I think, you know, again with this Marvel property, I don’t know because I haven’t seen it yet. But again, if you’re going to be selling martial arts, you guys should know how to fight well. If they don’t fight well, then that’s a big problem.

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In terms of the whitewashing issue, I don’t know if it’s a whitewashing issue because their character was already white to begin with. And, then you talk about cultural appropriation, I think Asian Americans need to chill out a little bit, because that’s like saying “white people can’t rap,” right? That’s like saying “Asian people can’t play American football” or Jeremy Lin shouldn’t be playing basketball. It’s ridiculous to say that white people can’t do martial arts. That’s cultural appropriation. I don’t buy that. That’s not fair. I mean, Bruce Lee, the King of Martial Arts, was key to bringing martial arts to America, not just Asian America. He taught white people. He taught black people. He taught all kinds of people. That’s my philosophy. Martial arts is an equalizer. It doesn’t matter what culture you’re from. If you feel like you’re weak, you can become strong. Martial arts can give that to you. It’s not about your race at all, in any way.

A lot of people had a lot of issues with Iron Fist because it was not whitewashing, but following the white savior trope — where the white guy saves Asian people or the white guys saves them using Asian methods.
Is that’s what happening in the show? I don’t know if he’s saving Asian people in that show. In the comics, it was a white guy who went to Asia to learn martial arts and comes back and becomes a superhero.

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There are some awkward moments where he’s speaking Chinese to a girl. There are also moments where he’s better than people who have been training their entire life.
Sure. If you made that character Asian, would all those issues still be a issue? If the character becomes Asian and he becomes better than his master, who has been training for thousands of years. It’s still an issue.

At the same time, if an Asian guy used a language to talk to a girl or study their background, it’s much more acceptable.
Yeah. I haven’t seen the show, so it’s really hard for me to really judge that. I want to be fair. At the same time, they are obviously paying for their mistakes now. I’ve seen the backlash, so I know people are ****ed off. I feel, probably what happened is, what you can blame there was an opportunity for Marvel to make it better and they didn’t do it. That’s all I could say there.

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Into the Badlands has proven that a series can break away from the Asian martial arts trope with its character development. The character is not defined by their skill and instead is allowed to grow. What elements do you feel that Into the Badlands was able to accomplish with that?
I think what is interesting is that we don’t talk about race in the show at all, but it’s a very diverse show. There’s black, white, Latino, and other Asians, but we don’t talk about race. It’s about their abilities. It’s about what these people are doing. It’s about their stories. So, we don’t make it an issue about race. That’s what I like about it. I don’t know if I could do a show about Asian American issues. That’s kind of boring to me. Having grown up in America as an Asian American and then lived in Asia for twenty years, then come back. I’m not interested in Asian American whining. You know, “we’re not represented enough.” It’s like, go do it. That’s the kind of person I am. I don’t sit around and complain and wish I had better opportunities. I make the opportunities happen for me. I think that’s what we need to do as Asian Americans now. There are no boundaries, especially now with the digital era. If you want to make film and put it on YouTube, you can. Look at all these people who are YouTube stars right now. They’re Asian American. They’re doing it. They found a way to make it work for them. I give all those people a lot of credit for it.
continued next post

[GeneChing]

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I’m very proud that we’re diverse without having talked about “diversity.” Like, these characters, Sunny and Veil — that relationship — a black woman and an Asian man. You’ve never seen that on anything in the world ever actually before. I think it’s very cool that we’re just people in love. We’re not a black person or Asian person. We’re just people in love. We’re trying to have this baby. It’s very cool. I’m proud of that. We’re being diverse without raising a diversity flag, because that’s not what the show is about. Again, what we’re trying to do is make a good show and if it happens to be diverse. Those are great bonuses to jump along with, but that shouldn’t be the catalyst for the show. That shouldn’t be what makes the show run.

Director and stunt woman extraordinaire Lexi Alexander has highly praised Into the Badlands as a whole. Many of the cast and creatives have also interacted with her on Twitter. Is there any chance of a collaboration with Into the Badlands or even outside of the series?
Yeah, I think we’re open to all kinds of possibilities for our show, especially with television directors. We switch out directors every two episodes. So with a ten-episode season, that means there are five directors per season. So there’s a lot of opportunities to work with great people. So if they’re a good storyteller, then I’m definitely open to the fact to bring them in.

Into the Badlands has been praised for its strong female characters. Aside from Veil, there were few WOCs on the show last season, but this year we have The Master and Baron Chau. Was it a conscious decision to include more WOC characters?

I would say it was a conscious decision to add more characters of color, I think, to be more diverse. Yeah. So you see it this season in the first episode, you see a lot of the Butterflies in the background, there’s all kinds of girls there. That is a conscious decision to reflect upon what we think American society would be in the future and what it is now. I think most people, when you talk about the post-apocalyptic genre, it’s not really about the future, it’s reflecting on what’s happening right now. So, to reflect on now, you have to be true to that. So, we definitely made the decision to cast more diverse with all the roles, whether it’s female or male. You’ll see the other barons. There are a few other barons that are different races and different sexes. We’re trying to make a world that everyone can understand and relate to.

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In an article last year, you made a statement that you would have to wait a bit to see what impact Into the Badlands has made for people, whether it’d be in the Asian American community or the martial arts world. Since this is the second season, and it has been highly praised, what impact do you feel the series has made?

I mean, I think we made a little blip on the pop culture meter for sure. I mean, in multiple levels. One, we have a martial arts show that is successful on television right now. There aren’t many martial arts shows, so that was one of our main points. Then secondly, to have the action lauded as it is. People love the action. People come back for the action. Then to have a great story that happens to be with a very diverse cast. That’s also a great thing that people are in to. There are characters that people can get into, whether you want to follow Sunny’s storyline or not. Some people just like the Widow. The #ColorMeBadlands Twitter people just love Sunny and Veil and that relationship. So that’s what I think is great about the show.

It doesn’t just follow one person or one storyline. There are multiple storylines. As an audience, if you’re a teenager or a twelve-year-old, you might be really into MK and Tilda and their storyline. If you’re a full grown adult, you might be into the Sunny storyline. You might be into Quinn’s storyline. There are so many different things there for everyone to relate to. Then, [you’ll see] what these characters and storylines represent in the real world. What are they trying to say? And, that’s all in the subtext. I think we slide all that stuff in there for the audience trying to figure out what we’re talking about. You’ll see references. You’ve seen episode two with the wall. There are all these references that we’re talking about and we’re putting them in there as kind of Easter eggs, but also to get people thinking a bit more. This is a show about the future and about how the world got ****ed up and how it ended up this way. We’re putting in things about how that happened. You have to be careful as a human race, as Americans, and how we run this country in the future. It could end up like the Badlands and we don’t want that to happen.

It’s almost time to wrap up, but what can you tell us more about your role in the new Tomb Raider film starring Alicia Vikander since you’ve entered production for the film?

I can’t talk too much, but the character is named Lu Ren. Lara Croft comes to Hong Kong after she finds some clues about [her father]. It’s an origin story, so it goes back to the very beginning before she becomes Lara Croft: Tomb Raider that you know from the game. She’s looking for her dad. The story is that her dad has disappeared for seven years. She thinks he’s dead, but she finds some clues [showing] that he may still be alive. That leads her to Hong Kong and that’s where she finds me and enlists me to help her along this journey to go to this place where her father might be. So I’m there to help her along with her journey.

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Is there a potential love interest or friendship?

It’s more of a partnership because there is something that I’m also looking for as well. I wouldn’t say it’s a love relationship. It’s more of a partnership.

They're calling Into the Badlands 'the cure to the Iron Fist blues'. I don't think that's really fair because ITB is it's own thing, but given the Netflix Marvel precedents, I get it.

[MightyB]

"However, there hasn't been an American TV series with an Asian male lead that wasn't a comedy. Daniel Wu is carving a new path for Asian leads by sword. Actually, it's two swords."

Ohara - Series which aired on ABC in 1987 starring Pat Morita. First television series to have a Japanese-American actor in the leading role.

Vanishing Son - Syndicated Action Television Series - Made for TV movies 1994, series debut 1995. The series was ground-breaking for the casting of an Asian male (Russell Wong) in an attractive leading-man role.

Martial Law - Syndicated Action Television Series (CBS) - 1998 to 2000. Starring Sammo Hung.

[Jimbo]

Very true, MightyB.

I would point out that (AFAIK) the first TV series to have a Japanese-American in the leading role was Mr. T & Tina, back in 1976, also starring Pat Morita. It only ran a few episodes. However, it was a spinoff of Welcome Back, Kotter and was a sitcom.

[GeneChing]

I classify both Ohara and Martial Law (and Mr. T. & Tina) as comedies. Vanishing Son was a mini-series - four made-for-TV movies - so not a TV series in the conventional sense, especially back then.

[Jimbo]

I classify both Ohara and Martial Law (and Mr. T. & Tina) as comedies. Vanishing Son was a mini-series - four made-for-TV movies - so not a TV series in the conventional sense, especially back then.

Gene,

I seem to remember Vanishing Son as an actual series with hour-long episodes, in addition to the made-for-TV movie(s). I also thought that Ohara was more or less a serious MA cop series (I only watched a maybe 2 or 2 or 3 episodes).

[GeneChing]

I remember Vanishing Son as four films that were broken up into a series, however I do see your point. Perhaps it was the other way around. Ohara was a TV version of Morita's Mr. Miyagi, akin to how Martial Law (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=216) was a TV version of Rush Hour (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=725), but from what I remember, it was a lot like Sergeant T.K. Yu (1978). Perhaps I'm blurring those two shows. You know how all Asians look alike :p Nevertheless, both shows were clearly built on the same framework, the same formula. Again, point taken.

[GeneChing]

Friday, 3:00 pm
Daniel Wu Talks INTO THE BADLANDS Season Two (http://screenanarchy.com/2017/04/daniel-wu-talks-into-the-badlands-season-two.html)
Timothy Tau
CONTRIBUTOR

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Season 2 of AMC’s “Into The Badlands” premiered on March 19th, and if the first three episodes are any indication, viewers are in store for the same stellar martial arts action, mythical characters (with the addition of Nick Frost’s “Bajie”) and dramatic, near Shakespearean-like storylines of the first season, but taken to an unprecedented new level of badassery. I got the chance to sit down and chat with the show’s star and Executive Producer, Daniel Wu, about a number of different topics, including the direction Season 2 is headed in, his contributions to the writer’s room, Iron Fist, how the fact that the cast is now well-trained in martial arts leads to a greater variety of fight scenes (e.g. Krav Maga, Jiu-Jitsu, Jackie-Chan-esque fights), how an abandoned spa resort in Dublin, Ireland served as the perfect, anachronistic sound stage for multiple interior sets, the Ghost in the Shell casting controversy, Sunny’s seven different wardrobe changes this season, Mr. Wu’s upcoming roles in the new Tomb Raider and Geostorm films, and much more.

Tau: First of all, congrats on Season 2! I saw the first three episodes, and to me, the series is probably the best show on AMC. The most action-packed and thrilling one at least.

Wu: Cool, thanks man. I’m proud of this season because I feel we’ve stepped it up from last season.

Tau: Definitely, I really got that sense too. As far as the genre of martial arts shows, or shows involving fighting, you’re show is probably the only one out there right now: there is Iron Fist, however, but I saw that several critics were saying that Into The Badlands is a cure for how bad Iron Fist is.

Wu: (laughing) yeah, at first I was nervous about the competition. But now I kind of feel bad for them, because they are getting slammed so hard. It’s one thing to be bad or whatever about the martial arts, it is still something that a lot of people put a lot of effort into, so to get slammed like that – I’ve definitely worked on projects where I’ve been on that end of the stick before and so it kind of sucks. I’m happy for us but at the same time kind of feel bad for them, but [simultaneously] it’s like if you’re going to do a martial arts show, then you’ve got to step the **** up.

Tau: And also the controversy or cultural appropriation issue of how they could have went with an Asian American lead –

Wu: Yeah but you know what, I think that’s people going a little too precocious on that because originally the character was written white – it wasn’t like it was a whitewashing thing. It’s not like you are talking about a “Ghost in the Shell issue,” right? And I still don’t actually buy the Ghost in the Shell whitewashing issue either, and I certainly don’t buy into the cultural appropriation bull**** because that’s saying [for Iron Fist] that “only Asians are allowed to do martial arts” then that means only black people can play basketball and rap? That means Jeremy Lin shouldn’t be playing basketball? And Eminem shouldn’t be rapping? That’s bull****, you know. So I know Asian Americans are angry, but they should calm down and choose the correct fight in that case – I agree that Marvel missed the chance of doing something interesting and casting against the race – they could have done that – and that would have given them some credit, but they didn’t, so what are you going to do about it? I think the important thing is that everyone learned a lesson from that – including people that weren’t involved, so I think we just need to move forward, that’s all.

Tau: That’s one great aspect about your show – that its centered by an Asian American lead and just historically, there probably hasn’t been too many action/drama shows like that – I’m just thinking of Russell Wong in Vanishing Son and that’s the only example I can think of off the top of my head. So I think that’s really exciting I’m sure to many Asian American viewers.

Wu: What I’m most proud about is that we’re not waving the Asian American flag around – we’re not going “this is an Asian American show” – it’s just a cool show, that just so happens to have an Asian American lead, you know? And I think that is kind of more interesting to me than [saying] “we’re going to make a show that puts Asian Americans out there.” I’m not sure if I really want to be involved in [something like] that. Going back to when I was in college, I was part of the Asian American Student Union, I remember that there was a lecture one day about Asian American art, there were a couple of artists and a couple of gallery people and they were talking about how they needed to create an Asian American community for Asian American artists and blah, blah, blah and I actually raised my hand and I go – I was studying architecture at the time – “look, I’m studying architecture, I want to be known as a good architect, not just a good Chinese American architect,” you know what I mean? So that puts us in a corner. To be able to be truly successful Asian American [artists] I feel that you have to be successful to the mainstream audience and not just a niche. Of course we want the Asian American audience to back us up on this, but we also want a larger audience, we want Black America, we want Latin America, we want White America, we want everybody to like this show.

Tau: It’s clear that it’s a high-quality show first and foremost, that doesn’t necessarily have a cultural or political agenda – and that’s part of its success.

Wu: Yeah, there’s no agenda. Our agenda is just to create a show that kicks a lot of ass on TV and I think we’re doing that.

Tau: I think the same goes for a lot of shows like Fresh Off the Boat, Dr. Ken, etc. – they are funny and well-written and it just so happens that they portray this aspect of America, from the different perspectives of these characters.

Wu: It’s interesting to see on ABC that they have Blackish (about an African American family), The Goldbergs (a Jewish American family) and Fresh Off The Boat (about a Taiwanese American family) because all three are pretty similar shows, the premises are similar, just about different types of families in the white suburbs. I think all three are successful because whatever race you are, you’ve felt that experience before, being a fish out of water.

Tau: I feel one of the reasons why your show is so successful is the quality of the writing – there are so many things going on with Season 2, and reviewing Season 1 – I thought that there was a lot of overarching, almost Shakespearean themes with the family of Quinn [Martin Csokas] and Lydia [Orla Brady] and Ryder [Oliver Stark] as well as Jade [Sarah Bolger] and how Lydia went back to her father – and an interesting arc with MK [Aramis Knight] where he is confronting his dark side which reminded me of an arc in the Naruto manga/anime, a similar trope.

Wu: Actually that idea came from somewhere else, these books I read when I was learning martial arts – written by Carlos Castaneda, called The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge and its actually about (laughing) hallucinogenic drugs and spiritual awakening, using mescaline and peyote and all those things – so the character was led by a Shaman and he would take these drugs and go into a trance and he would meet his darker side. And peyote and all these drugs were meant for the warrior class of Native Americans, and what they would do is at 13 or 14 they would make [boys] take this stuff and they would get high, and they would go into this other trance state and they would fight their darker selves, and when they won that self, they became a man. And once you were able to battle [and beat] that demon, you finally were a real man, and a true warrior. So I gave that idea to the writer’s room in the beginning.

Tau: That’s actually my question – to the extent that you are an EP, the writing is really strong, what can we look forward to Season 2 for the writing and how much are you involved in that?

Wu: This season we are going to get back to what we really wanted to write the story about – that it’s a spiritual journey for all the characters, especially Sunny, especially MK, it’s all about a spiritual transformation – so everyone is going through something different in their lives but they are all going through a change. And so Sunny’s transformation is that in Season 1, his backstory is that he’s only killed his whole life, he’s killed all these people, 444 people, and suddenly, with the realization that he’s created a life, everything changed for him at that point – and it almost threw him into a whirlwind where he couldn’t function, saying he really did not want to kill anymore, I don’t understand that this is the right thing, etc., and he is realizing that he has been brainwashed. So suddenly, he’s trying to get out of that situation. Now, he’s focused on how his girl (Veil [Madeleine Mantock]) is pregnant, she probably had the baby, and he’s dead-set on trying to find her, so he’s on a quest to reunite with his family and get revenge on Quinn. Whereas last season he wasn’t sure if he was going to take out Quinn or not because he owed him loyalty, I mean this guy raised him, provided his life and gave him everything that he has – so it wasn’t easy for Sunny to stab him, so a lot of people are saying with that stab (at Season 1’s end) why didn’t Sunny really kill Quinn and it is like Sunny just couldn’t do it. Now, Sunny wishes he ****ing did it. This whole season he is in a regret not doing it, so he’s on a rampage to get his girl and the baby back. continued next post

[GeneChing]

Tau: Yeah, that cliffhanger at the end of S02E01 where Quinn is revealed to be still alive and helping Veil give birth to Sunny’s son was a nice touch.

Wu: That gives Sunny his motivation this season. To rid himself of his past. The tattoos also become even more symbolic this season because he can’t shake them off. So he’s trying to get past that – and can he, can he even, can you even erase your past? It’s a big moral question for him – in Episode 3, he runs into an ex-clipper, a legendary clipper that everyone thought disappeared, someone that Sunny can look up to as a former regent, and this guy challenges him metaphorically and spiritually. So they get into a fight later – it’s not a real fight about who wins, it’s an actual symbolic fight about their spiritual journey – it’s really cool, it’s interesting, it’s not just a plot device, it’s something that changes him.

Tau: Is that character a reference to the Sandy character in the Journey to the West mythology?

Wu: Not really.

Tau: Because my next question is about Nick Frost, who plays the “Bajie” character – I guess a reference to Zhu Bajie or “Piggy”/”Pigsy” from the Journey to the West.

Wu: Yeah, the name [or reference] is obvious – about who he is.

Tau: When I first saw the trailer for Season 2, I was like “Oh man, that is Nick Frost.” Just blown away by how cool and awesome that was. How did he get involved in the project? That’s just such a great casting choice.

Wu: Miles our show runner and producer reached out to him, and he was interested, and I wasn’t sure if he wanted to do a show like this and didn’t know if he would – but he did it and he was such a great add to the show because I think what we lacked last season was a bit of levity. So his scenes are a lot of fun, and we need to loosen points here and there otherwise it just becomes too heavy, you know? So I think his character is great. Plus, we don’t know who the **** he is. Right now he has betrayed me and befriended me in the same episode. And now I’m physically stuck with him and have to rely on him to get me back into the Badlands. So for better or worse I’m stuck with him, so it’s an interesting character. He’s mysterious and funny. And he has some hidden skills there that we eventually discover. So he was a great add and it was awesome to work with him. Like laughing every day on set. I love that guy, it was a perfect add for the show. Both the actor and the character.

Tau: And I saw Stephen Lang, who plays your former mentor Waldo; it seems like his role is more like an advisor to the Widow, and part of the Season 2 trailer there were like other members – like the Widow is putting together this cabinet of advisors. Her “daughter” Tilda [Ally Ioannides] is the new Regent as well.

Wu: She is creating her own team now. She has taken back her property and her baronship. And now she has to convince the other barons that she deserves that position. So we get to see the other barons this time at the Conclave, where they all meet up, which is going to happen. So you will see the other barons. We talked about them last season. You only saw Jacoby last season. So in this season we get to see the rest of them – again, we are expanding upon what we started last season – and we are really showing the world that we talked about. The world-building continues – you get to see the rest of the barons, you are seeing the Outlying Territories that really shows the world inside the Badlands wasn’t so bad after all, because the Outlying Territories is pretty nasty out there – it’s killed or be killed.

Tau: That’s what Nick Frost’s character says, that “the Outlying Territories makes the Badlands look like Greatlands.”

Wu: Yeah, exactly. So that’s relatively true. You see that there was slavery and a lot of stuff happening in the Badlands but at least there was peace there. People weren’t getting slaughtered left and right. Whereas in the Outlying Territories, you never know when you might die – it could be in the next minute.

Tau: And speaking of slaughter – every time the Widow’s [Emily Beecham] fight scenes come on – Emily Beecham is such a badass – they are the most incredible to witness, for example the one that took place in Episode 1 at the factory. That was the highlight – being able to see that. And I saw a video on the AMC Youtube channel, which said that as cast members, every day you guys train or have a pretty strict training regime.

Wu: We had a five week fight camp before filming: 5 weeks of training, 5 days a week from 9-6 every day. So it was quite intense.

Tau: Is there anything you are doing different for this season compared to Season 1 as far as the fight choreography or the training?

Wu: Well we were able to elevate the training because in Season 1 all the other actors didn’t know any martial arts. So we had to start from zero. And then in the interim [between Season 1 and 2] we had a 15 month break, and during that break the actors kept working, kept training, and they actually got better – so when we got into fight camp, most people were at a different level compared to where they were the first time. So we were able to expand on that; that was great. And we were able to work on different things – adding new weapons, adding things like that. In terms of the fight choreography, and the design for the fights in the Season, we are trying to do different things almost every fight, there are so many fights – so you have to have a lot of different variety so you look at Episode 2’s “Lydia” fight, when she kills those two nomads, that wasn’t really a martial arts fight, it was more of a visceral, raw thing where it transformed her character – and probably she never really killed anyone before, and this is the first time she killed someone, and you saw how it affected her through her acting. And so that was a different fight than most of the other fights. Then we have the Bajie/Sunny fight chained together, which was very Jackie Chan-esque, it had a bit of comedy in it, we had the bit where I tried to punch Mouse but I couldn’t get to him because of the chain, Bajie is making funny remarks – and I eventually use the chain to flip him over me and smash that Mouse character – and then finally at the end, that double kick through the fan, blood and guts spraying everywhere.

Tau: Right, I was expecting someone to get kicked into that fan.

Wu: Yeah (laughing). We are just trying to do different things, and in the MK vs. MK fight, which is more of a traditional wuxia movie type of fight, with the wirework, etc.

Tau: A lot of the angles reminded me of that.

Wu: It was in a forest and very reminiscent of something from House of Flying Daggers or something like that. So we are constantly trying to change it up, because this show is all about the fights, and if you do it all the same, it will be really boring – but eventually no matter how cool they are, if you do them the same way every time, then they become predictable, they become boring, so we wanted to change that all up. So every fight this season we kind of changed the game and upped it a bit. And we do different things every time. And I think that’s our M.O. for the whole series. And that’s the biggest challenge in choreographing these fights – it is to make it different. In the first episode, where I had to fight in that wooden stock-thing. In the original script, the chain comes out then I attack, right? In the original script we actually get unlocked out of those things and then I start to attack. But Master Didi was like, you know it would be much cooler if Sunny stayed in that thing. It would be much cooler, right? And we were like yeah, yeah totally. And everyone was surprised to hear that. And I actually agreed on it too, but I regretted it afterwards.

Tau: (Laughing) yeah, because you had to do the actual work.

Wu: That ****ing thing was [heavy] – we had a light version made out of balsa wood, on the first strike I did the whole thing broke apart – and we didn’t have any spares so I had to use the real one for the rest of the fight. So it was like a 15 pound thing. And then, to get in and out of it, it was a pain in the ass. So a lot of times between takes I just stayed in it. I would be in that thing for like an hour or two at a time. And it really felt horrible to be in that thing, so after the 4 days with shooting in that thing, that was the end of it.

continued next post

[GeneChing]

Tau: Well your efforts really paid off because that made for the greatest first fight scene in the intro – including that song “Only Human” from Rag N’ Bone Man that plays as we see a crane shot of the mine Sunny is relegated to. The whole opening sequence was just phenomenal.

Wu: It’s interesting to me because we chose that song a long time ago – and then it became a hit – so now that it’s a hit it became really appropriate for the show, and for the situation at that moment.

Tau: Where are most of the shooting locations? Are the Outlying Territories, the mine, and the forest all the same location?

Wu: They pretty much are. Season 2 was all shot in Ireland. That totally opened up the show for us because New Orleans was great for that Southern antebellum vibe [in Season 1], but it’s really flat – it’s just swamp, swamp and more swamp – everything you look around New Orleans is just flat – so there is really nothing to see there. But Ireland is completely the opposite. Like within a half-an-hour of our main production facility, you’ve got mountains, you’ve got ocean, you’ve got waterfalls – all those locations are within half-an-hour from our basecamp. So it was extremely convenient and you get so many great looks within a really close proximity. Which makes the show much more epic visually and much more cinematic.

Tau: Yeah, it felt that Season 2 has an enhanced look cinematically and just everything has gotten an upgrade: also in terms of the wardrobe as well, the colors seem to just pop more, I was also wondering if you could comment on the wardrobe – you see Sunny at the beginning of Season 2 in miner’s rags but later on in preview shots you see him wearing a cool non-clipper suit or costume.

Wu: I go through seven outfit changes this season. Six or seven. Which is a big contrast to last season because I think I only had two outfits last season. Sunny goes through a lot this season because he is pretending to be different characters, and he’s getting back into the Badlands. So he’s taking on different roles and goes through a lot of different costume changes and has a lot of different great costumes. Our costume department knocked it out of the park – Giovanni [Lipari], an Italian designer, who worked on Penny Dreadful and things like that, did a really great job – not just for the main characters but like for all those pickers, and all the background actors, you should see our costume room – it’s a big, giant locker room full of clothes. And our Art Department really kicked ass, Stephen Daly our Production Designer – and Philip Murphy – our Props Designer – those guys knocked it out of the park. They did a really amazing job. Some of the sets are absolutely amazing. Our main production facility was at an abandoned spa resort that didn’t get finished due to the financial crisis in 2008, so we took it over and used it for our offices, but we were able to use all the derelict buildings on the site to build our sets.

Tau: That must have been a perfect fit. Like Quinn’s new hideout –

Wu: The Quinn hideout was supposed to be an indoor tennis court for the resort, so that got turned into a closed set. And the mines are actually in the parking structure. So in the spirit of the show, we were able to turn this ruin of a resort into what the show is about, which is kinda cool actually because it reflects on the show because [the sets] are [part of] an incomplete, run-down resort and we were able to make it look even messier and raw – a dozen or more sets were at that location.

Tau: The set design was amazing. Where was the set for that temple that MK is training at?

Wu: The interior of it was actually in one of the hotel buildings on that [resort] property. And the exterior was a location near us, about ten minutes away, called Powerscourt Waterfall. And obviously the temple for the waterfall is CGI.

Tau: And that old resort building, that was also all in Ireland as well?

Wu: Yeah, everything was in Dublin.

Tau: Those sets and locales really added another dimension to the show.

Wu: I think that [the sets/locales], combined with the deeper character development, the script writing, and the visuals, all that stuff, completely upped the game for our show, as well as the music, which is better this season as well [the show has an opening theme composed by Mike Shinoda]. continued next post

[GeneChing]

Tau: Are there any upcoming projects that you can talk about, maybe in film?

Wu: I have a movie called Geostorm coming out in October, which stars Gerard Butler, Jim Sturgess, Andy Garcia, Abbie Cornish. It’s set in the near future where a satellite system controls the world’s weather patterns so there are no more natural disasters. As the movie starts, a natural disaster starts happening so there is a glitch in the system – and my character works for the company that designed the system and I figure out what the problem is and that someone has been messing with it. Right now I am also in the middle of filming Tomb Raider.

Tau: Oh yeah, I think I read that somewhere – the reboot starring Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft?

Wu: Yeah, she’s the lead. It’s a reboot based off of the game reboot that was like 2013, the origin story of Lara Croft. I play a ship captain that helps her get her on the journey and help her along the way.

Tau: I have to also commend you on your performance in Go Away Mr. Tumor. I saw that on a flight to Taiwan and was very impressed by your performance – it was very moving, a very sad movie but it had its humorous parts. I think it did really well in the Chinese/Asia box office.

Wu: It broke some records, it did really well. It was a cool movie because we didn’t think it would be that huge and everyone believed in it. And it’s based on a true story that actually happened.

Tau: Right, that comic book artist?

Wu: Yeah she was a manga blogger. And she then started thinking about her situation with this rare form of brain cancer that she had, and she passed away. But like in the movie, she was just really optimistic and positive all the way through. And that was a really good example – because months before I did that movie, my Mom passed away from cancer. Which was a terrible experience for me – and to read that script and to see that perspective on cancer was kind of refreshing, and made me feel better about my Mom’s situation. That’s why I wanted to do the movie. And to get the kind of box office success it got was nice, and a grateful reward.

Tau: It was really a great film. Are you collaborating on any future Hong Kong projects with Stephen Fung?

Wu: We’re in talks on a few things right now, haven’t decided on anything yet. I have a break between Tomb Raider and Badlands but I’m not sure if I want to be working, because I’ve been working non-stop since July. If I don’t [take a break] that means I’ll go a year and a half without stopping, and I kind of need a break.

Tau: Certainly! Did Stephen also work on Into The Badlands?

Wu: Yeah, Stephen was on it this year. He wasn’t the fight director all the way through. He actually directed two episodes. Episodes 7 and 8 – he directed the drama – they are drama episodes. So 7 and 8 are his, and he did the fight direction for 9 and 10. And he also has a movie that he shot right before Badlands, that’s coming out soon, next year actually, starring Andy Lau and Jean Reno and Shu Qi, called “The Adventurers” but not sure what the English name is. But that is coming out and he is working on the post for it now. But he has been quite busy as well.

Tau: And did I hear you are working on something else TV-wise? Or is Badlands taking up most of your time?

Wu: Nah, I think Badlands consumes a lot of energy.

Tau: Are there any plans to do any film versions of Badlands? It might be rare since TV is where it might be “at” now.

Wu: Not at the moment. We are trying to focus on the show and trying to make each episode better and better. And I also like this long format because going into the show I wasn’t sure what I felt about working on a long TV serial. Just because I’ve done movies my whole career and wasn’t sure if I would have the attention span for it. So I would not get bored with the character over time. But you know it changes so much, this season the journey for Sunny is so different than last season that it has kept me interested – and that’s what has kept me attracted to the project as a whole – because it is about a journey of transformation. We talk about the martial arts, the badassness and everything else, but it’s about this transformation for all the characters, and that includes Sunny. And that is really what is really keeping me interested. Because what Sunny is going through with now was very different from what he was dealing with last season. Other shows, especially like network shows, that go on for 30 episodes – the characters are the same every single episode – every single year, every single season – I don’t think I could do that. I need to be able to take the character somewhere. And the fact that these characters change after every fight that they’ve been in, especially this season, because Sunny sort of loses his mojo and has to get it back – and he’s fighting for a reason now, instead of just killing for his boss. It’s a different thing – you’ll see that Sunny looks different now when he fights than last season. I think last season, there was more of a balletic smoothness and coldness to the way he fought: like very little facial expression, but now Sunny is ****ing mad, right? So he is fighting with emotion this season.

Tau: I was wondering about the foundational martial art(s) underlying Sunny’s technique? Is it kung-fu based or a mix of different styles?

Wu: Yeah, my base is Wushu. So it will always fall back on that. We use techniques from all kinds of martial arts. Basically because we have to make it a lot of variety of fights, we have to be adaptable, so we try to incorporate all different types of techniques – so last season we did a little bit of Jiu Jitsu, this season there is some Krav Maga, even this season – you’ll see Sunny’s new sword – after Episode 3 he gets a new sword, it’s not a Chinese sword at all, it’s a completely weird, two-handed crazy sword, and so I have to fight differently because it is very different than any other type of Wushu weapon I have ever used. So that’s one thing, but [the sword] has some Chinese elements to it: it has got these rings on it, it’s got these nine rings on it. All the different props and weapons bring out different styles and types of fights.

Tau: Like that scene in the final episode of Season 1 with MMA Champion Cung Le.

Wu: Yeah, did you see him in Season 2 Episode 1? He made an appearance. There may be another fight with him coming up this Season.

Tau: Awesome. Are you interested in directing any future episodes yourself?

Wu: I thought about it but I don’t think I would be able to direct, act and fight at the same time. I would probably just kill myself doing that, and [keep wanting to do takes again and again by saying] “let me just go for one more take” [over and over again]. I just need someone to tell me to stop. If there was an episode which I wasn’t in, I might consider directing it but right now I have my hands full.

Tau: Did you guys shoot digitally?

Wu: Yeah, last season we shot on the RED, and this season we shot on the Arri Alexa.

Tau: So how many episodes are in store for Season 2?

Wu: There will be 10 episodes this season, versus just 6 in Season 1. 7 and 8 are Stephen’s. Episode 10 is my favorite, it pushes to that final crescendo at the end. Episode 10 is just an amazing episode. My second favorite episode is episode 7, I don’t like to give too many spoilers: it’s very existential – not within the tone of the show but still within parameters of the show.

I have more content coming on INTO THE BADLANDS (AMC provided me with a ton of access for this season) but I'm splitting it up across several articles. This Screen Anarchy interview is long enough that it covers many of the same talking points I am covering and will cover in the upcoming coverage. Yeah, got that covered. ;)

[GeneChing]

What makes the Badlands so badass? Read INTO THE BADLANDS: Fight Camp – The 1st Chamber of the Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1351) by me.

[Jimbo]

A couple of weeks ago, I purchased the season 1 DVD that was on sale. Admittedly, when it first premiered, I wasn't overly impressed with the show, especially with some of the characters. I didn't see much prospect for it to last. But it grew on me, and I really began to like it. I hope it continues as long as it can keep on developing in an interesting way. Also, I wanted to support the show in some way, however small.

[GeneChing]

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15 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD BE WATCHING AMC’S INTO THE BADLANDS (http://www.cbr.com/watch-into-the-badlands/)
04.13.2017
by Pete Morrison

Comic book fans will likely recognize the names Miles Millar and Alfred Gough from their roles as co-creators and executive producers on the the Superman television series, “Smallville.” The creative duo teamed up with producers Stacey Sher, Michael Shamberg, Stephen Fung and Daniel Wu to bring “Into the Badlands” one of the most interesting and entertaining martial arts series to television. Premiering on AMC in the winter of 2015, “Into the Badlands” brought a decidedly different take on the post-apocalyptic genre of storytelling.

The second season of the show, which will be 10 episodes, recently began airing in March and given that the first season is also available on Netflix, now is the perfect time to catch up with the series. To that end here are 15 reasons we think you should be watching “Into the Badlands.”

15. REALISTIC GORE
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Television shows have long sanitized the results of their violence for broadcast television. The birth of first cable and then streaming programming has allowed creators to portray a higher level of violence and gore in their shows. Often, since they can go further, they use gore that is gratuitous and unnecessary for the stories, devolving into being little more than torture porn. Not every show needs to be as bloody as “Dexter” or as violent as “Game of Thrones.” Even AMC’s flagship series “The Walking Dead” often goes above and beyond with the gore because they can get away with it based on the conflict between zombies and humans.

“Into the Badlands” presents a world full of melee weapons and a relative peace maintained by forces of warriors. By nature, this story is going to revolve heavily around the violence that results from the rival factions coming into conflict. There is plenty of blood in the series, but it is realistic in the depiction of damage that the weapons used could do. When the show lingers on a scene of blood and gore, it does so for a reason like with Veil’s parents in the episode “Fist Like a Bullet.”

14. BEST FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY ON TV
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If you are going to hang your hat on being a martial arts series, then you need to do it right. Bringing in Hong Kong film veterans like Stephen Fung to co-executive produce and Daniel Wu to produce and star in the series was a great start, but the real secret may be the addition of martial arts coordinator Huan-Chiu Ku. The crew under the leadership of Ku, who is nicknamed Master Didi takes a different approach to the series’ fight choreography, running two production teams simultaneously a “drama unit” and a “fight unit.” This two-track production approach allows the fight unit to spend up to eight days filming the fight sequences for each episode.

Ku has the actors learn and film the fight sequences in short segments of 10-12 moves, this allows them to not have to memorize long sequences that can feel over rehearsed. The result of this approach is an impressive level of explosive fight scenes throughout the series.

13. SHORT FIRST SEASON
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The first season aired in 2015 from November through December and yes that is not a typo. Season one consisted of only six episodes, which is short even for what fans have become accustomed to in this sort of limited series format. At under 45 minutes for each episode, that means you can catch up on season one in a pretty manageable four and a half hour binge session.

For fans who watched season one as it aired, this means that there was a really long wait for new episodes from December 2015 until March 2017, but for folks who are just now discovering the series, it is great news. With very little effort, you will be able to catch up on season one and the early episodes of season two before we reach the 10th and final episode of season two. If you did watch the first season before, this also lends the season to easy re-watching as a refresher before you start season two.

12. DIVERSITY
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Diversity is a hot topic in entertainment right now and “Into the Badlands” handles this issue deftly. Set at an unspecified point far in the future, the series features a diverse cast of actors and actresses. The young lead character M.K. is played by Aramis Knight who has a mixed ethnic heritage of German, East Indian and Pakistani, while the adult lead of Sunny is played by Daniel Wu who is Chinese-American. This diversity extends to the rest of the cast as the female doctor Veil (Madeleine Mantock), the River King (Lance E. Nichols) and the Baron Jacobee are all played by actors of color. Disability is also addressed with the wheelchair bound character of Waldo played by actor Stephen Lang.

Each barony features a mixtures of races and sexes, though the Widow’s features a much higher percentage of women. The show doesn’t spend a great deal of time dealing with the racial or ethnic diversity that it portrays on screen, but it does for story reasons address both gender and physical handicap rather explicitly. The show handles these issues in a way that doesn’t take you out of the story, it all seems to fit well within the universe of the show.

11. LIVED IN UNIVERSE
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Houses, cars, motorcycles and other technology has survived in the Badlands but the ability to advance and mass produce technological items seems to have been lost to the ages. From medicine to agriculture, even to societal structure, everything seems like a throwback to an earlier ages in world history. There remains bits and pieces of modern society that seem almost anachronistic in the world, from plastic chairs stacked in the background to Waldo’s tin of collectibles that includes a green plastic army man.

Weapons and possessions of the Barons seem very well maintained and cared for but there is very little in this world that feels new. A real-world parallel is old automobiles in Cuba and how they are kept in use. This approach to technology allows for a production design that makes a large portion of the Badlands world recognizable without having to spend narrative time explaining what and how certain things exist.

10. THE PARADISE MYSTERY
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There are two central and related mysteries in the series, the first comes in the form of the mysterious place known as Azra. A city or possibly a larger area that is rumored to exist outside of the Badlands, and is believed to be the home of M.K. and other people who possess special abilities. M.K.’s motivation in the first season is to escape the Badlands and find a way to get to a home he doesn’t really remember.

Three of the main characters in the series have an item with the shining city of Azra depicted on it, M.K., Sunny and the Widow. M.K. possesses a medallion with the image, Sunny a compass and the Widow a book. Whether this place really exists or if it is a mythological place akin to the lost kingdom of Atlantis is yet to be explained. The search for a way to Azra will likely be a plot point that continues through most of the series.

9. THE SECRET POWER MYSTERY
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The second major mystery is the exact nature and origin of M.K.’s special powers. When M.K. is cut deep enough to bleed, his eyes turn black and he loses control. He becomes a one-man wrecking crew possessing superhuman strength, agility and fighting skills. With seemingly no control over his actions and little memory of what happens after he is cut, the power is as much a mystery to M.K. as it is to those around him.

The transformation is only temporary, however, and eventually M.K. reverts back to normal, except that after each use, he is physically exhausted and weakened. The Widow hints at some knowledge of the power and as the first season goes on, we learn more and more about it. There is also Penrith played by Lance Henriksen: a religious leader unaligned with any Baron and the estranged father-in-law to the Baron Quinn. Penrith has some knowledge about these special powers but the extent of his knowledge is not revealed. The first season ends with a promise of more exploration of this power in season two.

continued next post

[GeneChing]

8. SOAP OPERA WITH SWORDS
http://cbr0.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Jade-Lydia-Poppy-Field-Into-The-Badlands.jpeg?auto=format&cs=tinysrgb&q=20&w=864&h=432&fit=crop

“Into the Badlands” balances the heavy doses of action with a large cast of characters arraigned in a complex web of relationships. Romantic entanglements are all over the place and characters have conflicting duties between what they may want and what they are duty bound to do on behalf of their Barons. There are also relationships and back channels between the Baron’s chief deputies, the Regents like Sunny and Zephyr who represent Quinn and Jacobee respectively.

In season one the biggest drama centers around Quinn, his two current wives Lydia and Jade and his son Ryder. To say the family dynamics here are complicated would be an understatement. Quinn is an unforgiving Baron who controls his territory through violence and fear. His relationship history with Lydia is long and complicated while his relationship with Jade is fresher and more invigorating. Ryder’s closeness to his mother and relationship with Jade further complicates everything and helps fuels one of the major plots of the first season. All of this relationship drama would fit right in on any daytime soap opera.

7. LESS IS MORE WORLDBUILDING
http://cbr1.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Fort-Manor-Baron-Quinn-Into-The-Badlands.jpg?auto=format&cs=tinysrgb&q=20&w=864&h=432&fit=crop

Television shows often get in trouble when they attempt to create overly elaborate worlds. Worldbuilding that’s this elaborate takes lots of screen time and dialogue, expository and info dump after info dump gets in the way of both plot and character development in a show. This approach can also create a barrier of entry for viewers who don’t watch every episode but it can also fail with dedicated viewers when the show doesn’t pay off for some elements or simply ignores rules of the world that have been created.

The beauty of “Into the Badlands” is that it does enough world building to orient you, but doesn’t get bogged down in it. The opening narration to the series basically says it all: “The wars were so long ago nobody even remembers. Darkness and fear ruled until the time of the Barons, seven men and women who forged order out of chaos. People flocked to them for protection. That protection became servitude. They banished guns and trained armies of lethal fighters they called Clippers. This world is built on blood. Nobody is innocent here. Welcome to the Badlands.”


6. FATE VERSUS CHOICE
http://cbr2.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Sunny-MK-Leaving-The-Fort-Into-The-Badlands.jpg?auto=format&cs=tinysrgb&q=20&w=864&h=432&fit=crop

We enter the Badlands very much in media res. Baron Quinn is thinking about the future of his rule, the Widow has deposed her husband and taken his place as a Baron, M.K. bursts onto the scene and an already volatile situation is ignited. There are undercurrents of shifting power in the Badlands as allegiances are up for grabs and a new generation is feeling ready to take more control.

One of the central themes that these conflicts explore is the idea of fate versus choice, do you have control over your own destiny or are you a slave to it. In their own ways, almost every character in the series has to wrestle with this question. Tilda has to wrestle with her duty to her mother versus her feelings for a new acquaintance. Ryder needs to wrestle with his duty to his father versus his hunger for power. But the clearest example is Sunny and whether his role as Regent is all he is ever fated to be or can he have more can he have his own free life.

5. MENTOR-PROTEGE RELATIONSHIP
http://cbr2.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/MK-Sunny-Into-The-Badlands.jpg?auto=format&cs=tinysrgb&q=20&w=864&h=432&fit=crop

The Barons enforce their rule through the power of their Clippers, a class of warriors trained in both fighting and loyalty from youth. These Clippers begin as Colts, the Colts are the young initiates who the Barons select to begin the training. A Colt is taken by a Clipper as an apprentice to be given individual training outside of the group training that occurs.

When Sunny discovers the unusual powers that M.K. possesses, he takes him as his Colt, a move that is unusual for Sunny and raises the attention of Baron Quinn. The relationship between Sunny and M.K. is one that builds throughout the season, Sunny is conflicted between his duties to the Baron and to his protege, while M.K. unsure of how much he can trust his new mentor. Both characters have something they need from the other, but are slow to trust in a relationship. This dynamic is really the heart of the show’s first season.

4. STRONG CORE CAST
http://cbr1.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Core-Cast-Into-The-Badlands.jpg?auto=format&cs=tinysrgb&q=20&w=864&h=432&fit=crop

Season one introduces us to a large cast of characters such as Sunny (Daniel Wu), M.K. (Aramis Knight), Quinn (Marton Csokas), Ryder (Oliver Stark), Lydia (Orla Brady), Jade (Sarah Bolger), the Widow (Emily Beecham), her daughter Tilda (Ally Ioannides), and Veil (Madeleine Mantock). We also get a bunch of very interesting secondary characters such as Penrith (Lance Henriksen), Waldo (Stephen Lang) and Zephyr (Ellen Hollman) who help populate the world. In the second season, actor Nick Frost is introduced as Bajie and is a welcome addition to the cast.

The performances are strong across the board, but Beecham and Ioannides in particular as the Widow and Tilda deliver tremendous performances. The Widow possesses a history that is hinted at and a fighting skill that rivals Sunny, Beecham plays her as cunning and ruthless. Tilda is extremely capable but not as scarred as her mother, Ioannides players her in a way that shows some trace of innocence remains within this fierce killer. Both ladies deliver in the drama and action departments and serve as a great counterpoint to the work of Wu and Knight.

3. NO ONE IS A PURE HERO
http://cbr1.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Baron-Quinn-Clippers-Into-The-Badlandsjpg.jpg?auto=format&cs=tinysrgb&q=20&w=864&h=432&fit=crop

In a world as harsh as the Badlands, it seems nearly impossible for anyone to remain pure. The characters on the show are ones who inhabit a moral grey area simply as a necessary means of survival. Quinn rose up from a youth in the poppy fields, but now brutally enforces his rule, Sunny ritually tattoos himself after each kill and the Widow killed her own husband.

Even the characters who you think could or should be heroic commit morally questionable acts or have checkered pasts. Veil is a doctor and in a loving relationship with Sunny, but she is not above directly poisoning or at least suggesting the poisoning of people. M.K., the relative innocent youth at the center of the story, has killed and has willingly used his dark power even though he doesn’t fully control it and knows it can lead to horrible results. Everyone is enshrouded by the darkness of the Badlands and this makes for a very interesting storytelling.

2. SWORDS AND MORE SWORDS AND NINJA STARS
http://cbr2.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Tilda-Butterfly-Shrukien-MK-Into-The-Badlands.jpg?auto=format&cs=tinysrgb&q=20&w=864&h=432&fit=crop

The world of the Badlands sets up a reality where guns are no longer used. This absence of firearms allows for a return of weapons predominant in earlier eras of history, such as swords, axes, knives and throwing stars. The most common weapon among the elite classes are swords that feature unique designs applied to traditional styles of weapons.

The Widow wields a modified Chinese double jain, which is an ancient design featuring a double edged straight blade of around 30″ in length. These swords are very lightweight and wielded with a one-handed technique, and can fit two swords in one scabbard. Tilda is most known for her modified throwing stars that are in the shape of a butterfly. These butterfly shuriken are perhaps the most beautiful weapons on the show. Sunny wields two swords in season one — a longer modified katana and a shorter modified wakizashi — and he can wield the long sword alone or both swords together when he is facing multiple opponents.

1. DANIEL WU
http://cbr2.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Sunny-Delivers-Payment-To-River-King-Into-The-Badlands.jpg?auto=format&cs=tinysrgb&q=20&w=864&h=432&fit=crop

Every show needs a star and even though “Into the Badlands” has a great cast of actors, it is indisputable that the star of the show is Daniel Wu. The California-born actor has parents who immigrated from Shanghai, China. He visited Hong Kong in 1997 and began modeling there, which led to acting and a career in the Chinese film industry.

While the majority of his career is outside of Hollywood, he did play Gul’dan in “Warcraft: The Beginning” and has a role in the forthcoming “Tomb Raider” reboot. For many fans, “Into the Badlands” will be their first exposure to Wu as an actor and it is easy to see why he is so popular overseas. He is a dynamic actor whose real martial arts skills shine through and has even earned him the respect and friendship of fellow martial arts star Jackie Chan. Daniel Wu possesses all the qualities to have a huge second act of his career in America.

I would add one more reason: Sword Hotties (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?41007-Sword-hotties&p=1298567#post1298567).

[GeneChing]

Into the Badlands Is the Most Stylish Show on TV Today, and It Deserves an Emmy Nod (https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/04/into-the-badlands-is-the-most-stylish-show-on-tv-t.html)
By Jim Vorel | April 20, 2017 | 9:42am
Photos via AMC

https://cdn.pastemagazine.com/www/articles/into%20the%20badlands%20style%20main.jpg

If there’s a hierarchy of genres, in terms of which are allowed to receive some sort of critical accolade—especially in the form of a Primetime Emmy Award—then it’s safe to say that “martial arts” would have to occupy a spot at the very bottom of the totem pole. It’s difficult to imagine how transcendent a show involving hand-to-hand combat would have to be in order to be recognized for the sort of visual splendor that would garner an award in almost any drama or comedy. Even other “genre fare” gets more respect—recent years have been increasingly kind to science fiction, fantasy and even horror. But kung fu? Good luck getting a nomination for that, or even getting it on the air in the first place.

Look no further than AMC’s Into the Badlands. What we have here, as the show approaches the midpoint of its second season, is the most stylish, sumptuously designed TV show on cable today, but it’s received next to no critical attention for the aspects where it excels the most. From production design, to costuming, to choreography and stunts, the second season of Into the Badlands has already surpassed its first, bringing its audience a mythology-rich tribute to classic Hong Kong action cinema and wuxia films that is the closest thing we’ve ever seen on TV to a serialized version of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

I’m not here to make a case for the plot or storyline of Into the Badlands. It paints in broad, pulpy strokes, with faction vs. faction scheming and power plays that draw clear inspiration from the dueling houses in Game of Thrones. It lifts the tropes of classic Shaolin Temple films, full of students studying secret techniques and harnessing ancient, mystical forces to avenge slain family members. It gives us a cast of characters whose loyalties and rationalizations are in a constant, soap-operatic flux. Its morals are on the simple side. This isn’t a campaign to score the show a nomination for its writing.

But its visuals? Its costumes? And my god, its action sequences? There isn’t a show with better choreographed action and fight scenes on TV today. Honestly, I’m not sure there’s EVER been a show with better fight scenes on TV. Into the Badlands is delivering crackling, hyperkinetic, bloody sequences of flying fists, acrobatics and swordplay on a weekly basis that you typically can’t find outside of any given year’s top few Hong Kong action movies or wuxia epics. American audiences, starved of truly inspired action choreography on both the small and large screen, should consider Into the Badlands a gift from the heavens. Every cinephile who lavishes praise on the long takes and choreography of The Raid, or John Wick films? This is the TV show they need to be watching. Annoyed by the constant shaky-cam and schizophrenic cuts that have been canonized online by the likes of Liam Neeson jumping a fence? Into the Badlands is the panacea to that uninspired action malaise, because they went out and cast people who could actually physically perform. Imagine that!

But don’t just take my word for it. Here’s a fight scene from the show’s very first episode.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qt3EZ19s_Y

continued next post

[GeneChing]

And here’s another one with incredible choreography and expressionistic lighting/color, which looks like it came out of a movie with a $200 million budget.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmpQALpFDBQ

Continued next post (only one vid per post)

[GeneChing]

And, to drive the point home—and note that the series provides the best stunt roles and choreography on TV for women as well—here’s an action scene from the Season Two opener, starring Into the Badlands’ best character, The Widow (Emily Beecham).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yctd7NGv5ds

I ask you: On what other TV series airing right now can you see a female character pull off that kind of fight choreography? Or these kinds of stunts, with such visual panache? There’s nothing on this level in Jessica Jones or Agents of SHIELD, or in Marvel’s poorly received Iron Fist, a show that was literally supposed to be about a martial arts master. Game of Thrones has featured huge scale in its battles, but the choreography and stuntwork of individual fights in Into the Badlands is far more detailed and vibrant, making even The Mountain vs. The Viper look simplistic by comparison. Aren’t Emmy Awards supposed to recognize the highest degrees of difficulty and most outstanding technical accomplishments on TV, rather than simply reward the shows with the highest viewership? If so, how did the likes of Rush Hour, Gotham and The Blacklist manage to get nominations for Outstanding Stunt Coordination, while Into the Badlands got absolutely nothing? Of the other candidates for last year’s award, only Marvel’s Daredevil and Game of Thrones should be in the same conversation.

A cursory glance at the various Creative Arts Emmy categories reveals numerous places to recognize Into the Badlands. There’s the production design category, which could recognize a show far more committed to a full-world visual transformation than Constantine, True Blood or American Horror Story, all nominated in the last few years. There’s the costuming award for period/fantasy series, which could recognize Into the Badlands for the completely unique, gorgeous head-to-toe outfits that populate every corner of its world, giving the show a fashion sense totally unlike anything else on TV. But most undeniably, there’s the stunt coordination category, which can only omit Into the Badlands if voters simply didn’t bother to watch the show. Which is exactly what has happened, I’m sure.

Consider the parallel of AMC’s own The Walking Dead. That show has never earned an Emmy nomination for its writing, but on the technical side it’s been nominated in multiple categories every single year since 2011—15 nominations in all, with two wins. That includes nominations in makeup, sound editing, visual effects AND stunt coordination. I’m sure it’s pure coincidence that the show with the higher ratings also manages to pull in nominations every year like clockwork, while the more unorthodox martial arts program gets shut out. Are voters shutting off their TV’s immediately after The Walking Dead and missing the world-class choreography that immediately follows it?

And so, members of the Academy of TV Arts & Sciences, I’m telling you now—whoever among you actually pays attention to a category as humble as “stunt coordination,” you need to get off your asses and watch the current season of Into the Badlands. It’s high time we recognized the most purely (and stylishly) action-packed show on TV in 2017.

Into the Badlands airs Sundays at 10 p.m. on AMC.

Jim Vorel is a Paste staff writer and snake style kung fu master.

Next is my article on the costumes. ;)

[GeneChing]

INTO THE BADLANDS: Dressed to Kill (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1353)

[GeneChing]

Best news I've heard all day. Congrats to the ITB crew! :D


AMC Renews Into the Badlands for 16-Episode Third Season (http://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/841467-amc-renews-into-the-badlands-for-16-episode-third-season#/slide/1)
BY JENNA BUSCH ON APRIL 25, 2017

http://cdn1-www.comingsoon.net/assets/uploads/2017/04/into-the-badlands-1-e1493140054962.jpg

AMC’s Into the Badlands has been renewed for an expanded 16-episode third season

AMC has renewed the martial arts drama Into the Badlands for an expanded 16-episode third season. The show is currently one of the highest-rated dramas on cable. Into the Badlands will return to AMC in 2018.

“Into the Badlands looks like nothing else on television, a literal high-wire act attracting passionate and dedicated fans by the millions,” said Charlie Collier, president of AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios. “Thanks to series creators and showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar, the terrific cast, led by Daniel Wu, the amazing martial arts team guided by the incomparable Master Dee Dee and fight directors Stephen Fung and Andy Cheng, and everyone else involved who brings this thrill ride to the fans.”

“We are excited and grateful to continue our journey into the Badlands with Charlie, Joel, Susie and all of our friends at AMC,” said Gough and Millar. “We also want to give a big clipper salute to our Irish and Chinese partners! The thought of doing an expanded 16-episode season is both thrilling and exhausting!!”

AMC currently has four of the top five scripted dramas on cable, including The Walking Dead, American Horror Story, Fear the Walking Dead, Into the Badlands and Better Call Saul. Into the Badlands was created by executive producers/showrunners/writers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar and is executive produced by Oscar-nominated producers Stacey Sher and Michael Shamberg, along with David Dobkin, Stephen Fung, Michael Taylor and Daniel Wu.

Into the Badlands stars Wu (Tai Chi Zero), Marton Csokas (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King), Aramis Knight (The Dark Knight Rises), Oliver Stark (Luther), Emily Beecham (28 Weeks Later), Orla Brady (Doctor Who, Fringe), Sarah Bolger (Once Upon a Time, The Tudors), Ally Ioannides (Parenthood) and Madeleine Mantock (Edge of Tomorrow).



And if you need me to make another set visit, I'm available. :)

[GeneChing]

Basically the same as ComingSoon.net reported above, but I want to point out Collier given credit to fight directors Fung and Cheng. When has that happened before?


AMC Headed Deeper Into the Badlands With Expanded Third Season (http://www.amc.com/shows/into-the-badlands/talk/2017/04/amc-headed-deeper-into-the-badlands-with-expanded-third-season?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_content=into-the-badlands-renewed-for-expanded-third-season&utm_campaign=into-the-badlands)
Posted by Ashleen Wicklow
15 mins ago

http://images.amcnetworks.com/amc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Badlands-S2-Action-Art-1200x707.jpg

AMC announced today that it has renewed the martial arts drama Into the Badlands, one of the highest-rated dramas on cable, for an expanded third season of 16 episodes, returning to AMC in 2018.

Midway through its current second season, the series ranks as the No. 4 scripted drama on cable and the No. 4 returning drama, behind The Walking Dead, American Horror Story and Fear the Walking Dead.

“Into the Badlands looks like nothing else on television, a literal high-wire act, attracting passionate and dedicated fans by the millions,” said Charlie Collier, president of AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios. “Thanks to series creators and showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar, the terrific cast, led by Daniel Wu, the amazing martial arts team guided by the incomparable Master Dee Dee and fight directors Stephen Fung and Andy Cheng, and everyone else involved who brings this thrill ride to the fans.”

“We are excited and grateful to continue our journey into the Badlands with Charlie, Joel, Susie and all of our friends at AMC,” said Gough and Millar. “We also want to give a big Clipper salute to our Irish and Chinese partners! The thought of doing an expanded 16-episode season is both thrilling and exhausting!!”

In the current television season, AMC has four of the top five scripted dramas on cable.

Into the Badlands airs Sundays at 10/9c on AMC. For the latest information and exclusives sign up for the Into the Badlands Insiders Club.

[GeneChing]

Last night's ep - the scene where Sunny finds the cut on Henry's hand was the one I saw filmed. I saw maybe a half dozen takes of it. Cool to see the final cut finally.

I saw a fight scene being filmed too, but they haven't shown that one yet.

Prediction = Now I don't know this at all because of press access so it's not a spoiler, but I'm guessing Flea is the Widow.

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQne8Zo7QYY

Into the Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67844-Into-The-Badlands) shared this sneak preview with KungFuMagazine.com and three other reporters. This was the scene that we had the opportunity to watch being filmed during my set visit last November for the article I wrote in our May+June 2017 issue (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70128-May-June-2017). It's the ultimate Sword Hottie (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?41007-Sword-hotties) duel for this show. I was so lucky to see it. I can't wait to see it in context of the penultimate show, which airs this Sunday, appropriately for Mother's Day.

[mickey]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQne8Zo7QYY

Into the Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67844-Into-The-Badlands) shared this sneak preview with KungFuMagazine.com and three other reporters. This was the scene that we had the opportunity to watch being filmed during my set visit last November for the article I wrote in our May+June 2017 issue (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70128-May-June-2017). It's the ultimate Sword Hottie (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?41007-Sword-hotties) duel for this show. I was so lucky to see it. I can't wait to see it in context of the penultimate show, which airs this Sunday, appropriately for Mother's Day.

Greetings,

I am so glad I do not watch TV any more. That was epically horrific.


mickey

[GeneChing]

巨星吴彦祖将出席武术名师 5月加州湾区论剑！ (http://dailynews.sina.com/gb/news/usa/sinaus/su/20170510/14257857257.html)
http://news.sina.com 2017年05月10日 14:25 北美新浪网
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http://img.news.sina.com/gb/news/usa/sinaus/su/20170510/idx/2017/0511/U126P736T2D7857257F25DT20170511052544.jpg

美国功夫太极杂志社为庆祝创刊25週年特別举行盛大庆典活动， 定于2017年5月19日晚上7:00PM在圣荷西历史悠久的加州剧场(California Theater, 345 S. First St., San Jose)盛大推出 “武术名师表演- Grandmasters' LIVE!”。表演大师们是来自世界各地代表中国功夫各派拳种的顶尖高手，是自1992至2017年25年 期间驰聘世界武坛极具影响力的代表人物，因而特邀登上美国功夫太极杂志的封面：他们是不同拳种或门派的创始 人，掌门人，中国武术界最高段位九段大师们，功夫电影巨星或其高徒，世界武术和太极拳冠军们。参加表演的拳 种有少林，武当，太极，峨嵋，咏春，鹰爪，蔡李佛，青城，99神功，华林寺， 周家，侠家，马家，杨氏武艺， 及国际散手道等。还有精彩绝伦的团体表演难得一见：包括由北加州湾区16名少林学校校长及教练们担纲演出的 “少林寺打山门” （按少林寺规矩，还俗下山必须打赢过18铜人此谓打山门），国际武术散手道联盟加拿大代表团，历届Wild Aid虎爪精英冠军等。这将是一场汇集中华武术各派最高级別的演出，一场纯正的中国传统文化的盛宴，可以亲 眼目睹大师风范和名星风采的千载难逢的机会！表演门票为＄40美金。贵宾票＄100美金 (包括贵宾区座位及表演前一小时进场与大师合影及簽名的机会)。门票有限,请提早订购,勿失良机 。

** 节目精采，难得一睹各武林太极大师高手们真功夫表演！附上节目表，内容丰富，加州剧场高级舞台设备，声光音 效高品质，座位宽敞舒适，顶级享受。

最新消息：巨星吴彦祖将出席星期五晚的 “Grandmasters' LIVE!"， 将会与观众互动。吴生于加州伯克莱，从小习武，为功夫太极杂志2016年二月的封面人物。1994在读俄勒 冈大学时，成立该校的武术俱乐部并担任教练。

Media Contact: Gigi Oh, Publisher of Kung Fu Tai Chi Magazine & www.Kungfumagazine.com(Tel# 408-209-8150, gigitcmedia@hotmail.com )

On-line: http://www.kungfumagazine.com/info/tournament/KFTC25Live.html;

** 10 张以上打折, $35 一张：Call Gigi at 510-656-5100 x 141 , Jeff Lin @ 408-668-8868

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http://ui.sina.com/2017/0511/U126P736DT20170511052503.jpg


googtrans (FYI Wu Yanzu is Daniel Wu) :cool:

Superstar Wu Yanzu will attend the martial arts teacher in May California Bay Area sword!
Http://news.sina.com 2017 年 10 月 10 日 14:25 North America Sina.com
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The United States Kung Fu Tai Chi magazine to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the launch of a grand celebration, scheduled for May 19, 2017 at 7:00 pm in San Jose's historic California theater (California Theater, 345 S. First St., San Jose "Grand launch" martial arts teacher performance - Grandmasters' LIVE! ". Performing masters are from around the world on behalf of the Chinese martial arts factions of the top masters, from 1992 to 2017 during the 25 years of the world's most influential representatives of the martial arts, and therefore invited to the United States Kung Fu Tai Chi magazine Cover: They are the founder of different boxing or martial art, the head of the Chinese martial arts sector, the highest segment of the nine masters, Kung Fu movie stars or their high school, world martial arts and tai chi champion. To participate in the performance of the boxing boxing Shaolin, Wudang, Tai Chi, Emei, Wing Chun, eagle claw, Cai Lifo, Qingcheng, 99 magic, Hualin Temple, Zhou, Xiajia, Ma, Yang martial arts, The There are wonderful group performances rare: including by the North California Bay District 16 Shaolin school principals and coaches featuring performances "Shaolin Temple mountain" (according to Shaolin Temple rules, but also down the mountain must win over 18 copper people that call Mountain gate), the international Wushu Sutra Union Canada delegation, previous WildAid Tiger Pants elite champion. This will be a collection of Chinese martial arts factions of the highest level of performance, a pure Chinese traditional culture feast, you can witness the master style and celebrity style of the golden opportunity! Show tickets for $ 40 dollars. VIP tickets $ 100 (including VIP seats and one hour before the show with the master photo and signature opportunities). Tickets are limited, please order early, missed opportunities.

** program is wonderful, rare to see the martial arts tai chi master master who really kung fu performances! Attached to the program table, rich in content, California theater advanced stage equipment, sound and sound sound high quality, spacious and comfortable seat, top enjoyment.

Latest News: Superstar Wu Yanzu will attend the "Grandmasters' LIVE!" On Friday night, will interact with the audience. Wu Sheng in California Berkeley, from the small martial arts, for the Kung Fu Tai Chi magazine February 2016 cover characters. 1994 When he was studying at the University of Oregon, he set up the martial arts club and served as a coach.

Media Contact: Gigi Oh, Publisher of Kung Fu Tai Chi Magazine & www.Kungfumagazine.com (Tel # 408-209-8150, gigitcmedia@hotmail.com)

On-line: http://www.kungfumagazine.com/info/tournament/KFTC25Live.html;

** More than 10 discounts, $ 35 one: Call Gigi at 510-656-5100 x 141, Jeff Lin @ 408-668-8868

[GeneChing]

Daniel Wu will be a special guest for Grandmasters LIVE! This Friday May at the California Theater in San Jose, CA.

Read INTO THE BADLANDS: Daniel Wu on the Sunny Side of Life (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1359) by Gene Ching.


TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE HERE. (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/info/tournament/KFTC25Live.html)

This is my final installment of my INTO THE BADLANDS coverage - the Season 2 Finale immediately follows KFTC25 AF (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69762-KUNG-FU-TAI-CHI-25TH-ANNIVERSARY-FESTIVAL-May-19-21-2017-San-Jose-CA) and the MAY+JUNE issue (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70128-May-June-2017) comes off newsstands soon after.

[GeneChing]

https://augustman.com/var/augustman/storage/images/my/pop-culture/film-tv/daniel-wu-breaks-the-bamboo-ceiling/260151-2-eng-US/Daniel-Wu-Breaks-The-Bamboo-Ceiling_article_full.jpg

Daniel Wu Breaks The Bamboo Ceiling (https://augustman.com/my/Pop-Culture/Film-TV/Daniel-Wu-Breaks-The-Bamboo-Ceiling)
KC YAP | MAY 11, 2017

Pictures by Sarah Dunn; words by Farhan Shah; grooming by Garen Tolkin for exclusive artists using V76 by Vaughn & Bare Escentuals, assisted by Nick Tooman, Jonathan Folds, Jimmy Fikes & Justin Schaefers.

It’s five minutes to eight in the morning and I’m sitting in the conference room at the office, waiting for the phone to ring. Just the night before, I had binged on dozens of YouTube clips until my eyebags had their own eyebags. But it was all for work, of course. I was getting up to speed on Daniel Wu’s latest project, a martial arts television series called Into the Badlands. It’s visceral, bloody and very much in your face, so I don’t imagine it’s going to be aired in (currently on AXN) without first getting its guts and heart ripped out by our country’s rather zealous censorship board, but it makes for interesting viewing.

The phone rings exactly at 8am. Surprising punctuality from a star, I muse while picking it up. Daniel Wu is on the other end of the line. He’s back home in Oakland, residence of the Golden State Warriors basketball team of which Wu is a massive fan. We exchange pleasantries. He seems fresh, even happy to be talking to me. I look at my list of questions and scratch out the one about Steph Curry and gang failing spectacularly at the 2016 NBA Finals. I couldn’t bear to do it to Wu.

“Why are you back home?” I ask instead.

“Oh, just in the middle of doing all the press interviews for Into the Badlands. I’m heading off in about a week to finish the filming of Tomb Raider. We have about a month more of filming to go for that.”

Wu is experiencing an acting Renaissance of sorts in Hollywood. Besides Tomb Raider, which is expected to be out in 2018, Wu also has a small but critical role in Geostorm, playing a scientist who discovers the reason why the satellites are destroying Earth. “That film is interesting because I’m playing a character that is totally different from anything that most people know me for."

“I am a nerdy guy, not the one kicking ass,” Wu laughs.

https://augustman.com/var/augustman/storage/images/media/malaysia/daniel-wu02/260170-1-eng-US/Daniel-Wu02_large.jpg
Jacket by Guess Jeans; shirt & trousers by Fendi; Vanguard Carbon watch in carbon fibre case with nylon strap by Franck Muller. (Above) Jumper by Fendi; shirt by Guess Jeans & jeans by Acne; Vanguard Carbon watch in carbon fibre case with nylon strap by Franck Muller.

THE MOST HARDWORKING MAN IN HOLLYWOOD

“Kicking ass” is what Wu has been doing for close to two decades. He’s starred in over 60 films, two television series and multiple commercials. That’s a lot of work. But he admits that, as he grows older, the way he selects projects has changed as well.

“In the past I used to be more ambitious about wanting to choose award-winning roles. But I slowly realised that as an actor, you’re very passive to the whole process. You cannot control what happens in the end. A lot of times, you put a lot of hopes and dreams into one project and it doesn’t turn out the way you think it would. It’s disheartening,” the 43-year-old shares.

Now, the American-Chinese actor chooses to fit the filming schedule around his family’s needs. The project must be extremely compelling for him to want to do it. For Tomb Raider, it was because he wanted to work alongside Alicia Vikander. “I fell in love with her in Ex Machina. I thought she was great and I was telling myself that I really want to work with this girl.”

Into the Badlands was another kind of opportunity. Wu saw a chance to fill a void on the small screen. He wanted to translate the big-budget fighting sequences you typically saw in cinemas into the medium of television. There are two reasons why no one has done it. One was the money. Secondly, the tight filming schedule typical of a television series meant that fight choreography had to be short and snappy.

Wu’s solution was simple and solved both problems―bring in his own team from Hong Kong, who is used to working on a smaller budget and on a short timeline.

The show’s first season was a great hit. Viewers loved the action. What Wu didn’t anticipate were the huge cultural waves the show made. There was the fact that an Asian male, Wu himself, was the lead. More importantly, Wu had a legitimate romantic interest. And even made out with her.

https://augustman.com/var/augustman/storage/images/media/malaysia/daniel-wu04/260173-1-eng-US/Daniel-Wu04_large.jpg
Shirty by Levi's; jeans by Dior Homme; Vanguard Chronograph in polished steel by Franck Muller.

THE RISE OF THE ASIAN MALE

It is startlingly rare for an Asian character to be seen romancing another character in the American entertainment universe. The New York Times op-ed, funnyman Aziz Ansari could only come up with two instances that an Asian man kissed someone in television and film―Steven Yuen in The Walking Dead and Daniel Dae Kim in Lost.

“For many years, the Asian male has been emasculated in American culture. Roles like mine help to change that. When the show came out, we had support from all over America―black Americans, Asian Americans, even Hispanic Americans. I was proud of it, especially since the last time you saw an Asian man and a black woman on television together was in Romeo Must Die with Jet Li and the late Aaliyah. But they only hugged in the end, and that was it,” says Wu, laughing.

“Daniel Dae Kim once told me the true test of whether Asians have made it in Hollywood is when an Asian is the lead actor in a successful rom-com,” I put forward. The reasoning behind this is simple. If the film is financially successful, it means that the audience is comfortable and willing to pay to watch an Asian protagonist win the heart of his female co-star.

“Absolutely,” Wu agrees. I can practically see him nodding his head somewhere in Oakland. “It’s a role most people don’t think of for an Asian male simply because it’s not in the American psyche. As the audience, we must create that demand because honestly, Hollywood just goes where the money is. And right now, the Asian American audience is very vocal.”

He pauses.

“Truthfully, they might be a bit too vocal, a little over the top,” he says, half-jokingly. “I think cultural appropriation is a bullsh*t thing to call out because it’s like saying that only Asians can do martial arts or only black people can play basketball and rap.”

Wu proposes that diversity in entertainment is inevitable as the world becomes more globalised, and it makes sense. The older head honchos are handing over the reins to a younger generation who grew up in more diverse environments. These are people who have travelled, interacted with different people and realised that the world isn’t just shades of white.

continued next post

[GeneChing]

https://augustman.com/var/augustman/storage/images/media/malaysia/daniel-wu05/260179-1-eng-US/Daniel-Wu05_large.jpg
Shirt by Levi's; jeans by Dior Homme; shoes by Louboutin; Vanguard Chronograph timepiece in brushed stainless steel by Franck Muller.

ACTOR, ARCHITECT, ASIAN DAD

Wu and I have been chatting for close to 30 minutes now, talking at length about Hollywood and its foibles, his preference for the Hong Kong film industry and the reasons behind it, his disdain for generic superhero films, and even his love for design.

For the record, Wu studied architecture for five years―he graduated in the top 10% of his class―before becoming a thespian. He still loves the world of design and was devastated when Zaha Hadid passed away. But he remains private about his creative side for one reason: Kanye West.

“I could be a multi-hyphenate but I don’t want to because people have associated that with Kanye West. He’s ruined it for everybody,” Wu says, laughing boisterously. “Sure, he does some cool things design-wise but he’s not a genius. He’s no Marc Newson.” A beat.

“Or even Marc Jacobs.” Chuckles.

But what I really want to know about is how he is like with his family behind closed doors. We generally put celebrities like Wu on pedestals and hold them to a higher standard, as though they are impervious to any of life’s curveballs.

Wu, I find, is not much unlike you and I. He has his insecurities. He peppers his speech with curse words. He is trying hard to cut sugar out of his diet but loves iced lemon tea too much. He hates plain water. He works out four days a week. And he wants to be the best possible father he can be to his four-year-old daughter, Raven.

“I’m beginning to be like my own father. The stuff I hated hearing from my dad, I’m now saying to Raven,” Wu says. “There are many aspects of my upbringing that made me who I am today so I am trying to transfer that to my daughter. You should be physically and mentally present. I don’t want to be that dad at the playground looking at crap on his phone while his daughter is playing. I see those fathers all the time.”

Wu tells me about an episode in Malaysia. He was at the mall with Raven and his wife Lisa S when he saw a family of four―mother, father and two kids―at a restaurant. The dishes were on the table. But only the father was eating. The remaining three were on their phones, “God knows doing what”. There was no conversation, only the swish of thumbs on digital keypads and the occasional clanking of the father’s fork against his plate.

He nudged Lisa and pointed at the family. “I told her, ‘We will never end up like that family.’ We make a conscious effort to engage and be with each other.”

That includes limiting the amount of screen time Raven is exposed to. Wu only occasionally takes the iPad out of cold storage for Raven on long-haul flights or as a reward. “I think the iPad is an easy way out. The problem is that parenting now seems to be about shoving something in front of a child’s face to entertain them or keep them busy. Kids should be playing outside to foster their creative minds instead of staying indoors and staring at a screen all the time.”

THE FIRST CHINESE AMERICAN PRESIDENT

And then we veer off on another tangent, this time about Wu’s mother. I suppose that’s how a creative mind works, in zigs and zags, with no purpose in sight, merely the pleasure the journey afforded.

Apparently, the late Madam Wu was slightly sad that Raven was born in Hong Kong instead of the US. “She thought that meant Raven couldn’t be the president of the United States until she found out that that you’re still an American citizen even if you were born overseas as long as you have an American parent.”

It was a long-running joke that started with Wu, the first member of the clan to be born on American soil. His mum used to tell him that he could be the first Chinese president of the United States and for the first decade of his life, he thought he could.

Now, he would never wish the crown upon his daughter’s head. “Look at Barack Obama. Do you remember how he looked like before he became the most powerful man on Earth? His whole head is grey now. Nobody in that position ever has a good time,” Wu laughs.

It’s hard to imagine but Obama is only a decade older than Wu. Perhaps it’s the Asian genes or perhaps it’s his disdain for taking on the presidential role, but Wu looks no different than when he first started out in 1998 in the film Bishonen after being casted on the strength of a clothing advertisement.

Sure, the eyes have gained the thousand-yard stare one acquires from experience and the hairline might have crept up a little higher but those dreamy eyes and strong jawline from his youth are still there.

And the hair remains as black as ever.

Get a copy of August Man Malaysia, May 2017 for the complete spread.

Great article from Augustman on Into The Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67844-Into-The-Badlands) star Daniel Wu. He'll be our special guest at Grandmasters LIVE! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/info/tournament/KFTC25Live.html), our cover masters demo for KFTC25 AF (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69762-KUNG-FU-TAI-CHI-25TH-ANNIVERSARY-FESTIVAL-May-19-21-2017-San-Jose-CA).

[GLW]

In general, I like the show and the choreography....but the finale was annoying....

First, I am not a fan of the two sai vs. whatever sets.... It just never did much for me....but that aside...

So, excuse the spellings... Bajie gets almost done in - because he ASSUMED the enemy was dead and turned his back on him....

Why do they ALWAYS do that... It is so simple to make sure.... after all, they went in to kill them and they KNEW that they were going to be killed if possible. A simple check would have taken ZERO time...but not let the character pass out at the end...

And then, Sonny.... does the EXACT SAME THING with Quinn...... REALLY....could they not afford better writers. Even a musical fugue has variation....

[GeneChing]

You know, I saw Daniel on Wednesday and at Grandmasters LIVE! on Friday, but I didn't take a single selfie with him. However, I got pulled into a few other people's pix, and they've been tagging me on facebook.

https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/18582283_1431148926943957_1697132984852344157_n.jp g?oh=ac11fd63462c886c07a49cb39b585a25&oe=59A43C2A
https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/18582052_1558843994148228_2017565518583215941_n.jp g?oh=f0fd998786ac24e440fcedf930b8249f&oe=59AE0A78
https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/18588875_10213373657914784_4275834025696413879_o.j pg?oh=63aec608e6d026ae283d3004c69ee97f&oe=59AF531D

I quite enjoyed the Season Two finale, but clearly I'm biased as a huge fan of the show and a friend of Daniel's.

[GeneChing]

Into the Badlands – How to Train Like Daniel Wu (http://www.jetli.com/2017/06/into-the-badlands-train-like-daniel-wu)
By Sean Tierney 8 hours ago in Entertainment 11 min read

Following our exclusive interview with actor and martial artist Daniel Wu about his extensive film career in Hong Kong, China the US and movement into the TV world, in this article he discusses the details of his training and preparation for filming a stunt intensive TV show like Into the Badlands.

http://uploads.jetli.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/31174322/18673246_1197211007056546_7809827718288598944_o-900x675.jpg
Photo Source: Into The Badlands Facebook https://www.facebook.com/IntoTheBadlandsAMC/

Interview About Training For Into The Badlands

WHAT DOES A TYPICAL WORKOUT LOOK LIKE FOR YOU WHEN GETTING READY FOR INTO THE BADLANDS?

For the pre-season, I start about four to six months out. So I’m preparing for Into The Badlands Season Three now. I do one 2-3 hour session a day, six days a week. Three of those days are martial arts, two days are Yama Yoga. Because I’m getting old and I need my body to be more flexible.

http://uploads.jetli.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/31162330/BAD_FC_AP_0809_0747-RT-900x600.jpg
- Into the Badlands _ Season 2, Fight Camp Training
Photo Credit:AMC/Susan Morelock

IT SOUNDS LIKE YOUR TRAINING CHANGED SINCE YOUR EARLIER CAREER?

Yes, this is one thing I really want to talk about in this interview: training for older people. How do you keep performing at a high level and not degrade your body well into your 40’s? In the past, I would do 100, 200 kicks a day, maybe even 500. Now I don’t want to do that, because the more I do, the more it degrades my muscles and tendons and everything. With my Yama yoga trainer Matt Lucas, I’ve adopted a completely different mentality. I do all my kicks really slowly, and I only do 5-10 repetitions.

For example, I’ll do a side kick that takes 3 seconds to extend. Then I hold it for 3 seconds, and then 3 seconds to return. So one kick takes almost 10 seconds. It develops strength without shocking your system all the time, because if you’re snapping out 100 kicks, there’s significant wear and tear on your joints, your tendons, and your bones.

At 42, I don’t have a lot of peak years left, so I want to preserve what I have left as much as possible. What I’m really concentrating on now is strength conditioning and movement, being able to move freely, more than martial arts, like making sure the muscles in my lower back are loose. Muay Thai and boxing tightened up my back a lot. Even wushu, which makes you very flexible in certain ways, makes you less flexible in others. So the Yama yoga really pointed out where my problems were, and started to fix those problems, and I started to balance myself out.

I discovered that my lower back was weaker, and I was using my abs to mask that weakness. Once I realized that, I could work on my lower back and fix that. Now I have a lot less lower back pain. I’m able to train full days without having much pain or stiffness. It’s usually 2-3 hours/day, six days a week.

http://uploads.jetli.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/31162318/BAD_FC_AP_0809_0245-RT-900x600.jpg
- Into the Badlands _ Season 2, Fight Camp Training
Photo Credit:AMC/Susan Morelock

Yama is a lot like Shaolin, very line-based, but it almost looks like Shaolin and Yoga combined. You go a bit deeper in poses, and do more twisting. It really stretches your waist and hips and knees. It’s something I like a lot, and I feel that it’s really helped me as I get older.

I’ve also discovered the importance of a martial arts system. With UFC and MMA, everyone’s cherry-picking all the best things from different martial arts, so there’s no system any more. They train really hard, and by 40 their bodies are really damaged. The importance of a Kung Fu system like Shaolin or Taiji or Qigong is that you do the hard stuff when you’re younger, and then you do the softer stuff when you’re older. That way you experience the whole gamut of experiences and training to keep you interested and also keep you active and able to do things across your lifespan.

My first Kung Fu master, YC Chang, just died last year. He was 98, and he could still touch his toe to his chin. So I’ve re-examined the system I came from, and I’m starting to go back to it. In my youth, I did what a lot of MMA guys are doing; I studied Muay Thai and boxing, and others, to get the best from each, but it degrades your body to do nothing but the most intensive things.

If you put racing fuel in a car and run it flat-out all the time, you’re going to destroy the engine pretty quickly. So for me, it’s a matter of finding the right ways to train without hurting myself. Especially for this show, because I fight a lot. This past season I did, I think 20 fight scenes. In a movie, you’re in, at most, 3-4 fights over a 4 to 6-month period. I did those 20 fights in 5 months.

The next season is going to be 16 episodes, so it’ll be even more! You’ve got to be smart about how you use your body. I train smart, and I give it my all when we’re filming the show. I train hard, but I don’t do crazy stuff like I did before. I don’t try to jump as high as possible; I don’t do flips, or back flips, or anything like that. I just try to maintain good, fluid body movement.

http://uploads.jetli.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/31162324/BAD_FC_AP_0809_0440-RT-900x506.jpg
- Into the Badlands _ Season 2, Fight Camp Training
Photo Credit:AMC/Susan Morelock

WHEN WORKING ON SEASON ONE OF INTO THE BADLANDS, YOU MENTIONED ON SOCIAL MEDIA THAT YOU HAD TO BULK UP A LOT FOR THIS ROLE. HOW DID YOU APPROACH ADDING MASS WHILE GETTING IN SHAPE? HOW DID THAT ADDED MUSCLE WEIGHT AFFECT YOUR MARTIAL ARTS AND STUNT WORK? IS IT HELPFUL OR HURTFUL OVERALL?

After I did it, I realized it was a mistake. I did all the weight training first, and then went to fight camp. I added 18 pounds, but when I got to camp, I couldn’t do half the things I could before. My spinning back kick was horrible, I couldn’t do it. My glutes had gotten bigger, but also much tighter. I lost several inches off my jumps. I wasn’t just 18 pounds heavier; it was also that my muscles were tighter. So I actually spent the entire fight camp trying to undo what I had done with the weight training.

From that point, I decided I wasn’t going to do the Olympic-style weight training at all. I just do functional weight training. I’m not trying to get bigger any more, I’m just maintaining 170 pounds, and that’s fine. I’d seen all these actors getting bigger for superhero roles, and I felt like I needed to do the same thing. For a martial artist, that was the wrong thing.

For the second season, I just did functional weight training, like kettle bells, sledge hammer, tire flipping, that kind of stuff. Sort of like CrossFit training but not at the CrossFit pace. Doing as many reps as you can in 30 seconds when you’re 40-something is not something you should be doing. You can do it in your 20s, but in your 40s you’re just going to rip your joints apart.

I do all those exercises, but I take my time with them. The interesting thing is, I feel stronger than I’ve ever felt in my life. Before I could bench press and dead lift a lot, but now I feel like I have better core strength. I move really well, and really smoothly. Issues like my back pain have gone away.

http://uploads.jetli.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/31162321/BAD_FC_AP_0809_0351-RT-900x600.jpg
- Into the Badlands _ Season 2, Fight Camp Training
Photo Credit:AMC/Susan Morelock

THE SHOOTING SCHEDULE FOR INTO THE BADLANDS SEEMS VERY GRUELING. DO YOU CONTINUE TO DO MAINTENANCE TRAINING WHILE YOU ARE ON LOCATION?

It’s maintenance training, because we’re fighting 10-12 hours a day, sometimes 6 days a week. If we’re doing drama scenes that week, I will find a day or two to do some maintenance. I’ll hit the gym, do some cardio, and stretch a lot. I stretch every day. No matter what, I keep stretching. That’s part of my daily routine. If I’m just sitting around on set, or resting at home, I’ll put a leg up on something and stretch it out. We’re doing martial arts stuff all day long, so that keeps us in shape.

http://uploads.jetli.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/31162315/BAD_FC_AP_0809_0043-RT-900x600.jpg
- Into the Badlands _ Season 2, Fight Camp Training
Photo Credit:AMC/Susan Morelock

CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT THE FIGHT CAMP YOU HAVE THE CAST GO THROUGH BEFORE SEASON 2 STARTED?

It happens five weeks before we start filming. All the actors come in, and it’s really intense. It’s from 9-6 every day. We train the actors from 9-3, and from 3-6 Master Dee Dee and the stunt crew work with us on specific choreography. Those 5 weeks are long days. It’s pretty hard for the other actors. I’ve trained in China, where all day is the norm. But for people who haven’t done it, it’s pretty daunting.

I enjoy the training, but I’m used to it. I try to stay in shape all the time anyway, because if I’m not shooting Into the Badlands, I’m probably shooting a movie somewhere in the world. I find it’s much easier to stay in shape than to get in and out of it. And as I get older, I find that it really helps me prevent injuries from happening and keep doing what I love.

I imagine we'll take this thread up again next year.

[Vash]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOI3UGYKPco

[GeneChing]

There's a pic for each show but I'm only copy&pastin the one for Into the Badlands.


The Best TV Shows of 2017 (So Far) (http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/best-tv-shows-first-half-2017-so-far-1202473745/)
Maureen Ryan Chief TV Critic @moryan
JUNE 22, 2017 | 01:08PM PT

One of the most notable things about this list is its omissions. So many good shows debuted, returned or continued good seasons this year that it’s difficult to keep up. I’ve surely left off one or two or three of your favorites off this list (and I will continue to spend every spare hour trying to finish — or start — seasons of shows I haven’t seen).

Even so, coming up with 20 entries for this list wasn’t difficult — I actually had to prune back my first attempt at a roster (and once again, my end-of-year lists will likely once again contain up to 60 TV series). For the first half of the year, though, here’s an alphabetical list of the programs that made the strongest impressions impressions on me.

One Day at a Time
In this era of random reboots and greedy IP grabs, here was a Netflix revival that got the DNA of the original right and then improved on that formula. Anchored by a great cast, “One Day” (pictured, above) told stories that were heartwarming but never overly sentimental, and it was consistently funny, poignant and wise.

American Gods
Nothing is more American than a road trip, and this meditative Starz drama depicted one of the trippiest journeys to ever grace the small screen. A fantasia and a fever dream all at once, this adaptation of the Neil Gaiman novel found both poetry and brutality in the cultures and belief systems that came together to create this strange dream called America.

Better Call Saul
Every year, the performances in this AMC drama grow richer and the character predicaments more complex, and this season was lent a special poignance by the unforgiving brother-vs-brother battle of Chuck versus Jimmy. This solidly crafted show continues to mine all it can from its core character’s shifty, striving backstory and from its dependably versatile cast.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
This musically enhanced CW comedy contains more than its share of bittersweet drama, which isn’t surprising, given its lead character’s problems with denial, co-dependence and depression. Adding Scott Michael Foster as Nathaniel in the second half of the season was a brilliant move (he’s an excellent foil for Rebecca, with whom he has a lot in common), and the show’s witty, smart explorations of Rebecca’s ability to put obstacles in her own way continued to be singularly entertaining.

Dear White People
A bracing, thoughtful and funny Netflix series that created a series of character portraits that won’t soon be forgotten. Like many of the best half-hour shows, “Dear White People” pulled no punches on the social-commentary front, but it was always considered, self-aware and curious.

Girls
The series finale wasn’t great and seems even more frantic and out of sync in hindsight. That said, the final season of the HBO show contained some of “Girls” most accomplished storytelling and insightful moments, and that’s saying something, considering this groundbreaking show came out of the gate strong all those years (and all those thinkpieces) ago.

The Handmaid’s Tale
The quiet intensity of this show’s aesthetic, not to mention a string of stellar performances, made the world of Gilead frequently transfixing. Any adaptation of a work this well-known and beloved is bound to encounter a few bumps in the road (or disagreements about execution), but there’s little doubt that this was a smart, worthy endeavor, and one that finally put Hulu on the map in the realm of original drama series.

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/into-the-badlands-season-2-premiere.jpg?w=670

Into the Badlands
This action-oriented AMC series more than delivered on the promise of its 2015 debut in a wild, exciting and gorgeous second season. There are very few series that provide witty escapism, a feast for the eyes, brisk storytelling and roundhouse kicks. This post-apocalyptic delight did all that and more.

Jane the Virgin
How do you take a show that’s great and make it even better? You smartly weave in heartfelt and intelligent commentary about grief, growth, parenting and the therapeutic benefits of a superficial fling. “Jane’s” efficient, beautifully orchestrated combinations of form, function and emotion would perhaps be more jaw-dropping if we weren’t so used to them — but that’s not to say we should take the CW show for granted.

The Keepers
Not just another true-crime documentary, but a meditation on what it does to a community — and individuals within it — when those in power not only allow crimes to be committed but cover up and dismiss evidence of gross abuses. The power of Netflix’s “The Keepers” comes from the doggedness of its quiet but tenacious amateur investigators, and even more so from testimony of the survivors at its core.

The Leftovers
This HBO show grew increasingly confident over its three-season run, and it was perfectly calibrated when it rolled into its third season. “The Leftovers” continually found ways to bring parables, metaphors and dreams to life, sometimes with imaginative and moving storytelling gambits, sometimes by simply training its cameras on the faces of its exceptional cast. This was an eight-episode run for the ages, topped by one of the all-time great series finales.

Legion
FX’s trippy superhero tale felt like a mash-up of “Quadrophenia” and an early Pink Floyd album. Dan Stevens’ empathic performance anchored a show that took a lot of flying leaps, many of which landed in strange but weirdly compelling places.

Mary Kills People
A sleeper that more people should seek out, this Lifetime drama followed the increasingly tricky balancing acts of a doctor who helped terminal patients end their lives. Was she doing it as an act of mercy or an assertion of power? The show wisely never answered that question definitively, but it supplied a lot of taut drama and even fizzy fun along the way.

Master of None
One of TV’s buzziest shows got even stronger in its second season, paying homage to cinematic legends while deepening the core characters and their relationships. It doesn’t hurt that in a world of bloated episodes, each installment of Netflix’s “Master of None” was crisp, concise and lasted just long enough.

National Treasure
A dark tale that avoided bleakness for something more ambiguous and true, Hulu’s “National Treasure” told the story of a beloved actor who was actually a sexual predator — or was he? Answers arrive by the end of the story, but not before the four-part drama told an incisive tale about the messed-up power dynamics that can exist within families — and within the allegedly glamorous entertainment industry.

Review
Finally, we got the last three episodes of this delightfully demented Comedy Central show, which served as a meticulous parable about the dangers of going to extremes — a warning that has just a little bit of relevance to the times we’re living in. There were only three episodes in Forrest MacNeil’s swan song season, but they were perfect. Five out of five stars.

Shots Fired
The accountability of the police to the communities they serve is a life or death issue, and Fox’s “Shots Fired” incorporated that truth into a complex narrative that resisted the creation of one-dimensional villains or superficial solutions. A very able cast did fine work in a drama that occasionally sprawled but frequently had smart things to say about how different kinds of power are used — and sometimes abused.

Silicon Valley
Each update — sorry, season — of this HBO show finds it honing its characters and tableaus even more sharply. Each season is a meticulously constructed device built to efficiently skewer various tech-world types without relying on bland caricatures. To be clear, some characters are caricatures, but they’re usually hilariously douchey, and ripe for the satirizing. Every time you think Silicon Valley will save us from some social, cultural or political ill, force yourself to watch this show; most likely you will laugh and nod your head while you secretly wonder if we’re all doomed.

Superstore
There’s a heartening array of mainstream comedies on the broadcast networks that are willing to take on all kinds of hot-button topics, and NBC’s “Superstore” — which is never preachy or predictable — fits right into that category. Its array of characters has only gotten more amusing over time, and hanging over each deftly constructed relationship and believable aspiration is the thought that maybe, just maybe, the American dream already passed these workers by.

The Young Pope
Shows that feature walk-on — well, hop on — roles for kangaroos are just going to get more points than the average prestige drama. That’s just how it goes. In truth, very little about this HBO show was average. It was playfully serious, hilariously grave, surreally cynical and a feast for the eyes, and Jude Law embodied “The Young Pope’s” sly, serious mischievousness with impressive facility.

[GeneChing]

Curt Into the Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67844-Into-The-Badlands) reference in more of the 5-0 story on our yellow face/white washing thread (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?66153-yellow-face-white-washing). Interested to see what Kim and Park might say eventually, but I do respect them playing it cool by being quiet about this so far.


In Hollywood, Asian American actors see few lead roles, and pay discrepancies when they land one (http://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-hawaii-five-0-asian-actors-20170708-story.html)

http://www.trbimg.com/img-595eefde/turbine/la-1499394011-r1jeghov5s-snap-image/750/750x422
Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park have quit the CBS show "Hawaii Five-0" in a dispute over claims they were paid less than their white counterparts. Pictured are Scott Caan, left, Alex O'Loughlin, Park, Kim and Chi McBride. (CBS Photo Archive / CBS via Getty Images)

Meg James and David Ng

Korean American actor Edward Hong has played characters in dozens of TV shows and movies over the years, including as “Math Olympian Dude,” “Chinese Man #2” and, in a top-rated network sitcom, “Male Night Nurse.”

Soon, he will appear in the independent film “Please Stand By” as the “Cinnabon Guy.”

“In Hollywood, there are a lot of opportunities, but it is always for small roles with one-liners,” Hong said in an interview. “If you want to be a store owner, the nail salon lady or the IT-tech guy, those are the parts, but rarely do we get a chance to be the main character.”

He’s not bitter, he said, just realistic about the plight of being an Asian American actor in Hollywood.

Decades of racist caricatures — think Mickey Rooney playing the buck-toothed Mr. Yunioshi in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” — have given way to an industry that is more inclusive, but where leading roles remain scarce. This week served as a stark reminder that even those who have reached some of the highest levels in the entertainment industry still face obstacles. Two prominent actors — Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park — quit CBS’ “Hawaii Five-0” amid claims they were paid less than their white counterparts.

The controversy has motivated actors to be more vocal about what they say have been decades of inequities.

“The path to equality is rarely easy,” Kim wrote in a message on Facebook, thanking fans for supporting him on “Hawaii Five-0.”

Two years after the #OscarsSoWhite campaign shined a harsh light on Hollywood’s hiring and casting practices, some progress has been made. The film and TV industries have shown a heightened awareness of diversity and greenlighted more films with diverse casts. Television programs headlined by minorities, such as Fox’s “Empire” and ABC’s “black-ish,” have turned in strong ratings performances. Netflix’s “Master of None” stars the popular comedian Aziz Ansari, whose parents emigrated from India.

There are few other Asian Americans in leading roles beyond ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat,” loosely based around the experiences of an Asian immigrant family in the 1980s, ABC’s “Designated Survivor,” which depicts a determined FBI agent played by Maggie Q and AMC's martial arts drama “Into the Badlands,” which stars Daniel Wu as a talented warrior.

http://www.trbimg.com/img-595ef0ea/turbine/la-1499394278-xbznns3sms-snap-image/750/750x422
Grace Park, left, and Daniel Dae Kim quit CBS' "Hawaii Five-0" amid claims of pay inequity. CBS says both were offered "significant salary increases." (CBS Photo Archive / CBS via Getty Images)

But problems persist, particularly for Asian Americans. Filmmakers have tried to fend off charges of “whitewashing” even as they continue to rely on white actors to portray Asians on screen. Netflix’s upcoming adaptation of a Japanese manga, “Death Note,” stirred controversy when a producer, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, said the production searched for Asian actors but “couldn’t find the right person,” in large part because actors from Asia “didn’t speak the perfect English.”

That came after an outcry over Scarlett Johansson’s casting as the heroine in “Ghost in the Shell,” this year’s remake of a classic Japanese anime. In Marvel’s “Doctor Strange” last year, Tilda Swinton played the Ancient One, a character that is an Asian man in the original comics. Even the starring role in the big-budget Chinese period action film “The Great Wall” went to Matt Damon.

“There is a bias against Asian Americans,” said Nancy Wang Yuen, a sociology professor at Biola University who studies race and ethnicity in film and television. “I feel like we are invisible in society. We are nondescript and in a way dehumanized by not existing in scenes or having speaking roles. We are just part of the backdrop.”

Asian actors have been getting more work these days, in large part because of the flow of money from China. Movie studio executives hoping to enhance a film’s financial prospects in China, the world’s second-largest film market, have rounded out their casts with Asian faces. But those are often background roles.


“The Chinese actors say: ‘We are just flower vases. We don’t speak; we just stand there and look pretty,’ ” Hong said.

Asian Americans say they face unique challenges because of ingrained stereotypes, including a perception that Asians are not complainers and thus will show up and dutifully do the work. “We are always the model minority,” Hong said.

The Chinese actors say: ‘We are just flower vases. We don’t speak; we just stand there and look pretty,’ ”
— Edward Hong, Korean-American actor
Several people interviewed said part of the problem is that Asians don’t fit the studio chiefs’ vision of a leading man.

“I don’t believe people in showbiz are inherently racist,” said Christine Toy Johnson, a New York-based actress who has a recurring role on FX’s “The Americans” and recently appeared in guest spots on CBS’ “Madam Secretary” and USA’s “Mr. Robot.”

“There are different lenses with which we see things,” she said.

Ren Hanami, chairwoman of the SAG-AFTRA guild’s Asian Pacific American Media Committee, said she believes the problem is “systemic.”

“Most of the heads of studios are white men, and there will be some women and people of color,” Hanami said. “And then you have the creators of the show — most come from writing and Ivy League schools. All the people making those decisions are writing about themselves.”

USC’s Media, Diversity and Social Change Initiative last year found that just 28.3% of all speaking characters were from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups — a much lower percentage than the population at large. Asian Americans were particularly invisible. At least half of movies and TV shows, including on streaming services, “fail to portray one speaking or named Asian or Asian American on screen,” the USC report found.

Hollywood executives are “still stuck in a mid-20th century mindset,” said Chris Tashima, an L.A.-based actor and Oscar-winning short-film maker. “It’s the default for the creators of content to think ‘white’ when they’re thinking of stars.”

“Why aren’t there any Asian American stars? You need to cast the person for it to happen,” Tashima said.

CBS has been blistered by criticism before for its formula of casting white men in lead roles, then building shows around them. Although “Hawaii Five-0” boasts a large and diverse cast, the network considered Kim and Park supporting actors to the show’s two white leading men, Alex O’Loughlin and Scott Caan.

Both had major acting credits before landing their parts on “Hawaii Five-0,” a 2010 reboot of the popular 1960s detective show that consistently ranks in the top 20 in ratings. Kim was a fan favorite on ABC’s “Lost,” and Park, a Canadian actress, was a main character on “Battlestar Galactica.”

“CBS promoted ‘Hawaii Five-0’ from the outset as an ensemble show with four co-stars, and it was clear that the two Asian American co-stars played absolutely crucial roles in the series,” said Daniel Mayeda, an entertainment attorney at Leopold, Petrich & Smith. “Without them, there is little to distinguish ‘Hawaii Five-0’ from any other cop show on the air.”

continued next post

[GeneChing]

http://www.trbimg.com/img-595ef146/turbine/la-1499394370-iumagn5qtc-snap-image/750/750x422
CBS considered Kim and Park supporting actors to the show’s two white leading men, Scott Caan, left, and Alex O’Loughlin. (CBS Photo Archive / CBS via Getty Images)

Contract renegotiations stalled this spring when the television studio, CBS Productions, tried to lock in deals to bring the actors back for the show’s eighth season, which begins production next week. Both refused after being offered less money per episode than O’Loughlin and Caan.

This week, CBS and producers rejected the notion that Kim and Park were treated unfairly. Kim, for example, was offered a huge jump in salary — to about $195,000 an episode, which was $5,000 an episode less than what Caan and O’Loughlin receive, according to a person close to the production who was not authorized to divulge details of the sensitive negotiations. Kim also was offered a new production deal on CBS’ lot in Studio City. His pay before the offer is not known.

“Daniel and Grace have been important and valued members of ‘Hawaii Five-0’ for seven seasons,” CBS said in a statement. “We did not want to lose them and tried very hard to keep them with offers for large and significant salary increases.”

Kim and Park declined to comment.

Peter Lenkov, co-creator and executive producer of “Hawaii Five-0,” on Thursday stressed that the show was proud of its large and inclusive cast.

“The truth is this: Both actors chose not to extend their contracts,” he said. “CBS was extremely generous and proactive in their renegotiation talks. So much so, the actors were getting unprecedented raises, but in the end, they chose to move on. No one wanted to see them go — they are irreplaceable.”

Park, who lives in Vancouver when not shooting the show in Hawaii, had asked to dramatically reduce the number of episodes she appeared in, according to the knowledgeable source. “After being away from her family for seven years, I understood Grace’s decision to leave,” Lenkov said.

Critics on social media said the studio’s insistence it had offered the actors significant raises illustrates they had been underpaid for years.

There is little hard data proving Asian Americans in Hollywood are systematically underpaid. The Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists said it doesn’t track compensation beyond union minimums because the information is often kept under wraps by the studios, agents and individual actors.

Experts said this week’s furor over the “Hawaii Five-0” salary gap, and Kim’s taking a stand on the issue, could mark a turning point.

“Five years ago, this wouldn’t have gotten this kind of attention,” said Janet Yang, producer of “The People vs. Larry Flynt” and “The Joy Luck Club.” She and others credited the #OscarsSoWhite controversy for encouraging Asian Americans to stand up for their rights.

“More people are emboldened now,” Yang said. “The African American community has led the conversation for so long, and now it’s expanded to other minorities.”

Social media and the rise of niche entertainment channels, YouTube and streaming services such as Netflix also have spurred traditional Hollywood players to be more inclusive.

“Because you have so many platforms where people can tell stories from underrepresented faces and voices, audiences are driving all these decision-makers to reevaluate all the things they greenlight,” said Adam Moore, SAG-AFTRA’s national director of equal employment opportunity and diversity.

Johnson, the actress, couldn’t recall auditioning for a lead in any pilot in the 20 years before “Fresh Off the Boat.” “That tells me a lot about where we are,” said Johnson, though she says there’s still room for improvement.

Tashima, the Oscar-winning filmmaker, agreed. “Growing up, I always felt second-rate because I wasn’t like the kids you saw on TV,” he said. “I’m seeing a lot of change now. It’s not as much as we want.”

What bugs me the most about this is that it's Hawaii, which is so Asian. Imagine if this were a show about Chinatown. It's kind of like that.

[GeneChing]

Copied from Rudolf Vrba's facebook (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10213369266643585&set=a.10208921263086276.1073741827.1156442380&type=3&theater):


https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/20728208_10213369266643585_3037785092208240621_n.j pg?oh=e28af62e88260f1db224f50b73e11fb9&oe=5A35E360

Hi Guys

Just putting out an invitation for any stunt performers or martial artists who are interested in coming along to an audition day, and show us your skills to consider you for work on the AMC show 'Into the Badlands' in Ireland. It is a full on martial arts show and a very high level of fighting skills, weapons and reactions are required.
I will be in the UK with Vi-Dan Tran and Andy Cheng (Jackie Chan Team) on Saturday the 19th of August in London to consider you for the show. I say again, we are looking for a very high standard of Hong Kong style skills from both male and female, so please only apply if you think you have what we want.

We have confirmed now the audition will be at UELSports
University of East London, E16 2RD. Please arrive from 11.30am onwards and the audition will begin at 12pm.

You can send me your details and CV to :
stuntsintothebadlands@gmail.com prior to the auditions.
Please share with your martial arts friends.
Thank you

[GeneChing]

I'm still hoping for Friar Sandy. Could that be Pilgrim?


‘Into The Badlands’: Sherman Augustus, Babou Ceesay & Ella Rae-Smith Join Season 3 As Series Regulars (http://deadline.com/2017/09/into-the-badlands-sherman-augustus-babou-ceesay-ella-rae-smith-season-3-series-regulars-1202176846/)
by Denise Petski
September 26, 2017 9:30am

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/augustus-sherman-babou-ceesay-ellie-rae-smith-3.jpg?w=446&h=299&crop=1
Rex/Shutterstock/IMDB

Sherman Augustus (Westworld), Babou Ceesay (Guerrilla) and Ella-Rae Smith (Clique) have joined the Season 3 cast of AMC’s Into the Badlands as series regulars, and Dean-Charles Chapman (Game of Thrones) and Lewis Tan (Iron Fist) are set for recurring roles. They join series stars Daniel Wu (Sunny), Aramis Knight (M.K.), Emily Beecham (The Widow), Orla Brady (Lydia), Ally Ioannides (Tilda), Nick Frost (Bajie) and previously announced new series regular Lorraine Toussaint (Cressida).

Augustus returns as a regular after being introduced in Season 2 as Nathaniel Moon, the former regent who lost his hand to Sunny. In Season 3, Moon joins forces with The Widow in her war against Baron Chau in the hope of avenging his feud with Sunny. Ceesay plays Pilgrim, a zealous warlord who is on a quest to recover a mysterious artifact from Azra that could tip the balance of power in the Badlands. Smith plays Nix, a teenager whom Pilgrim loves like his own child. He uses her dark abilities to enforce his will.


https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/dean-charles-chapman-lewis-tan.jpg?w=270&h=181
Rex/Shutterstock

Chapman plays Castor, a teenager whom Pilgrim loves like his own child and uses his dark abilities to enforce his will. Tan plays Gaius Chau, who was imprisoned by his older sister, Baron Chau, for liberating her cog slaves. Gaius becomes a reluctant player in his sister’s war against The Widow.

Into the Badlands was created by executive producers/showrunners/writers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar and is executive produced by Oscar-nominated producers Stacey Sher and Michael Shamberg, along with David Dobkin, Stephen Fung, Michael Taylor and Daniel Wu.

Augustus most recently appeared on Westworld, American Odyssey, Colony, Low Winter Sun and Legit. He’s repped by Concept Talent Group and Jeff Goldberg Management.

Ceesay’s credits include Guerrilla, BAFTA-nominated Damilola, Our Loved Boy, BAFTA-winning miniseries National Treasure and Free Fire. Repped by Troika and Management 360, he recently wrapped production on The Best of Enemies.

Smith most recently appeared in Clique, Butterfly Kisses and the upcoming feature The Commuter. She’s repped by United Agents LLP.

Chapman played King Tommen in Game of Thrones and appears in the upcoming features Breathe and The Commuter. He’s repped by Troika Talent in the UK and WME in the US.

Tan most recently appeared in the TV series Iron Fist, Rush Hour and Hawaii Five-O and can be seen in the upcoming film Den of Thieves. He’s repped by ICM Partners Management and Luber Roklin Entertainment.


‘Into The Badlands’: Lorraine Toussaint Joins As New Regular For Season 3 (http://deadline.com/2017/08/into-the-badlands-lorraine-toussaint-cast-new-regular-amc-series-1202148895/)
by Nellie Andreeva • tip
August 14, 2017 5:14pm

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/lorraine-toussaint.jpg?w=446&h=299&crop=1
Rex/Shutterstock

Former Rosewood co-star Lorraine Toussaint is set as a new series regular in the third season of AMC’s hit martial arts drama series Into the Badlands.

Toussaint will play Cressida, a self styled Prophetess and mentor to Pilgrim. She is his spiritual guide, political counsel and chief military strategist.

Toussaint had been in demand since she recently became available following a two-season stint on Fox’s procedural drama Rosewood. She fielded film TV and theater offers, ultimately sellecting Into the Badlands for her next TV series gig.

Into the Badlands received an expanded 16-episode Season 3 order last April for premiere in 2018.

Loosely based on the Chinese tale Journey to the West and set in a land controlled by feudal barons, Into The Badlands tells the story of a ruthless, well-trained warrior named Sunny (Daniel Wu) and a young boy, M.K. (Aramis Knight), who embark on a journey across a dangerous land to find enlightenment.

The series was created by executive producers/showrunners/writers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar and is executive produced by Stacey Sher and Michael Shamberg, along with David Dobkin, Stephen Fung, Michael Taylor and Daniel Wu.

Toussaint played Donna Rosewood on Rosewood. She also recently guest-starred on Shots Fired and appeared in the feature Girls Trip. Toussaint’ll next be seen on the big screen in drama thriller Fast Color opposite Gugu Mbatha-Raw. She’s repped by Innovative, Frontline and Del Shaw.

[GeneChing]

Ally Ioannides in New ‘Into the Badlands’ Virtual Reality App (http://hollywood.greekreporter.com/2017/10/24/ally-ioannides-in-new-into-the-badlands-virtual-reality-app/)
By Joanna Kalafatis - Oct 24, 2017


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ankQ_iL2H_k

AMC recently announced that it has launched a new VR app where fans of “The Walking Dead” and “Into the Badlands” can immerse themselves in the worlds of their favorite TV shows right along the shows’ stars, including Ally Ioannides.

The channel made its first foray into the virtual reality world after the Season 8 premiere of “The Walking Dead” on Sunday, October 23, when AMC released a 360-degree extended scene video of the episode’s final scene.

Viewers could access the scene and learn more about the storyline and the characters than they did in the series.

Mac McKean, an executive at AMC, released a statement about the AMC VR launch, explaining, “with the launch of AMC VR, we are pleased to bring shows like ‘The Walking Dead’ and ‘Into the Badlands’ to life in an immersive and experiential way. Viewers want to enter the worlds they watch on AMC, and this app brings them there.”

The AMC VR app will also include two “Into the Badlands” VR experiences, one of which is called “Virtual Reality Fight Camp”, and features series stars Ally Ioannides, Daniel Wu, and Aramis Knight in a choreographed fight teaching you martial arts moves.

You can access AMC’s new virtual reality app on iOS, Android, Gear VR and Google Daydream to check it out for yourself.

In the meantime, watch the video AMC released on YouTube above to get a taste of the 360-degree experience; make sure to watch it in a browser compatible with 360-degree viewing.


Might have to get that app.

[GeneChing]

I cut to the chase with this article and just featured Into the Badlands. I had the honor of going on another set visit there two weeks ago, but am under embargo for the next few months until Season 3 starts. Sooooooo, more to come. :cool:


DECEMBER 8, 2017 1:41PM PT
Maureen Ryan’s 20 Best TV Shows of 2017 (http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/best-tv-shows-of-2017-maureen-ryan-leftovers-good-place-halt-and-catch-fire-big-little-lies-1202632591/)
By Maureen Ryan @moryan Maureen Ryan
Maureen Ryan
Chief TV Critic
@moryan

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/2017-year-in-review-template-5-blue.jpg?w=1000&h=562&crop=1
CREDIT: VARIETY

Half of the showrunners of the programs in the list below are women. Women are 51% of the population of this country.

This is not boring math. What’s finally occurring in TV is a long-overdue revolution.

A decade ago, I would have been hard-pressed to find a single female showrunner within shouting distance of my end-of-year best-of list. Not because there weren’t women who had stories to tell and the skills to bring them to life. There have always been plenty of those women around. But the precincts of ambitious, adventurous TV — and all too often, huge sections of regular, meat-and-potatoes TV — were pretty much a dude-fest. (It’s still usually this way in TV; look at the stats.)

But as I perused my very long list of possible Best TV contenders, it was heartening to see that women were not only making a lot of incredible, funny, gripping, provocative programs, but also that female characters predominated in so many of the shows.

More than a dozen programs on my Top 20 roster are about groups of women, and these programs frequently depicted how women relate to each other, to the world and to the men in their lives. For decades — with a few exceptions, of course — it often felt like nobody who had real power in TV cared all that much about female friendship (and enemy-ship, and mentorship, etc.). Again, it’s a systemic thing, because most creators and showrunners are men, who are of course capable of making good and great TV, but a sizable percentage aren’t all that interested in relationships among realistically complicated women. As much as I loved “Mad Men,” “Deadwood,” “Breaking Bad” and shows like it, they rarely depicted bonds among women with any kind of sustained depth or dazzling complexity.

But look at the year’s most buzzworthy, acclaimed TV shows: Many of them, from “Big Little Lies” to “Handmaid’s Tale” to “Insecure” to “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” were fantastically curious about the interior and exterior lives of women. Solitary women and groups of women. Women driven by an enormous array of motivations, dreams and ambitions. There were any number of ways in which these varied programs depicted women’s friendships, commitments and challenges, and the compromises women — especially women of color and queer women — have to make in order to fit into the narrow categories society has prepared for them.

The evolutions didn’t stop there. One of the neatest spectacles of the last few years was watching “The Leftovers’” and “Halt and Catch Fire’s” showrunners — white guys! — realize that the most interesting arcs on their shows belonged to the women who had been more or less on the sidelines at first. The sagas wanted to go there, and the storytellers followed.

We’re not in the promised land, of course. The parade of sludgy, derivative prestige imitators continues, and when it comes to that kind of fare, allow me one mini-rant: I remain generally unimpressed by TV episodes that run more than about 50 minutes. (If I had a nickel for every 2017 episode that dragged on for more than an hour and actually justified that running time, I would have… three nickels. Five at the most.)

A much more important gripe: Only a few shows below were created or run by people of color, and only one is run by a LGBT creator. We need more voices, more stories, more perspectives, more of the fresh and vital excitement that comes from examining points of view that are typically ignored, minimized or depicted in stereotypical ways.

There’s still much work to be done. As we now know, with brutal accuracy and heartbreaking specificity, much of Hollywood gives free reign to powerful men who abuse without consequence, and many reforms need to be made before most or all employees in the industry will routinely feel physically and psychologically safe from assault, harassment and bias. As hard as it is, we need to keep thinking about what it cost for these women and men to come forward and tell their stories, and what actions will help in a sustained, meaningful manner. We can either get to the root of the interlocking problems arising from the rampant abuse of power, and we can make sure that promising creative people are not driven out by predators, toxic bullies and harassers. Or we can give in to the way things have always been. That’s simply not an option.

The best programs contain small but sturdy beacons of hope in their DNA. In a year that was often demoralizing, and in which stories of predation, exclusion and oppression dominated the news — in a year in which Americans often felt ground down even on the non-terrifying days — these shows found joy in heartbreak, and vice versa. As I looked at my final list, it felt good to realize that, all year long and well before that, a hardy band of men and women with bold ideas and big hearts were in writers’ rooms, on sets and in the world, doing their best to fight an enormous tide of cruelty, rage and stupidity. We got a Tasmanian sex boat, the Trolley Problem (twice!), a musical about Juneteenth and the best quinceañera ever. If there is a culture war raging, it is being fought with solid jokes, with specific and memorable characters, with spectacular visions, with daring ideas executed with care and precision, with minds and passions and inspirations.

These shows gave me food for thought and sustenance for the soul in a tough time, and there were belly laughs too. I’m grateful for all of it.

A couple of housekeeping notes: If something you really liked isn’t on my main list or in my rosters of Honorable Mentions, you can assume I didn’t get to it (there’s too much TV!). Or you can assume I did not like it as much as you did. Go with whichever assumption prevents you from “but what about”-ing me on Twitter. Also, I have not finished “Twin Peaks,” but what I’ve seen so far was suitably destabilizing. (And, per a recent online debate, “Twin Peaks” is not a movie. It is a TV show. Long live television.)

...

11. “Into the Badlands,” AMC

This is a post-apocalyptic story that doesn’t ignore the challenges its characters face, but it also doesn’t sink into dull gloom or repetitive storytelling ruts. It’s a lot of engaging, badass fun, and it has proven to be an excellent showcase for its game cast. If that isn’t enough, it’s easily one of the most gorgeously filmed shows on television, and it has the best martial arts and action anywhere on the small screen. Five reasons why “Into the Badlands” is awesome.

[GeneChing]

Into The Badlands (https://www.facebook.com/IntoTheBadlandsAMC/?hc_ref=ARQAmP2sBMf4sXQTXX3wWTVARsRRFnySvXaI7g1k_6 b7EGDwiUflnDB_i0LbLjm4kCE) added 5 new photos.
2 hrs ·
Get ready. #IntotheBadlands Season 3 is coming 2018. Check out the first look here 👇

https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/25446071_1428462303931414_1414361912564950995_n.jp g?oh=158932f17c632ec122c88305bb8db544&oe=5ABBB990https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/25438843_1428462287264749_2759061908167445440_o.jp g?oh=abd078cbb2ed55303d615bdbe1093fc1&oe=5AC3F255https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/25542428_1428462290598082_1193127909639589196_o.jp g?oh=ea6c23c827d3fdae8d58202a9658b37b&oe=5ACDDA42https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/25440279_1428462357264742_5142557872920045558_o.jp g?oh=1b49b0d3229c95c2cd4e6df5c75918fd&oe=5ACFB75Ehttps://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/25488175_1428462337264744_2842683103417386677_o.jp g?oh=0504f3d452812034ec3e0e1bccfa49cf&oe=5AC88C7A



https://instagram.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/t51.2885-15/e35/24274853_133237247363076_5063283013350064128_n.jpg
I got so many spoilers, but I'm under a NDA.

[GeneChing]

Top Breakout TV Stars of 2017 (http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/2017-tv-top-fresh-faces-jessica-henwick-jimmy-tatro-sean-astin-1202634290/)
By Joe Otterson @JoeOtterson
TV Reporter
https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/tv-fresh-faces.jpg?w=1000&h=562&crop=1
CREDIT: NETFLIX/CBS

As 2017 draws to a close, Variety takes a look back on some of the fresh faces in television who helped us survive another year.

Of course, fresh can mean many things. In this list, we honor people appearing on new shows, people who joined returning shows, as well as people who made the jump to TV this year. Take, for example, relative unknowns like “Young Sheldon” star Iain Armitage or the young cast of “Riverdale,” who all exploded in popularity this year.

Then there are veteran actors like Sean Astin and Rachel Brosnahan, who took on new roles this year to great fan and critical acclaim. Brosnahan stole hearts and laughs for her powerhouse performance in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” Astin, meanwhile, became part of the phenomenon that is Netflix’s binge-worthy series “Stranger Things.”

Read the full list below. Each of those mentioned, in their own way, made us want to keep watching.

Iain Armitage, “Young Sheldon” (CBS)

It was the closest thing to a sure thing you could get that “The Big Bang Theory” prequel series “Young Sheldon” would be a hit. The burden of continuing the legacy of the incredibly successful parent program fell largely on the pint-sized shoulders of Iain Armitage, who plays the child version of Jim Parsons’ Dr. Sheldon Cooper. The young Armitage pulled it off, though, and the series has proven to be number one new comedy of the 2017-2018 season in the Nielsen ratings.

Sean Astin, “Stranger Things” (Netflix)

The original Goony appeared in “Stranger Things” Season 2 and quickly proved to be one of the most lovable characters on television in 2017. Astin played Bob Newby, the boyfriend of Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) and would-be stepfather to her two sons. Astin brought a tear-jerking amount of humanity and heart to the role, playing Bob as a normal guy who stepped up in the biggest way possible when the people he loved were in danger.

Rachel Brosnahan, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Amazon)

Rachel Brosnahan is no stranger to TV audiences after recent turns on “House of Cards” and “Manhattan,” but her starring role on “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” gives the talented actress her best role in years. Brosnahan effortlessly inhabits Miriam “Midge” Maisel, a 1950s New York housewife who discovers a talent for stand up comedy. The series is the brainchild of “Gilmore Girls” creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, providing Brosnahan with no shortage of snappy dialogue. Her onscreen friendship with Alex Borstein as talent manager Susie is also the stuff of TV gold.

Nick Frost, “Into the Badlands” (AMC)

Nick Frost joined AMC’s martial arts series for its second season this year, injecting a welcome dose of comic relief. Frost starred as Bajie, a fast-talking hustler who spends the beginning of the season literally chained to Daniel Wu’s Sunny. “Into the Badlands” truly seemed to hit its stride this season, and Frost was a major component of that. Pairing him with the no-nonsense character Wu portrays allowed for a fantastic odd couple dynamic that provided balance to the show’s breathtaking fight sequences.

Jessica Henwick, “Iron Fist” (Netflix)

Jessica Henwick turned out to be a rose among a lot of poorly-reviewed thorns in the first season of the Marvel-Netflix series “Iron Fist.” Henwick played Colleen Wing, a martial arts master who becomes the ally and lover of the titular hero, played by Finn Jones. Despite the show receiving a rash of negative reviews upon its release, Henwick was one of the few elements of the series to earn real praise. Hopefully, her role will be expanded going forward. The chances of that look good, as Marvel TV head Jeph Loeb teased Wing would team up with Det. Misty Knight (Simone Missick) in a future season in keeping with the comic books.


Sonequa Martin-Green, “Star Trek: Discovery” (CBS All Access)

Sonequa Martin-Green made the leap from one massive series to another this year, leaving “The Walking Dead” to take on a starring role in “Star Trek: Discovery.” Despite a lot of negative news coming out ahead of “Discovery’s” premiere (including multiple premiere date delays), Martin-Green deftly took on the challenge of leading the new installment of the iconic sci-fi franchise. Her portrayal of convicted Starfleet mutineer Michael Burnham made the new show truly binge-worthy.

Jonah Ray, “Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return” (Netflix)

“Mystery Science Theater 3000” remains one of the most popular cult TV shows of all time. After a record-breaking Kickstarter campaign, the show was brought back for a new season on Netflix with comedian Jonah Ray stepping in as the host. Ray had a big jumpsuit to fill, taking over a role previously held by series creator Joel Hodgson and later Michael J. Nelson, the original show’s head writer. But with Hodgson’s blessing, Ray took to the task with apparent ease, riffing on movies with the best of them.

The Cast of “Riverdale” (The CW)

“Riverdale,” the dark twist on the classic Archie Comics, has quickly become a force to be reckoned with on The CW in just under a year. The young cast includes: K.J. Apa as Archie, Lili Reinhart at Betty Cooper, Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge, and Cole Sprouse as Jughead Jones. The first season launched on CW in January and was subsequently released on Netflix. With the streaming service helping the show reach a much bigger audience, the second season has skyrocketed past the first in ratings to the tune of nearly 50 percent in the key demo and nearly 60 percent in total viewers.

Frankie Shaw, “SMILF” (Showtime)

Frankie Shaw took the short film she entered into the Sundance Film Festival in 2015 and turned it into a TV series that she stars in, writes, directs, and produces this year. Shaw stars as Bridgette, a broke single mother trying to make ends meet for herself and her infant son in South Boston. Shaw has earned critical acclaim for her performance, with many praising her portrayal of a young, flawed woman and the way in which she authentically captured life near the bottom of the socio-economic ladder in America. She was nominated for two Golden Globes for the show’s freshman season.

Jimmy Tatro, “American Vandal” (Netflix)

“American Vandal” perfectly skewered the true crime documentary genre and Jimmy Tatro was at the very heart of it. Tatro played Dylan Maxwell, a high school student who is expelled on shaky evidence that he vandalized over two dozen faculty cars. Tatro’s deadpan (and braindead) delivery made Dylan a lovable loser you couldn’t help but root for. But when the show took unexpected dramatic turns, particularly in its final episodes, Tatro proved more than up to the challenge.

Reese Witherspoon & Nicole Kidman, “Big Little Lies” (HBO)

Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman both made the jump from film to series television this year with the critically-acclaimed series “Big Little Lies.” Both women won Emmys for their work as executive producers on the show, with Kidman also winning the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie. All told, the show won eight Emmys and was recently nominated for six Golden Globes. Both women will return as stars and executive producers for the show’s second season.


Into The Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67844-Into-The-Badlands)
Iron Fist (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49086-Iron-Fist)
Star Trek: Discovery (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70138-Star-Trek-Discovery)

[GeneChing]

Today is the complete Into the Badlands series marathon on AMC (http://www.amc.com/schedule?tz=PT).

Season 3 returns in Spring 2018

[GeneChing]

AMC Sets ‘McMafia’ Premiere, Season Starts For ‘Fear,’ ‘Badlands,’ and ‘James Cameron’s Sci-Fi Story’ – TCA (http://deadline.com/2018/01/amc-sets-mcmafia-premiere-season-starts-for-three-returning-programs-1202242733/)
by Bruce Haring
January 13, 2018 3:31pm

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/amc-networks-featured-image.jpg?w=446&h=299&crop=1

AMC has set premiere dates for McMafia, Fear the Walking Dead season four, Into the Badlands season three, and AMC Visionaries: James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction. The announcements came from the Television Critics Assn. press tour.

Related'The Terror' Depicts Horror Of 19th Century Search For North Passage -- TCA
The new international thriller McMafia, an eight-part series created by Hossein Amini and James Watkins, will debut on Monday, Feb. 26 at 10 PM ET/PT. Inspired by Misha Glenny’s best-selling book of the same name, the series charts Alex Godman’s (James Norton) journey as he is drawn deeper and deeper into the world of organized crime.

As the English-raised son of Russian exiles with a mafia history, Alex has spent his life trying to escape the shadow of that criminal past, building his own legitimate business and forging a life with his girlfriend Rebecca (Juliet Rylance). But when his family’s past returns to threaten them, Alex is forced to confront his values to protect those he loves.

In addition to Norton and Rylance, the series stars David Strathairn (The Bourne Ultimatum, Good Night, and Good Luck), Faye Marsay (Love Nina, Game of Thrones),Aleksey Serebryakov (The Method, Leviathan) and Maria Shukshina (Yolki 3, Terrorist Ivanona), McMafia is co-produced by the BBC, AMC and Cuba Pictures, in association with Twickenham Studios, and distributed internationally by BBC Worldwide.

Fear the Walking Dead starts its fourth season on Sunday, April 15 at 10 PM ET/PT. Subsequent episodes will air at 9 PM ET/PT beginning April 22.

In season four, the world of Madison Clark (Kim Dickens) and her family is seen through the eyes of Walking Dead crossover character Morgan Jones (Lennie James). The characters meet new friends, foes and threats, battling against a legion of the dead and, at times, each other.

Produced by AMC Studios, Fear the Walking Dead is executive produced by Scott M. Gimple, showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg, as well as Robert Kirkman, David Alpert, Gale Anne Hurd and Greg Nicotero.

Into the Badlands makes its season three debut on Sunday, April 22 at 10 PM ET/PT. This season finds Sunny (Daniel Wu of Tomb Raider) living off the grid, doing his best to provide for his infant son, Henry, in the wake of Veil’s death. It is only when Henry contracts a mysterious illness that Sunny must join forces with Bajie (Nick Frost of Shaun of the Dead) and journey back into the Badlands, where The Widow (Emily Beecham of Daphne) and Baron Chau (Eleanor Matsuura of Wonder Woman) are entrenched in a drawn-out war that has destabilized the entire region.

The series also stars Aramis Knight (Enders Game) as M.K., Lorraine Toussaint (Orange is the New Black) as Cressida, Ella-Rae Smith (Clique) as Nix, Lewis Tan (Iron Fist) as Gaius and Dean-Charles Chapman (Game of Thrones) as Castor.

Into the Badlands was created by executive producers, showrunners and writers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (Smallville) and is executive produced by Oscar®-nominated producers Stacey Sher (Django Unchained) and Michael Shamberg (Contagion), along with David Dobkin (The Judge), Stephen Fung (Tai Chi Zero), Michael Taylor (TURN: Washington’s Spies) and Wu.

Finally, AMC Visionaries: James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction will start on Monday, April 30 at 10 PM ET/PT. It offers an insiders’ look at the origins of the genre that has become a cornerstone of popular culture. Throughout each episode of the six-part television series, Academy Award-winning writer, director and producer James Cameron explores science fiction’s roots, futuristic vision and our fascination with its ideas through interviews with A-list storytellers, stars and others whose careers have defined the field, including Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Ridley Scott, Christopher Nolan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Will Smith and Sigourney Weaver, among many others.

The series is executive produced by Cameron, Maria Wilhelm and Ken Druckerman and Banks Tarver of Left/Right TV. The series is co-executive produced by showrunner Jeff Cooperman and Mike Mezaros.

Once again, I'll have more than complete coverage on this. :cool:

[GeneChing]

This is redundant to the post above but I'm posting it for its two inaccuracies. #1. the I in INTO THE BADLANDS is clipped in their hasty cut&paste #2. Marton? Oliver? Madeleine? Clearly they didn't even watch Season 2.

I don't post this to be overly critical - more so it's some justification when we make similar mistakes. :o;)


Into the Badlands: Season Three Premieres on AMC in April (https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/badlands-season-three-premieres-amc-april/)
by Jessica Pena, January 16, 2018

https://tvseriesfinale.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/into-the-badlands-3.jpg
Credit: Aidan Monaghan/AMC

What’s next for Into the Badlands? Recently, AMC announced the TV series’ third season will debut in April.

The action drama is set centuries in the future in a feudal society called the Badlands. The cast includes Daniel Wu, Marton Csokas, Orla Brady, Sarah Bolger, Aramis Knight, Emily Beecham, Oliver Stark, Madeleine Mantock, and Alexia Ioannides.

Season three of Into the Badlands premieres on AMC on April 22nd at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

Read more info below:


NTO THE BADLANDS” Season Three

Sunday, April 22 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT

Season three of “Into the Badlands” finds Sunny (Daniel Wu of Tomb Raider) living off the grid, doing his best to provide for his infant son, Henry, in the wake of Veil’s death. It is only when Henry contracts a mysterious illness that Sunny must join forces with Bajie (Nick Frost of Shaun of the Dead) and journey back into the Badlands, where The Widow (Emily Beecham of Daphne) and Baron Chau (Eleanor Matsuura of Wonder Woman) are entrenched in a drawn-out war that has destabilized the entire region. No longer supported by Tilda (Ally Ioannides of Parenthood) or Waldo (Stephen Lang of Avatar), The Widow must find new allies in Lydia (Orla Brady of Fringe) and in Nathaniel Moon (Sherman Augustus of Westworld) – the former regent who lost his hand to Sunny and Bajie in Season two. But when a mysterious nomadic leader called Pilgrim (Babou Ceesay of Guerilla) arrives in the Badlands on a mission to restore Azra and usher in a new era of “peace,” old enemies must band together to defend the Badlands.

The series also stars Aramis Knight (Enders Game) as M.K., Lorraine Toussaint (Orange is the New Black) as Cressida, Ella-Rae Smith (Clique) as Nix, Lewis Tan (Iron Fist) as Gaius and Dean-Charles Chapman (Game of Thrones) as Castor.

From AMC Studios, “Into the Badlands” was created by executive producers, showrunners and writers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (Smallville) and is executive produced by Oscar(R)-nominated producers Stacey Sher (Django Unchained) and Michael Shamberg (Contagion), along with David Dobkin (The Judge), Stephen Fung (Tai Chi Zero), Michael Taylor (TURN: Washington’s Spies) and Wu.”

[GeneChing]

INTO THE BADLANDS
SEASON 3 PREMIERE DATE
COUNTDOWN TO 22ND APRIL 2018 AT 10:00PM (US/EASTERN TIME) (https://yourcountdown.to/into-the-badlands)

This is only amusing if you follow the link. Too much trouble to embed it here. :cool:

[GeneChing]

Apply for: Female Assassins Into the Badlands (https://secure.movieextras.ie/notices/@@forms_apply.html?form_id=267)
Female Assassins
We are currently casting experienced female Martial Artists as Assassins for some upcoming scenes in Into The Badlands. Dates are still TBC but we will be shooting in March so applicants should have good flexibility throughout the month.

We have a specific look in mind for this role and the costume sizes are quite specific so please see the requirements below.

REQUIREMENTS

Age: 18-40
Gender: Female
Height: 5ft 6 & up
Dress Size: 8-12
Experience: 2+ Years Martial Arts Experience

Right to Work:

If you are born outside the EU / EEA states, we require proof of your Right to Work in Ireland.

Without this proof we CANNOT consider you for opportunities on set.

See www.MovieExtras.ie/noneeamembers for details.

Please note that you are ONLY applying for this specific role.

If you are interested in being considered for all of the other productions that we work with, you can join online at www.MovieExtras.ie

Follow the link for the application form. :cool:

[GeneChing]

Deadpool 2 Trailer May Reveal Iron Fist’s Lewis Tan as Shatterstar (https://screenrant.com/deadpool-2-lewis-tan-shatterstar/)
By Cooper Hood 02.07.2018

https://static1.srcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Lewis-Tan-Deadpool-2-Shatterstar.jpg?q=50&w=1000&h=500&fit=crop

Iron Fist‘s Lewis Tan may have been revealed to be part of Deadpool 2‘s cast as Shatterstar. The marketing campaign for Fox’s highly anticipated sequel may not have aired a spot during the Super Bowl, but they kicked off this week’s coverage with a live-tweet of the big game. In the following days, a new poster was revealed and a viral site launched. The biggest piece came with the release of Deadpool 2‘s first official trailer, and it did much more than just introduce Josh Brolin as Cable.

One of the moments that stuck out to fans the most was an ensemble shot of Deadpool and other mutants ready to leap out of a plane. Zazie Beetz’s Domino was featured there, but the shot also revealed Terry Crews to be part of the cast – possibly as G.W. Bridge. Two additional team members were featured as well. While one is difficult to identify, the other is widely believed to be Shatterstar – and now we may know who is playing him.

Twitter user HELLB0YS shared a side by side of Shatterstar from the trailer and Iron Fist actor Lewis Tan along with Tan’s Twitter activity that may indicate he’s part of the cast, too. Shatterstar in the trailer does resemble Tan, but it isn’t clear enough to confirm on its own. However, Tan was liking multiple Shatterstar related images earlier today – ones that he appears to have since unliked after the internet sleuthing began.


View image on Twitter (https://twitter.com/TH0R0DINS0NS/status/961359860175654913)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DVdvsI0W4AAVlE3.jpg

Tom™ // Comissions are Open
@TH0R0DINS0NS
Okay so umm.... @THELEWISTAN SEEMS TO BE PLAYING SHATTERSTAR IN DEADPOOL 2 ? THE GUY IN THE TRAILER LOOKS JUST LIKE HIM AND HES BEEN LIKING TWEETS ABOUT THE FILM ALL DAY ?!?

2:03 PM - Feb 7, 2018
43
18 people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy

Since this isn’t the most concrete evidence, this alone is far from confirmation that Tan is indeed part of Deadpool 2‘s cast. However, in doing further digging, Tan also follows Deadpool himself Ryan Reynolds and the sequel’s director David Leitch on Twitter, and did so one right after the other. He also follows newly revealed cast member Terry Crews. Who follows who on Twitter isn’t the best way to determine if an actor is part of another project, but there’s more. Near the end of November, Tan revealed on Twitter that he recently worked with Lewis on a project. Crews and Tan have never worked on the same project before, and Deadpool 2 wrapped in October.



Lewis Tan (https://twitter.com/TheLewisTan/status/933045581135654912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fscreenrant.com%2Fdeadpool-2-lewis-tan-shatterstar%2F)
✔
@TheLewisTan
Replying to @Lexialex @terrycrews
Just worked with him. Legend and a gentleman @terrycrews

10:52 AM - Nov 21, 2017
151
See Lewis Tan's other Tweets
Twitter Ads info and privacy
When all of this evidence is put together, it appears more likely than not that Tan is indeed part of Deadpool 2‘s ensemble, and likely playing Shatterstar. Early reports on Deadpool 2 claimed Shatterstar would be introduced via a post-credits scene, but that was quickly debunked by screenwriter Rhett Reese. It may not be a post-credits intro, but Tan does appear to have a costume extremely similar to Shatterstar. Regardless of whether or not this is Shatterstar, it could be a big role for Tan moving forward if this team has any ties to X-Force‘s future roster. This has yet to be confirmed, but there’s mounting evidence behind Tan being involved. If this is the case, hopefully it will be confirmed sooner rather than later.

I met Lewis in Dublin while doing a set visit for Into the Badlands. We had dinner together, along with several other cast members. He hinted that he was about to join the MCU but couldn't disclose too much more because he was under NDA.

Thread: Deadpool 2 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69436-Deadpool-2)
Thread: Into The Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67844-Into-The-Badlands)
Thread: Iron Fist (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49086-Iron-Fist)

[GeneChing]

For the next 3 weeks, AMC is offering ITB 2 for free through their website.



SEASON 2 (http://www.amc.com/shows/into-the-badlands)
Sunny and M.K. separated and scattered to the wind, each imprisoned in unlikely places. While M.K. struggles to control his powers, Sunny is determined to fight his way back into the Badlands to find his family or die trying.

Watch Full Episodes (http://www.amc.com/shows/into-the-badlands/season-2/episode-01-tiger-pushes-mountain)

[GeneChing]

This is a UK news piece so I'm hoping it's valid for the U.S. market too.


Into the Badlands series 3 comes to Amazon Prime Video next month (http://www.seenit.co.uk/into-the-badlands-series-3-comes-to-amazon-prime-video-next-month/)
FEBRUARY 14, 2018 - STAFF@SEENITUK

https://i0.wp.com/www.seenit.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/into-the-badlands-1800.jpg?w=1800

Amazon has confirmed it’ll be streaming the third season of Into the Badlands from April 23rd.

The series starts with Sunny (Daniel Wu) living off the grid and doing his best to provide for his infant son, Henry, in the wake of Veil’s death.

It is only when Henry contracts a mysterious illness that Sunny must join forces with Bajie (Nick Frost) and journey back into the Badlands where The Widow (Emily Beecham) and Baron Chau (Eleanor Matsuura) are entrenched in a drawn-out war that has destabilised the entire region.

No longer supported by Tilda (Ally Ioannides) or Waldo (Stephen Lang),

The Widow must find a new ally in Nathaniel Moon (Sherman Augustus; Westworld) — the former regent who lost his hand to Sunny and Bajie in series two.

But when a mysterious nomadic leader called Pilgrim (Babou Ceesay; Guerilla) arrives in the Badlands on a mission to restore Azra and usher in a new era of “peace,” old enemies must band together to defend the Badlands.

Series three also stars Aramis Knight as M.K., Lorraine Toussaint (Orange is the New Black) as Cressida, Ella-Rae Smith (Clique) as Nix, Lewis Tan (Iron Fist) as Gaius and Dean-Charles Chapman (Game of Thrones) as Castor.

Amazon Prime Video can be accessed on selected Smart TVs, via smartphone and tablet apps and via Amazon’s Fire TV stick and Fire TV and is free to Amazon Prime customers.

The service is also available with a stand-alone subscription.

[GeneChing]

In my JAN+FEB 2016 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=1269) cover story - Into the Badlands with Daniel Wu (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=1275) - I opened by saying "If you don’t know the name Daniel Wu by now, he’s the martial artist to watch." I reiterate that with Lewis Tan.


Interview: Actor Lewis Tan

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59543ad972af659452cb2c86/t/5a64ebf29140b7b61f457de3/1519868999038/DSC_1690edit.jpg

LEWIS TAN: A HAPA SUPERHERO ON A MISSION (https://www.hapamag.com/hapa-mag-issue-003/interview-lewis-tan)
By Melissa Slaughter

For too long, we’ve seen Asian men portrayed as meek computer geeks with no sex appeal and no social currency. Sure, we've had martial arts masters like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li, but very rarely did they get the girl. More likely they got a pat on the back and a "laugh line" in return for their role as the sidekick. Hell, Jet Li didn’t even kiss Aliyah at the end of Romeo Must Die!

Well, no more! Asian dudes with sex appeal, gusto, and smarts to boot are here, and they’re not going away. 2017 might have been a garbage fire for Asian-American representation in film/TV, but out of the flames rose guys like Ludi Lin (Power Rangers), Ki Hong Lee (Kimmy Schmidt/Maze Runner), and Henry Goulding (Crazy Rich Asians). Asian actors are breaking stereotypes left and right, and new positive role models abound! Hapa Mag is very happy to have one of these gentlemen with us in this spring issue!

Type “Guy Who Should Have Been Iron Fist” into your search engine. I dare you. There’s plenty to read about Lewis as the "Almost Iron Fist" here, here and here. However, Tan is much more than a high-flying Marvel drunken monk. He's an accomplished actor, an stuntman, world-traveler, and legacy martial artist.

Lewis Tan: My father was a national champion martial artist who competed in many different styles. He taught me from a young age how to fight; it was our bonding time. We would sit and watch old Bruce Lee films and stretch in the living room. We traveled a lot because my father was doing different films all over the world. Eventually we came to the USA for Batman and we have lived here ever since.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59543ad972af659452cb2c86/t/5a64ecca9140b7b61f45ae27/1516563745484/DSC_1812edit.jpg?format=500w
PC: Samantha Rebuyaco

As many a Hapa knows, we’re often told we’re too Asian, not Asian enough, too ethnic, on and on. And often being mixed race isn’t taken into account at all. In casting, this pressure is magnified as one's outside presentation could dictate whether or not you get a job. Our own Sam Tanabe wrote about such inequity in our inaugural issue. So why choose a career path that, more often than not, will throw someone aside for just their looks?

LT: "I got into acting when I was very young because I fell in love with cinema. It was also all I knew and saw as a child. I grew up on sets with some of the most legendary directors and it was a dream to play make believe and get paid for it. Still is.

Being mixed in an industry that has been known for casting [people of color] as stereotypes has been frustrating and tiring, but has also made me a better actor and performer because I have had to convince casting directors and producers I am the ONLY choice for the role. As we go into 2018, I think the industry is starting to see the world in a broader perspective. It's about time and I am very grateful for all the hard times that has built me up."

Born in England to a Chinese father, a British mother, Lewis now calls the USA home. Lewis told us "I love my mixed heritage because it has given me depth and perspective on the world. It has also been challenging in the film industry, but at the same time [it] created a deep discovery of who I am as a man and I am proud of my heritage."

And it's not just his family heritage that gave him the chance to get a broader worldview. "Traveling has introduced me to the craziest mixes I have ever seen, people with accents you would never expect. It has been such a mind-opening experience and the world is a colorful and beautiful place." Mark Twain would agree; the famed humorist wrote in his travel book The Innocents Abroad that "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts." Lewis expanded upon the idea that travel "makes you judge less...It just shows you that you can not ever put people in a box. There is no box. It's endless, and that is a lovely thought."

Don't think Lewis has been sitting pretty as a stuntman and action actor; he's no one-trick pony. He's a multi-talented actor with plenty to show the world. He wants to do it all and to work with the best. He's certainly been in enough projects in the works to stretch anyone's artistic ability. He can be seen in the new crime thriller Den of Thieves, with Gerard Butler and 50 Cent, and as Gaius Chau, a leading role in Daniel Wu’s Into the Badlands, as well as “a few more that I can’t announce yet but are huge! ;)” I will be candid when I say I am very excited to see what Lewis has in store for that AMC martial-arts extravaganza. (Shout-out to Keith Chow of the Nerds of Color and Hard NOC Media who introduced me to both the show and to Lewis himself. #ColorMeBadlands) Lewis has pushed Asian-American representation forward by leaps and bounds and takes seriously his responsibility.

LT: “It is bigger than me and other actors. It is about the next generation feeling represented correctly and inspiring them to create and be heroes in their own story. I have season 3 of Into the Badlands coming out, which in my opinion is revolutionary when it comes to diversity and also the best action on TV. I am going to continue to do my best to use my platform and skills to inspire others and rep for my people. Count on that.”

A FEW MORE LEWIS TAN FUN FACTS:
His favorite martial arts movies: "Enter the Dragon, IP Man, Drunken Master, Kill Bill, Crouching Tiger, The Matrix, Fist of Fury, Ong Bak, Kung Fu Hustle, anything from Jackie Chan, Kurosawa and most recently I saw The Villainess and it blew my mind."

His biggest martial arts inspirations: "My father had a big influence on me. My sensei and teachers I have had, which are many. I am constantly learning and growing, understanding my body and how it moves."

His favorite foods: "I eat everything! But my favorite food is Thai, Japanese, Italian and Indian, but I do not discriminate. I love good food and don't look twice at the price."

Check Lewis out in Iron Fist on Netflix and Season 3 of Into the Badlands airs on April 22nd, 2018. And follow him @lewistanofficial on IG, and @TheLewisTan on Twitter. He's got big things in the works, so stayed tuned!

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*ALL PICTURES WERE TAKEN BY SAMANTHA REBUYACO

Melissa Slaughter has lived in all four time zones in the contiguous United States. A former actor in Seattle, WA, Melissa now resides in NYC as a content creator. She is the producer of the We're Not All Ninjas podcast, which she also hosts with fellow Hapa Mag writer, Alex Chester. Melissa also writes for online blogs Nerdophiles and On Stage Blog. Find her @NotAllNinjasPod.


Thread: Into The Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67844-Into-The-Badlands)
Thread: Iron Fist (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49086-Iron-Fist)

[GeneChing]

Lara is back! READ TOMB RAIDER: Lara Croft’s Globetrotting Treasure Hunt (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1408) by Gene Ching

http://www.kungfumagazine.com/admin/site_images/KungfuMagazine/upload/7930_20181210-TombRaider.jpg

Thread: Tomb Raider reboot (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69467-Tomb-Raider-reboot)
Thread: Into The Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67844)

[GeneChing]

There's a dozen pix in the gallery but I'm only posting the lead one.


MARCH 20, 2018 10:00AM PT
‘Into the Badlands’ Showrunner Previews Season 3 (http://variety.com/2018/tv/features/into-the-badlands-season-3-photos-daniel-wu-lorraine-toussaint-1202731379/)
By Maureen Ryan @moryan
Chief TV Critic

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The very enjoyable second season of “Into the Badlands” hits Netflix on March 21, where that wonderful concoction joins the show’s frisky six-episode first season.

As I’ve said a few times, you should seek out this post-apocalyptic adventure drama out if you’re a fan of gorgeous visuals, memorable action and ferocious characters engaged in a hard-fought battle to survive in a semi-feudal society where resources are scarce, but friendship, hope and love are always possible. (If you’re intrigued, check out this primer on the show.)

Newcomers to the series have a month, then, to get caught up before Season Three of “Into the Badlands” arrives on AMC April 22. To whet the appetites of fans who’ve already been won over, Variety has a preview of the new season from executive producer/co-showrunner Alfred Gough, as well as a number of exclusive pictures of key returning and new characters (see slide show).

This season, Lorraine Toussaint (“Orange Is the New Black”) plays Cressida, a canny prophet who is a skilled player in both spiritual and political realms. Cressida is a key adviser to Pilgrim, a religious zealot who is on a quest to find an artifact from Azra, a legendary place in the show’s mythology.

Ella-Rae Smith is Nix, a teenager who possesses special powers that Pilgrim uses to his advantage, and Sherman Augustus returns as Nathaniel Moon, a former regent who lost his hand to Sunny in the second season. Moon ends up taking sides in the war between the Widow and Baron Chau, which is one of the core conflicts in the new season.

“The most exciting thing about this season is that everything in the Badlands is bigger,” Gough tells Variety. “The world gets more expansive, the stakes for all of our characters are higher and the martial arts fights are bloodier and more bat**** crazy than ever. We also introduce some amazing new characters, most notably Pilgrim, a cult-like religious leader, and his priestess, Cressida. They are the wild cards who come into the war-torn badlands and cross paths and swords with both the Widow and Baron Chau.”

As fans of the show recall, at the end of the second season, Sunny (Daniel Wu) is off the grid, protecting his baby son, Henry. But soon enough he needs to reunite with Bajie (Nick Frost), where the Widow (Emily Beecham) and Baron Chau (Eleanor Matsuura) are locked in a battle for control of the Badlands.

The the fact that the Widow and Baron Chau at still at loggerheads is great news, given that their physical conflicts in Season Two — expertly attempting to kill one another while clad in to-die-for clothes — were incredibly fun to watch.

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Emily Beecham as The Widow - Into the Badlands _ Season 3, Episode 4 - Photo Credit: Aidan Monaghan/AMC

“Have you ever seen a badass redhead have a martial arts sword fight with a one handed former regent on the top of a stone tower overlooking the ocean? And that’s only the first fight of the season,” Gough says. “You’re welcome, America!”


“Into the Badlands” returns April 22 on AMC.

[PalmStriker]

:) WOW ! I was only able to see the first season one of the series a month ago on Netflix, I wasn't aware that season two is now just released on Netflix. BINGE !

[GeneChing]

Asia megastar Daniel Wu on his supporting turn in 'Tomb Raider' and his journey back home — to Hollywood (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-daniel-wu-tomb-raider-20180317-story.html)
By JEN YAMATO
MAR 17, 2018 | 3:00 AM

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California-born Daniel Wu became a megastar in Asia and only now is getting traction in Hollywood, appearing in the "Tomb Raider" reboot and starring on AMC's "Into the Badlands." (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Twenty years ago, with a University of Oregon architecture degree under his belt, Bay Area kid Daniel Wu took a serendipitous trip to Hong Kong as his graduation present. He wanted to witness the handover, stay a few months, then go home and figure out what to do with his life.

But a chance scouting in a bar led to a commercial gig, then some modeling. Chinese director Yonfan saw the commercial and approached Wu with an offer he couldn't refuse — although he tried.

"He asked me to play the lead in his movie," said Wu, revisiting the moment his accidental career as one of China's biggest movie stars began. "I was like, 'What are you talking about? I've never acted before and you want me to be the lead in your movie? That's crazy!'"

Born and raised in Northern California to Shanghainese parents, and discovered in Asia, the details of Wu's unlikely origin story are well known to his massive Chinese fan base overseas, where the 43-year-old actor and producer is now a superfamous A-lister who gets swarmed by paparazzi whenever he leaves the house.

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Despite having never acted before, not to mention the fact that his Cantonese wasn't great, Wu took the role in that first film, "Bishonen," playing a closeted gay cop opposite fellow future star Stephen Fung. A few weeks after finishing that film, he landed his second role. By his first year in Hong Kong, he'd made three films. In his second year, he made six.

He's now acted in 60 feature films in Hong Kong and China — including crime thrillers, action comedies and historical epics, movies like "New Police Story," "The Banquet," and "Shinjuku Incident," and roles opposite Chinese superstars Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen, and Zhang Ziyi.

Yet in his native America, where Wu appears this weekend opposite Alicia Vikander in video game adaptation "Tomb Raider," audiences are still learning his name, in spite of the fact that he's four times as Google-searched as his Swedish Oscar-winning costar.

"Not a lot of people know about the 20 years I spent in Hong Kong. To a lot of people I'm just this new actor, but I've been around for a long time," he said with a chuckle on a brief press stop in Los Angeles.

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Daniel Wu as Lu Ren, a newly created character for the "Tomb Raider" reboot. (Warner Bros.)

He'd had roles in the recent disaster pic "Geostorm," "Warcraft" (a motion-capture turn as a CG orc), and the little-seen sci-fi "Europa Report." But here, Wu is still best known for starring as the fierce warrior Sunny on the popular AMC series "Into the Badlands," the martial arts-steampunk hybrid now entering its third season, which he also produces.

Wu was already a huge star overseas when he and Fung linked up with show runners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar and fellow executive producers Stacey Sher and Michael Shamberg on "Badlands," which he was initially only going to produce. Well into their search for an Asian lead who could speak fluent English and perform martial arts action, producers turned to the perfect candidate already in their ranks: Wu.

"He took some convincing!" said Gough. "What I love about the show is people watch it, even executives watching dailies, and they're like, 'He's amazing!' And I say, 'Guys — he's the Brad Pitt of China.' He's a movie star. He's been doing this for years. Of course he's amazing!"

The movie star charisma honed over two decades as a leading man can't help but seep out in "Tomb Raider," in which he plays Lu Ren, a Hong Kong boat captain whose habit of drinking away his sorrows is interrupted when Vikander's scrappy Lara Croft arrives on his ship in search of her missing father.

"Lu Ren is a character that we created for this film — he is someone who has gone through similar experiences to Lara and goes on the journey with her because he too has questions that need to be answered," said director Roar Uthaug via email. "I wanted to find an actor who could stand up to the punishing physical stuff but also could warm audiences. Daniel is just so **** charismatic.

"Directors want to find actors that audiences can connect with and I believe this is just as important in an action movie," added Uthaug, whose previous film "The Wave" combined large scale action with human stakes. "I put the characters through all this stuff, and none of it really matters unless we care about them. And I think the audience will really care about Daniel."

"It was this very intimate story packaged as a big action movie," said Wu of the "Tomb Raider" script by Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Alastair Siddons. "Honestly speaking, I was thinking [my character] was going to be a flat, stereotypical, 2D character who just kind of helps [Croft] along the way, but he ended up being a really three-dimensional character."

Embarking on a dangerous mission together in search of their missing fathers, Lara and Lu Ren forge a bond while surviving treacherous seas and sinister villains. "I think his father was always in and out of his life, so when he walked out he just thought he disappeared, had finally walked out… and good riddance. But people in denial really want to know the truth, and eventually that's what motivates him to go on this dangerous journey with Lara."

As a bonus "Tomb Raider" was partly shot in South Africa, where Wu and his wife, actress and model Lisa S., own a home. Stepping onto a realistic boating village set recreating the Hong Kong he knew with startling accuracy added something unexpectedly personal to the experience.

"It made me miss Hong Kong," he smiled. "It made me want to go back and get something to eat!"
continued next post

[GeneChing]

I didn’t see people like me on American screens, or if I did they were bad representations ...

DANIEL WU

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Daniel Wu grew up in California before becoming a major movie star in Hong Kong and China. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

It was devouring the films of Bruce Lee, Jet Li and Jackie Chan as a child in the San Francisco East Bay, where he watched Grandmaster Tat Mau Wong host "Kung Fu Theater" on local TV every weekend, that first sparked his lifelong interest in martial arts.

"I distinctly remember when I was 7, my grandfather took me to the Great Star Theater in Chinatown. He said, 'You want to see real wushu, real kung fu?' We went to see 'Shaolin Temple' together, which was Jet Li's first movie."

Wu, like many Asian Americans and youth from communities underrepresented in Hollywood, found inspiration and cultural connection in the movies. A few years later, he began training in earnest, developing the skills and adopting the discipline that would later come to be valuable assets in his own career.

"I didn't see people like me on American screens, or if I did they were bad representations of Asians like Long Duk Dong in 'Sixteen Candles' or David Carradine in yellowface on 'Kung Fu.' When I saw Jet Li and Jackie and all these cool guys doing cool stuff onscreen, I actively searched it out."

Wu first arrived in Hong Kong an outsider who spoke Shanghai dialect Chinese at home but only rusty American-accented Cantonese. But he knew the city from the movies. He describes his first "Wong Kar-Wai moment" when, late one night, he found himself caught in a rainstorm eating dumplings inside a 7-11.

"I was eating microwaved xiaolongbao waiting for the rain to stop, and I thought, 'This is a real Hong Kong experience.' It reminded me of 'Chungking Express,' and I was like, 'I'm here now, in Hong Kong,'" he said.

Wu, who now splits his time living in Oakland with his family, expresses a firm belief that fate lead him to this point in his life and career — or, at least, a belief in the opportunities that fate presents, at which point one must make their own luck.

How else could one explain how at a chance meeting, only a few weeks after filming that first movie role, Wu was introduced by a friend to his longtime idol Jackie Chan and within days was signed to a management deal with Chan's company?

"The biggest dream I ever had as a martial artist in the Bay Area was, 'I hope one day I can be a stunt guy in a Jackie Chan movie and have him kick me down a flight of stairs,'" said Wu, grinning. "That's all I ever wanted."

Perhaps it all had to happen exactly that way, anyway. Stardom in Hollywood hardly seemed an option for any Asian American actors when he first started out.

Years ago, as his career took off in Hong Kong and then China, shifting to the mainland as the film industry there exploded, Wu returned home to take meetings, hoping to land acting roles stateside. But the doors remained closed, even to a homegrown Asian star with dramatic acting chops and a sizable international following.

"I came out to Hollywood to see if there was any interest — and there wasn't, so I just gave up," Wu said. "I went back. I would take meetings and nothing would come of it. Quite frankly speaking, nothing came of it until recently, in the last few years, when there's been such a focus on the Chinese box office."

He continued, finding the balance in that hard lesson. "It sucks that it was money that motivated that move, but at the same time it's a good opportunity for everybody. You started to see more Chinese actors appear in Hollywood movies. I could see that that was about to happen, and then it happened."

He did bigger roles in small films such as "Europa Report" and small roles in bigger films such as RZA's "Man with the Iron Fist" ("I did it just because of RZA — I was a huge fan of Wu Tang Clan.") then landed a succession of higher profile gigs including "Badlands." "It was this slow progression of people starting to know who I was and then being educated on my influence back in Asia, and realizing, 'Oh, he speaks perfect English — that's a major plus.'"

In a world where we’re trying to expand what a leading man looks like ... I keep telling people, ‘He’s done it in Asia. You guys are late to the party.'

"INTO THE BADLANDS" SHOWRUNNER ALFRED GOUGH

http://www.latimes.com/resizer/mL9AVVmPGtzijTfU9gicudHIt5M=/1400x0/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-tronc.s3.amazonaws.com/public/GSLYEF5HFZAVJFKB3Q44HMHJCI.jpgDaniel Wu in season three of AMC's "Into the Badlands" (Aidan Monaghan/AMC)

He directed a film once, 2006's "The Heavenly Kings," which caused a stir when it was revealed to be a mockumentary satire of the Hong Kong pop music industry, for which he formed a fake boy band with fellow actors. But directing requires too much dedicated time for Wu right now, at a busy new juncture in his career.

Preparing to head back to Ireland to finish filming and producing an even more ambitious season of "Into the Badlands" — and set to do a second season of Chinese reality show "Dream House," in which he brings modern architecture to rural villages across China — he pondered his future in Hollywood.

"My favorite genre of filmmaking is crime drama, which I did a lot of in Hong Kong," he said. "One thing we can't do in China is heist movies because people doing bad things can't get away with them; the censorship you have to deal with is the challenge of working in Asia. But I would love to do an 'Italian Job' type heist film… or a comedy."

"He's got the charisma, he's got the chops, and he just really is the full package," said Gough. "And in a world where we're trying to expand what a leading man looks like in movies — you look at 'Black Panther' and movies like that — I keep telling people, 'You don't understand. He's done it in Asia. You guys are late to the party.'"

Wu laughs at the irony of having had to travel all the way across the world just to have a career at home. But San Francisco-born Bruce Lee did it too, so he's in good company.

"I think the difference now is the audience is different," he mused. "The audience is more diverse now not just culturally, but the white kids growing up today are eating Asian food. When I was growing up white kids were like, 'Hey, what are you eating?' And that was only 20 years ago."

Studio executives just have to take cues from today's culture-crossing youth and start thinking that way. "Once an opportunity is presented, we run with it — but at the same time it's [the people in charge] that have to give us those opportunities."

jen.yamato@latimes.com

@jenyamato



THREADS:
Tomb Raider 2018 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69467-Tomb-Raider-2018)
Into The Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67844-Into-The-Badlands)

[GeneChing]

Indiewire released a 'first look' gallery of 14 pix. I'm only c&ping the two new martial artists* on the cast, the ones to watch. Follow the link for the rest.



03.20.18 | 01:00PM PT
‘Into the Badlands’ Season 3 Photos: TV’s Best Martial Arts Drama Leaps Back Into Action — Exclusive (http://www.indiewire.com/gallery/into-the-badlands-season-3-photos/#!1/itb_303_am_0927_0013-rt/)
BY LIZ SHANNON MILLER

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A FIRST LOOK AT THE RETURN OF THE AMC MARTIAL ARTS DRAMA
“Into the Badlands” has always stood out in the television landscape for many reasons. For one thing, the cast is a truly inclusive ensemble, featuring Daniel Wu, Nick Frost, Orla Brady, Emily Beecham, and new cast members Babou Ceesay, Ella-Rae Smith, and Lorraine Toussaint.

Then there’s the way its premise — about a post-apocalyptic world centuries after the fall of our civilization, where superpowers and sword-fights are commonplace — blends a number of genres for a truly unique experience. Plus, there’s its epic production design, which rejects typical post-apocalyptic visuals by emphasizing vivid colors and beautiful landscapes.

And most notably, there are the incredible wuxia-inspired martial arts scenes, which use wires and the genius of martial arts coordinator Huan-Chiu Ku (who trained with the legendary Yuen Woo-ping and whose credits include the “Kill Bill” films, “Once Upon a Time in China II” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”) to elevate the battles for power in the Badlands to truly epic heights.

All of these factors are showcased in the following photos from Season 3. The official description of what’s to come, as described by AMC:

Season 3 of “Into the Badlands” finds Sunny (Daniel Wu of “Tomb Raider”) living off the grid, doing his best to provide for his infant son, Henry, in the wake of Veil’s death. It is only when Henry contracts a mysterious illness that Sunny must join forces with Bajie (Nick Frost of “Shaun of the Dead”) and journey back into the Badlands, where The Widow (Emily Beecham of “Daphne”) and Baron Chau (Eleanor Matsuura of “Wonder Woman”) are entrenched in a drawn-out war that has destabilized the entire region.

Check out IndieWire’s previous coverage of the series here. “Into the Badlands” Season 3 premieres Sunday, April 22 on AMC.


:) WOW ! I was only able to see the first season one of the series a month ago on Netflix, I wasn't aware that season two is now just released on Netflix. BINGE !
I started my binge too, PalmStriker. I forgot how colorful this show is - the lushness of Ireland, the gorgeous costumes, and the continues splashes of brilliant sanguineous red. AMC has sent me a screener for S3E1 but of course, I'm under NDA for it. I was hoping to binge the whole of S2 before tapping into S3 but I might not make it. I might just watch it as soon as I get a free hour...

*actually Sherman Augustus isn't completely new to the show, as you'll see in S2E3 PalmStriker. ;)

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49lzyDogKE4

[GeneChing]

[#WonderCon] What We Learned About ‘Into the Badlands’ Season 3 (https://www.bleedingcool.com/2018/03/27/wondercon-badlands-season-3/)
Posted by Mary Anne Butler March 27, 2018

[Editor’s Note: This Into the Badlands piece from WonderCon comes to us from Bleeding Cool contributor Dana Han-Klein.]

Based on the trailer for the third season of AMC’s Into the Badlands, it looks like we’re going to get some Game of Thrones-esque politicking. Though unlike Westeros, the world of Badlands is populated by a cast (and extras) who are more diversely reflective of the world we actually live in.

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Into the Badlands season 3 cast at WonderCon. Nick Frost, Lorraine Toussaint, Daniel Wu, and series co-creator Alfred Gough.

During their WonderCon panel, we found out that this season’s big bad is revealed to be a warlord named Pilgrim (Babou Ceesay), and his hand of the king — I mean… powerful right hand — is Cressida (Lorraine Toussaint). Toussaint described their relationship as complicated and “quite Greek” — which leads me to believe we’re going to get some Lannister-level parallels between Pilgrim and Cressida.

We find Sunny (Daniel Wu) on his own as a “samurai single father.” Having a baby as a device for constant peril can go over well, or it can become rather annoying (I’m looking at you, Judith from The Walking Dead), but given how many storylines are actually being woven together on the show, it’s possible we’ll only have palatable doses of infant screen time.

Show co-creator Alfred Gough also addressed the lack of guns on the show (particularly in light of the current conversation about gun control):


“It’s a martial arts drama, and sort of when we were conceiving it we knew we didn’t want to do something historical. Guns were always going to be an issue in that.

Look, I’ve done these things as well with Shanghai Noon and whatnot. Somebody has a gun, the guns get kicked out of their hands, and then they fight. And that’s not what we wanted to do, we wanted something where the martial arts was integral to the storytelling.

Given the introduction of Pilgrim and Cressida, and their Azra roots (Azran?) it sounds like we’re going to see a shift from fighting warlords, to fighting gods. Now that we’ve got people with powers we can expect more comedic fights… more brutal hand on hand close action fights… Because of the dark energy type thing — that opens up the Super Saiyan type stuff.”

Gough pointed out the extra care they enjoy taking with representing diversity on the show — how the women (in this season in particular) will be the power players to look out for. He talked about how they’ve had strong characters of many races as well as those with disabilities, and how martial arts is a great equalizer when it comes to fighting.

On other shows, according to Gough, every vision of the future you see looks like 18th Century England, whereas Into the Badlands understands that “the future isn’t going to be a bunch of white people.”

Gough said, “You can walk into any movie studio in town and say, ‘I want to have a diverse cast and I want to be inclusive.’ And they will absolutely go ‘Yes, nobody’s standing in your way.’” Toussaint chimed in with, “That is bull****.” Gough continued, “Because then you actually have to do it from the ground up. You have to say, ‘I’m casting these roles a certain way.’”

If Cressida is half as charming (and imposing) as Toussaint is in person, we’re in for quite the clash between her and The Widow. She expressed how excited she was to “play dress up and wield swords.” We found out we can look forward to dead octopi nunchucks, Bajie (Nick Frost) to have to face his Azra associations, the return of Nathaniel Moon (who’s back with an upgraded Steampunk meets Klaw of Black Panther style hand), and M.K. to face questions of loyalty. Characters who’ve not interacted to this point will suddenly come face to face as the past two seasons converge.

And of course, we’ll some see some badass fights.

Into the Badlands returns to AMC on April 22nd.

(Last Updated March 27, 2018 4:42 pm )
I remember talking to Alfred Gough in 2016 about the possibility of guns coming into the show, and he said flat out that it would 'kill it' or something to that effect.

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBj82Lkc-uo

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=939fxOwtkss

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGiB5saooHQ

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8cPaM7QAH4

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8mwrd8IjxM

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYw8WwnD_kk

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s38AoZRFKc8

[GeneChing]

Season 3 premieres this Sunday!

I'll have the first of my exclusive BTS coverage up this Friday. Stay tuned.


I’m an Asian American Actor Who Went to China Before Hollywood Would Cast Me as a Lead (Guest Blog) (https://www.thewrap.com/chinese-american-actor-hollywood-opportunity-into-the-badlands-daniel-wu/)
“Growing up a Chinese-American kid in 1970s and 1980s California, I saw no possibility for me to become an actor,” “Into the Badlands” star Daniel Wu writes
Daniel Wu | April 17, 2018 @ 1:09 PM

https://www.thewrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/badlands.jpg
AMC

Producing and starring in AMC’s “Into the Badlands” is a professional experience that I never thought I would see. It’s not just because drama and martial arts done together with a diverse cast is an American television first. Or because joining its cast was an unexpected homecoming for me.

For the 20 years before “Into the Badlands,” I spent my career working largely in Hong Kong and China. In 1997, while traveling in Hong Kong just after graduating from the University of Oregon with a degree in architecture, I was spotted by director Yonfan. He asked me to take the lead role in his film “Bishonen.” Without either acting experience or a full grasp of the Cantonese language (Shanghai dialect was spoken at home), I turned down the role at first. He relentlessly pressed me to change my mind, and after a month I gave in.

It was a decision that changed my life and put me on a path that I never dared dream for myself. Two weeks after the film wrapped, I was on the set of my second film. Within two years I had done six films. By 2000, I was playing lead roles in everything from romantic comedies to big-budget action films. Now, 70 films later, my work has been embraced all over Chinese-speaking Asia.

Would any of this happened to me if I’d decided to start a career in acting at home? I really don’t think so.

Growing up a Chinese-American kid in 1970s and 1980s California, I saw no possibility for me to become an actor, especially one playing lead roles. There were many characters I loved on television — white, black and Latino — but I rarely saw people like myself represented. When I did see an Asian man appear on the screen, he was either a gross stereotype or something even worse.

I grew up watching “Kung Fu,” a TV series starring a white man (David Carradine) in yellow face playing a Chinese man. Legend has it that Bruce Lee had developed the concept for the show, hoping to creating an opportunity for himself. The studio loved the idea but cast a white man. While Bruce Lee eventually became a global icon, it was only after his untimely death — and after he first found opportunity in Hong Kong.

Almost two decades before “Kung Fu” aired, my parents immigrated to the U.S. Escaping war and political unrest, they came in pursuit of their idea of the American Dream. Both earned advanced degrees in the U.S. and worked to establish themselves professionally.

Arriving in Berkeley, Calif., as newlyweds in 1961, my parents were barred from purchasing the house they wanted when the realtor told them it was in a “Whites Only” neighborhood. Undeterred, they went on to buy a house in a neighborhood nearby. From that house they could see up into the Berkeley Hills where the most beautiful and coveted homes in town were.

My mom would often tell my dad, “One day we will have a house there. ” And less than 10 years later they did it. And from that point on, they set their sights on making sure that their three kids received every opportunity to achieve their own dreams.

My mother had lofty goals for us. I remember a period when my mother kept planting a seed in my head, telling me that I could be the first Chinese-American president of the United States.

So it is kind of ironic that I had to leave the country for 20 years and become known to an audience of 1 billion Chinese before I would have the opportunity to come back to the U.S. and live my American Dream. And it’s also ironic that my Shanghai-born parents were immigrants to the U.S. and that I went the opposite way, to Hong Kong. But the root of my parents’ journeys and my own was the same — the pursuit of opportunity.

In retrospect, I feel very fortunate to have begun my career the way I did. Living and working in Asia insulated me from the race issue that is all-pervasive in entertainment in the U.S., especially now. When I won a part in Hong Kong, it was because I was right for it and not just because I fit the bill racially. Conversely, if I was rejected, it was because of my ability, which was something I could work on and not because of my race, which I couldn’t. So instead of being an angry Asian American actor lamenting about limited roles, being in Asia allowed me to focus on the craft of acting and to choose roles that helped broaden me as an actor.

My time in Asia not only insulated me from spirit-breaking casting situations that my fellow Asian American actor friends endured, but it allowed me to become a better actor. It also brought me closer to my culture, and made me who I am today. When I did enter Hollywood, knowing that my peeps had my back gave me a lot of confidence. If I had spent years in U.S. casting rooms getting rejected because I wasn’t the right skin color, or turning down one stereotypical role after another, or taking said roles because I needed to pay rent, I would have quit a long time ago.

After the first season of “Into the Badlands” debuted, I was reluctant to be a racial role model. I just wanted to focus on the work and make great television. During my 20 years in Asia I never needed to talk about these topics, let alone be the center of attention about them.

But after the second season premiered, and we learned about the impact the show was having, I started to understand the importance of stepping up. I’ve accepted the fact that I am one of the very few Asian men in the American entertainment and that by default people were going to look to me symbol of change. So as people have embraced me I have learned to embrace that new role.

Am I going to run for president? Hell no. But I think my parents’ dream for me was to find my place in this country, to be successful at what I do and most importantly, to be happy. I am proud to know that I might have some part in righting what happened to Bruce Lee over 40 years ago. And I am proud that some kid might watch “Into the Badlands” and think, “I want to be like him!”

HOLLYBLOGS
https://www.thewrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/WU.jpg
Daniel Wu is an actor, director and producer who has been featured in over 60 films, with his breakout role in Benny Chan's "Gen-X Cops." He received two more Hong Kong Film Award nominations in 2005: for Best Actor in "One Night in Mongkok" and Best Supporting Actor (alongside boyhood idol Jackie Chan) in "New Police Story," a role that also brought him Taiwan's Golden Horse Award as Best Supporting Actor. He also won the prestigious Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director for his 2006 feature, "The Heavenly Kings." His string of international film hits includes "Night Corridor" (2003, Best Actor nomination at Taiwan's 40th Golden Horse Awards), Frank Coraci's 2004 remake of "Around the World in 80 Days," Quentin Tarantino's presentation of "The Man With the Iron Fists" (2012), "Europa Report" (2013), Jackie Chan's "Chinese Zodiac" (2012) and Dean Devlin's "Geostorm" (2017). Wu also starred in Duncan Jones' epic sci-fi adventure "Warcraft" (2016) and opposite Alicia Vikander in "Tomb Raider" (2018). In April 2018, he returns for his third season as Sunny in AMC's "Into the Badlands."

[GeneChing]

READ INTO THE BADLANDS Season 3: Journey to the West – Sunny, M.K. and Bajie (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1415) by Gene Ching

http://www.kungfumagazine.com/admin/site_images/KungfuMagazine/upload/6931_ITB_301_AM_0830_0014_RT.jpg

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyjIIF4LGso

[@PLUGO]

INTO THE BADLANDS Season 3: Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting
by Gene Ching (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1417)

10534

[GeneChing]

Lewis Tan is on FIRE! READ Lewis Tan on DEADPOOL 2's Shatterstar and INTO THE BADLANDS (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1423) by Gene Ching and Patrick Lugo

http://www.kungfumagazine.com/admin/site_images/KungfuMagazine/upload/2556_Shatterstar-x-force-lewis-tan.jpeg

THREADS
Deadpool 2 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69436-Deadpool-2)
Into the Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67844-Into-The-Badlands)

[GeneChing]

On the Set of Into the Badlands Season 3
By Gene Ching

http://www.kungfumagazine.com/admin/site_images/KungfuMagazine/upload/7325_KFM2018-June-Cover.jpg
May+June 2018 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=1412)

[GeneChing]

Ready to go back to the Badlands this Sunday? READ INTO THE BADLANDS Season 3: From Colts to Clippers – Growing Up in the Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1422) by Gene Ching

http://www.kungfumagazine.com/admin/site_images/KungfuMagazine/upload/9053_20182103-Into-The-Badlands.jpg

[GeneChing]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DenouCVUcAA6zEi.jpg:large

THREADS:
May June 2018 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70749-May-June-2018)
Into The Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67844-Into-The-Badlands)

[GeneChing]

In the Badlands, anything can be an improvised weapon. READ INTO THE BADLANDS Season 3: Arming the Badlands Part 1 – Octopus Nunchuks (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1427) by Gene Ching

http://www.kungfumagazine.com/admin/site_images/KungfuMagazine/upload/3743_20182504-IntotheBadlands.jpg

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZi4AXFniXo

[GeneChing]

Hope their luck turns around for season 4...assuming that's greenlit. Better be.



'Into the Badlands' star Daniel Wu is 'still pretty sour' over the show's Emmy snub (http://www.businessinsider.com/into-the-badlands-daniel-wu-emmys-2017-4)
Jethro Nededog Apr. 7, 2017, 4:38 PM

https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/567b0e4be6183e50008b4b29-640-480.jpg
Daniel Wu on AMC's "Into the Badlands." James Dimmock/AMC

AMC's "Into the Badlands" was snubbed by last year's Emmy awards - something its star has a hard time accepting.
"I question that. Especially for action choreography I was expecting a nomination," Daniel Wu, the star and executive producer on the AMC show (airing its second season on Sundays), told Business Insider recently.

"I'm still pretty sour about that, because there were shows that got nominated that definitely have lousy action," Wu continued. "I was very surprised that we didn't get nominated. I'm not sure what factors are involved in that. I know AMC definitely has the power to push something like that and I know they did, so I'm not sure why it didn't get there."

"Into the Badlands" takes place in a post-apocalyptic society where land has been divided among lords and everyone has to choose sides. Wu's Sunny is the deadliest assassin on his lord's army, but talented fighters of all ages, genders, and styles can be found among the many factions.

To bring the world's dangers to life, the show employs many fight choreography stars from the Hong Kong kung fu film industry. The actors all attend an intense five-week fighting camp between seasons in order to pull off the amazing battle moves they're asked to perform.

"We just built on what we built from last season," Wu said of the fight camp. "So we took them to the level we got them to and brought it up a notch... It's very difficult to make someone look like a martial arts expert in a short amount of time."

https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/58e7f3a577bb7050008b7489-640-480.jpg
Aramis Knight as M.K. on AMC's "Into the Badlands." AMC

The results can be found in the show's eye-popping fight scenes, which really can't be found anywhere else on TV. That's another reason Wu is so perplexed by the show's lack of awards attention.

"To me nowadays awards shows, there's so much politics and all kinds of other crap going on," he said. "I don't really care that much about it anymore. Especially when you get slighted in something like this. Of course, we have great costumes and great lighting, great camerawork, and all the kind of stuff that should get nominations too. But definitely the action is something different that you've never seen on TV before. To not get nominated for that was definitely a sour point in my mind. I'm speaking for myself."

Last year, the nominees for stunt coordination in a drama were "Game of Thrones," "Gotham," "Marvel's Daredevil," "Rush Hour," and "The Blacklist." "Thrones" ended up winning, a decision Wu understands. But like anyone with a fighting spirit, he would have loved to be in the ring.

"I think 'Game of Thrones' won for the 'Battle of the *******s' and I totally think they deserved it - that was amazing fight sequences - so grand and epic," he told us. "They should've won, but I think we should've been in contention."

[GeneChing]

Into the Badlands Emmy Snub and Hollywood’s Misunderstanding of Martial Arts Action (https://munibrezaie.com/2018/07/12/into-the-badlands-emmy-snub/)

https://munibrezaie.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/into-the-badlands-season-1-cast-1200x707.jpg?w=551&h=325

Yes. This is another post about Into the Badlands. Here are some other things I’ve written about the show.

Let me get right to it: the Emmys announced their nominations for 2018, and Into the Badlands was snubbed completely. Forget the fact that they have some of the most amazing, beautiful, and original costume, makeup, and overall character designs you’ll see anywhere. Or the fact that they have some incredible production design, set pieces, music, and cinematography. All of those areas – and more, like, you know, acting – would have been well-deserving for Into the Badlands to at the very least have earned a nomination, much less a win. And I’m sad that such an original, diverse, and engaging show, and all the incredibly talented people in front of and behind the scenes missed out on all that recognition.

But I cannot. For the life of me. Understand how it did not even earn a nomination for Stunt Coordination! The show’s lead, Daniel Wu, seems to share the same bafflement:


Here is the #Emmy list of nominees for Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Drama Series, Limited Series or Movie 2018. I started to write a long detailed post about this but decided to see what your responses are first. I understand we are a genre show but we should OWN this category!!!Why do you think this happened? Why do you think we get no love within the industry? Action Coordination is the obvious one but what about Costume Design? Set Design? Cinematography? #snubbed 😡🤬

A post shared by Daniel Wu 吴 彦 祖 (@thatdanielwu) on Jul 12, 2018 at 2:50pm PDT

//www.instagram.com/embed.js

So I’m writing this post to try to understand. And I have a few very frustrated thoughts.

Thought #1: Hollywood Does Not Understand Action

At least, not in the same way China and Hong Kong understand action: Chinese action emphasizes the on-screen performer’s actual physical abilities. Hollywood action emphasizes plot and editing. I’ve written about this Chinese approach before; an approach fully and faithfully undertaken with Into the Badlands. The first show of its kind – as far as I’m aware – to do so on American television.

Part of this disconnect has got to be cultural. The United States simply does not share the cultural richness of a martial arts tradition like the one we see in China and Hong Kong. China has kung fu and wushu more generally; epic stories told thousands of years ago with archetypical heroes we still see today; a Chinese operatic tradition that continues to impact modern day martial arts cinema – and Hollywood – aesthetics; as well as all kinds of intersecting values and ideals (such as those that define and evolve around ideas of masculinity, for example) that are organically integrated into their culture which find their roots in martial arts-related concepts. I think the closest thing the US/Hollywood has would be something like the Western? Maybe

Regardless, the simple fact is that – at least to most viewers primarily familiar with Hollywood film and television – the priorities and conceptual framework for action and stunt coordination are wholly different from those of Into the Badlands in particular, and Chinese martial arts more generally. Most viewers simply don’t know what they don’t know about the action they’re seeing on display in Into the Badlands.

I’m trying to think of an analogy, and I keep thinking about DJs. There are some people who ask “Do you know any DJs?” and what they’re looking for are the people who say “I’m a DJ,” but all they really do is show up at a party with their iTunes plugged into some speakers and play through a possibly personally curated list of tracks. And a lot of people are fine with that. And yes, we call that person a DJ. But that’s also not at all what a DJ is/can be. That’s how I’m feeling right now! Like someone just put out a list of “Outstanding DJs,” and the only people on that list are your neighbor Kevin and your kid’s friend’s dad Gary.

Thought #2: Coordination vs Choreography

I think there’s a difference between Coordination and Choreography, and perhaps part of the frustration of the snub comes from conflating the two. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Hong Kong Film Awards have an award titled “Best Action Choreography,” which has been given out since the 1980s. However, the category Into the Badlands would have most likely been nominated for is “Outstanding Stunt Coordination.” But the show does so much more.

Nearly every single show features stunts, as a glance through the list of nominees and winners for the award over the years clearly shows. That’s why a show like ER, House, or Malcolm in the Middle (yes, really) can get nominated for Stunt Coordination. Does a character need to fall on and break a dinner table? That’s a stunt. Does a character jump/get thrown through a window? That’s a stunt. Is there a dramatic scuffle that ends with someone tumbling down some steps? That’s a stunt. Is there an explosion of any kind? And are there any people nearby? Both stunts. And they all need to be coordinated! People with special skills and often hard-earned knowledge need to figure out a way to depict some kind of action on screen that will: keep all main performers as safe as possible from physical harm, be faithful to the script, fulfill the director and cinematographer’s demands, and ultimately look convincing/cool/entertaining/dramatic. That’s hard work, and I do not mean to in any way diminish the incredible work these men and women do! They should definitely be celebrated and receive critical acclaim.

However, if I were a betting man, I’d bet some of the greatest Hollywood stunt coordinators would have no idea how to stage, physically block, light, determine camera positions, or edit a martial arts sequence involving up to and over a dozen fighters, various actual and makeshift weapons, and/or shifting terrain. And that’s not a bad thing! It’s not their business to know that! BUT, those things do get at how I think Action/Stunt Choreography is somewhat different from Action/Stunt Coordination. There are definitely overlaps. But there are also ways in which they are uniquely different.

And what the amazing team on Into the Badlands accomplishes is nothing if not “uniquely different.” They train, they practice, they create wholly original sequences of physical movements that, among other things: can involve upwards of a dozen performers or more; has to play to the individual and unique strengths of the particular performer; creatively incorporates production design, set design, props, costumes, hair and makeup, as well as other elements of the filmmaking process into the action itself; moves the plot forward; showcases/reveals the particular qualities of the character fighting, which is related to but different from the strengths/qualitites of the performer portraying said character; and so. much. more.

Interestingly, the Emmys dohave an “Outstanding Choreography” category, but the nominees and winners are almost exclusively relegated to dance choreography. If you ask me, Into the Badlands actually belongs in this category as well, maybe even more so than Stunt Coordination. But I’m not sure that the Emmys are quite there culturally to accept that.

I wrote a paper back in my M.A. days discussing the similarities between the aesthetics of Chinese martial arts cinema and classic Hollywood musicals like Top Hat, Singin in the Rain, etc. And I think the comparison still holds true. I may need to revisit that as an upcoming blog post…


continued next post

[GeneChing]

Thought #3: Insider Advantage?

Hollywood awards shows have long been criticized for their self-celebratory nature, popularity contest nature, and their tendency to give in to industry politics over a product’s quality. But in my admittedly brief research for writing this, I did notice something. Marvel’s The Punisher was nominated for Stunt Coordination, with Thom Williams credited as the Stunt Coordinator. I did love that show, and the action coordination was good. But, again, wholly different from what Into the Badlands accomplishes every single week. Thom Williams is also one of the Board of Governors Stunt Representatives for the Television Academy, which hosts the Emmys. Is that ok? Is there not a conflict of interest there? Again, his work was awesome. But what gives? OR is there a Netflix advantage/love thing going on? Because apparently Luke Cage won this award last year for the show’s first season, which, as I recall, had pretty unoriginal – but still fun and well-made – action pieces. Siiiiiiigh, what is going on?!

Thought #4: Is the show ahead of its time? Aka #EmmysSoWhite

Yeah, I’m pulling the race card. What gives? It’s 2018, and Sandra Oh just became the first Asian actress nominated for a lead role in a drama series. Yes, that’s awesome and long overdue. But Into the Badlands has got to be one of – if not THE MOST – diverse show on American television right now. And I mean that in not only the incredible ethnic/cultural diversity of its cast, but also its creators, producers, and below-the-line workers. Not to mention the diversity of its aesthetics, if we want to go there. But maybe it’s too much for some. It’s hard not to recall the terribly racist treatment Bruce Lee received in the making of the 1970s American show Kung Fu. Lee acknowledged the industry execs’ concerns with casting an Asian lead in the 70s, when instead they cast David Carradine as a Shaolin monk. I mean, a thousand thank yous to the execs who greenlit Into the Badlands. But maybe too many people are not quite ready for it in 2018 either.

Best worst-case scenario prediction? The show gets canceled much too soon, but goes on to be understood, appreciated, and written about for what it is: a groundbreaking show on so many levels that will ultimately influence future shows in ways we can’t yet see. I know I will.

Blogger Munib Resaie makes some good points here.

[GeneChing]

A Superstar In China, Daniel Wu Emerges In His Native California (https://www.npr.org/2018/07/21/630619146/a-superstar-in-china-daniel-wu-emerges-in-his-native-california)

July 21, 20188:15 AM ET
CHLOE VELTMAN

https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2018/07/19/dwu1_wide-487fdaeea7d69c079e008b0e06b25a6f8e556890-s800-c85.jpg
Daniel Wu plays the starring role in the TV series Into the Badlands, and also serves as one of its executive producers.
Aidan Monaghan/AMC

In the dystopian AMC television action series Into the Badlands, Daniel Wu stars as a lethal warrior on a quest to discover the truth about his past.

Over two decades, the 43-year-old has played leading roles in everything from romantic comedies to kung fu costume dramas. He's become a celebrity across Asia. But Badlands is the first starring role in the United States for the California native.

"As a kid growing up in the '70s, '80s, as a person of color, I didn't see a future for that," Wu says. "In my field, there was a roadblock. And so, I basically had to go to Asia and get successful there in order to come back here to have success here."

This year, Hollywood blockbusters like The Mummy, Ready Player One and Transformers: The Last Knight have done better box office numbers in China than they have in the U.S, according to Box Office Mojo. That's part of the reason why Asian-American actors are starting to snag more leading roles in U.S. films like Crazy Rich Asians and in TV shows after decades of being sidelined in this country.

Daniel Wu is one of them.

Wu grew up in the Bay Area, the son of immigrants from Shanghai. He went to the University of Oregon, and thought he'd become an architect. But in 1997, after graduating, he traveled to Hong Kong, where he was randomly spotted in a bar by a talent scout for a TV commercial.

It just so happened that Hong Kong film director Yonfan caught the ad — and gave the chiseled 20-something his first big break. The director tapped the novice to star in Bishonen, his drama about an ill-fated gay romance. But there were some challenges.

"I've never acted before," Wu says. "And my Cantonese was not good at the time. So I turned it down."

Yonfan wouldn't let go.

"By the end I was like, 'OK, if you don't blame me for screwing it up, I'll give it a shot,'" Wu says.

That was the start of Wu's fast rise to stardom in China, though it didn't exactly happen overnight.

"I came to Hong Kong as a foreigner," he says. "Even though I'm the same skin color, same hair color, same culture, I was treated differently at first."

It took a couple years, but Wu says he was welcomed.

"These are my people, my own culture, and they're accepting me," he says. "I think that's the most touching thing that's happened to me."

Over the years, Wu says he returned to the U.S. for occasional, mostly disappointing, meetings with movie executives.

"They don't really know what they're looking for," he says. "They're just looking for someone Chinese, you know, or Asian."

But slowly Wu started to find opportunities. There was the American-Chinese co-production The Man with the Iron Fists, shot in China by the rap artist and and movie director RZA, who cast Wu in a small role. The RZA says he was surprised when his local crew saw Wu as the biggest celebrity on set.

"I'm telling you, nobody gave two cents' s*** about none of us," RZA says. "When Danny came on the set, everybody went crazy. And all of a sudden, I was making a movie."

These days, Wu is spending more time in California with his family. And after two decades of superstardom in China, Wu has finally landed a major role in the United States.

"It wasn't until Badlands came about that I really kind of moved back here, because there's a steady strong job," Wu says.

He trains at a gym near his home in Oakland. He needs to stay in shape for Into the Badlands *-- where he says he's been in more than 30 fight scenes in three seasons.

Wu says while he and a few fellow Asian-American actors are starting to get more lead roles in the U.S., there's still plenty of room for growth.

"It's still not at the point where I'd like it to be," Wu says. "But you know, I understand that it's a slow process. It's a transition."

THREADS:
Into The Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67844-Into-The-Badlands)
The Man with the Iron Fists (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?51430-The-Man-with-the-Iron-Fists)

[GeneChing]

Why It Took 20 Years for 'Into the Badlands' Actor Daniel Wu to Make It Here (https://www.kqed.org/news/11679330/why-it-took-20-years-for-into-the-badlands-actor-daniel-wu-to-make-it-here)

https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/IMG_0473-e1530927711634-1180x666.jpg
California-born actor Daniel Wu at Caffe Strada in Berkeley on June 7, 2018. (Chloe Veltman/KQED)

In Asia, Daniel Wu says he can’t walk down the street without being mobbed by fans. "It's like Beatlemania," Wu says. "They want a piece of you."

But here in his native California, the Chinese-American movie star passes more or less unrecognized, even though he has more than 60 big screen credits to his name, including 2014 Chinese action thriller "That Demon Within" and "City of Glass." That film won Wu a "Best New Performer" nomination at the Hong Kong film awards back in 1998, when he was just starting out.

With Hollywood starting to pay more attention to long-sidelined Asian talent, Wu may not be able to lead a normal life in the U.S. for much longer.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KyHy4KRvIc

These days, Wu stars in the dystopian AMC TV action series "Into the Badlands." It's his first major TV role in the U.S. His character, Sunny, is a lethal warrior on a quest to discover the truth about his past, and he gets into a lot of fights -- he estimates being involved in more than 30 skirmishes over the course of three seasons.

At 43, Wu is in fantastic shape: wiry and lean, with the chiseled features of a boy-band frontman. Even so, all those fight scenes take a toll on the body. The actor has dealt with a torn ACL and broken ankle over the years. He doesn’t want to end up like his mentor and former manager, Chinese action hero Jackie Chan.

"I didn't want to be that 60-year-old guy with, like, 'I can't stand up because my discs and my back are crushed,'" Wu says. "And that’s how Jackie is."

So lately, Wu's been changing up his training regimen.

continued next post to include videos.

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-VOALl4_vQ

At The Open Matt, a tucked-away dojo in Oakland near Wu's home, the actor practices acrobatic kicks up and down the room with his coach, Matt Lucas.

But they spend more time stretching and doing yoga than they do on hardcore fight moves. "In my 20s, kicking a hundred times was not a problem," Wu says. "In my 40s, it can be a problem. There's only so much tread on those tires, you know. So I'm doing it smarter."

Wu’s career path seems improbable when you consider his sheltered, middle-class, Bay Area upbringing. He shares his story during a tour of the UC Berkeley's East Asian Library, which recently acquired one of the country's most comprehensive archives of Chinese movie memorabilia, the Fonoroff Collection. (Wu is one of the library's new board members, and hadn't seen this collection yet. It includes posters and other artifacts relating to movies he appeared in during the 1990s, among nearly a hundred years of film history.)

https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/young-and-dangerous-the-prequel.jpg
A film poster for 'Young and Dangerous The Prequel,' one of Daniel Wu's early movies. (Photo: Courtesy of the UC Berkeley East Asian Library's Fonoroff Collection)

As we walk through the library, Wu tells me his highly educated, career-driven parents emigrated to the U.S. from Shanghai via Hong Kong and Taiwan in the 1950s.

They had two girls, and then a son. But he died, tragically, at the age of two in an auto accident on the UC Berkeley campus.

"They were up at the Lawrence Hall of Science and he was hit by a car in the parking lot," Wu says.

Wu says his parents wouldn’t speak about his older brother, who died before he was born, for years. So when he came along, they were very protective.

"They would not let me play football," Wu says. "They would not let me do a lot of things that were dangerous, where I could get hurt. Of course, I go into martial arts. And then I'm an action star, where danger happens almost on a daily basis."

Wu's passion for martial arts stems from old kung fu movies he saw on TV as a kid.

One day when Wu was seven years old, his grandfather took him to San Francisco’s Chinatown to see the film "Shaolin Temple" starring Jet Li.

"It was just so exciting," Wu says. "I got home, and I was like, 'Mom, I want to learn kung fu!'”

https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/Fonoroff-Collection-better-800x600.jpg
Daniel Wu holds up a poster of one of his films while touring the Fonoroff Collection at UC Berkeley's East Asian Library. (Photo: Chloe Veltman/KQED)

His mom said no. But after a few years, she caved. From the age of 12, Wu trained locally. As an architecture major at the University of Oregon, he started a club focused on wushu, a non-combative style of kung fu. Wu is proud of the fact that the club he founded is still running today.

Then, in 1997, after graduating, Wu headed for Hong Kong to witness the handover from Britain to China.

He was having a drink in a Hong Kong bar about a month after the handover when a talent scout approached him about appearing in a TV commercial. Wu says he had already given up on a career in architecture, and besides, he needed the money.

"I was a poor student," he recalls.

It just so happened that Hong Kong film director Yonfan caught the ad and gave Wu his first big break. The director tapped the novice to play one of the leads in "Bishonen," his drama about an ill-fated gay romance.
continued next post

[GeneChing]

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x979im

Wu lacked fluency in Cantonese -- he grew up speaking Shanghai dialect and English at home in California. Plus, he had next to no acting experience. So he turned "Yonfan" down at first. But the director was persistent.

"By the end, I said, 'OK, if you don't blame me for screwing it up, I'll give it a shot,'" Wu says. "And then once I got on set the first day, I was like, 'Oh this is what I've been looking for.'"

Wu says it was initially hard for him to break in to the local film industry as an "ABC" -- American-born Chinese. "Even though I'm the same skin color, same hair color, same culture, I was treated differently at first," Wu says.

But after a couple of years, Wu says the Hong Kong film community fully accepted him. He went on to amass major celebrity, wealth and accolades across Asia for his work over two decades.

"You feel a sense of belonging; you feel wanted; you feel like you have value to these people and that what you're doing is making them happy," Wu says. "That's the most touching thing that's happened to me."

Eventually, Wu's name started to become known outside of China. At least, it did among kung fu cognoscenti like hip-hop artist and movie director RZA, who cast the actor in his martial arts film "The Man with the Iron Fists."
continued next post

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FyGHAUpSIQ

RZA shot the movie in 2011 in China with a mixed cast of Asian and Hollywood actors. The project involved big names like Russell Crowe and Quentin Tarantino. But RZA says no one made as much of an impression on the set as Wu did.

"I'm telling you, nobody gave two cents **** about none of us," RZA says. "When Danny came on the set, everybody went crazy. And all of a sudden I was making a movie."

But Hollywood continued largely to ignore Wu. The actor says he returned to California for meetings with movie executives on occasion, and usually came away disappointed.

"They don't really know what they're looking for," he says. "They're just looking for someone 'Chinese' or 'Asian.' I'm not sitting in a room auditioning for a role that's just based on my race."

Recently, however, Wu says things have started to change, thanks to the dynamics of the marketplace. In addition to "Into the Badlands," Wu also appeared in the recent movie "Tomb Raider." That's because China has become a key financial market for Hollywood.

https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/IMG_0474-e1530926842910-800x568.jpg
Daniel Wu at Caffe Strada in Berkeley. (Photo: Chloe Veltman/KQED)

Earlier this year, China beat North America in box office revenue for the first time, fueling expectations that it might soon become the world’s number one movie market. And according to IMDbPro’s Box Office Mojo, recent Hollywood blockbusters like "The Mummy," "Ready Player One" and "Transformers: The Last Knight" have done better box office in China than they have in the U.S.

Now, Wu says Hollywood is starting to take the talent pool more seriously after decades of offering Asian actors little more than minor, racially stereotyped character parts.

"They realize that the Chinese audiences are much smarter than that and get ****ed off when you do something like that to our beloved actors," Wu says. "And they won’t go see the movie."

Wu points to Sung Kang, known to audiences through "The Fast and the Furious" franchise, Daniel Dae Kim from the "Lost" TV series, and the "Harold and Kumar" films' John Cho as fellow Asian-American actors now making it in the U.S.

"All these guys have been working for so long and finally making it into shows," Wu says. "But it's still not at the point where I'd like it to be."

https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/training-800x600.jpg
Daniel Wu and his trainer, Matt Lucas, work out at The Open Matt, a dojo in Oakland. (Photo: Chloe Veltman/KQED)

Wu says a new generation of Hollywood executives that grew up in a more multicultural environment than those previously in charge of the purse strings can now change casting dynamics for the better.

"With the people in power now having that exposure, they are consciously trying to make more diverse films," Wu says. "They're starting to bring in actors of different races and cultures."

Nice showcase for Matt Lucas. He deserves it.

THREADS (just this final post)
Into the Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67844-Into-The-Badlands)
The Man with the Iron Fists (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?51430-The-Man-with-the-Iron-Fists)

[GeneChing]

I have a nice interview with Sherman Augustus that I'll publish when the second part of Season 3 is telecast. Word is that might not happen until January of 2019.


Body and Soul
An actor who thrives on action, Sherman Augustus counsels kindness. (http://m.emmys.com/news/mix/body-and-soul)
Mara Reinstein

http://m.emmys.com/sites/default/files/styles/photo_gallery_large/public/photos-article/sherman-augustus-900x600.jpg?itok=_7jmsJwr
Lewis Tan

There's a solid chance you don't remember the 1996 sci-fi film Space Marines.

But Sherman Augustus will always consider it a game-changer. On the set, noted fight coordinator Philip Tan approached the NFL player–turned-actor and encouraged him to pursue martial arts. He heeded the advice and became a black belt. "It centered me and made me more aware of my body," he says.

More than 20 years later, Augustus performs "75 to 85 percent" of his own action scenes on the third season of AMC's post-apocalyptic martial arts drama, Into the Badlands. His Nathaniel Moon, a badass with a mechanical hand, is aligned with the fierce assassin known as The Widow (Emily Beecham). The action in the next eight episodes "is bananas," he says. "There's a new threat, and none of the main characters are safe."

Growing up in central L.A., Augustus had such severe asthma he was afraid to leave home. His parents enrolled him in flag football "to get over my illness and conquer my fears.

Playing sports injected something into me," he says. Getting off the couch (where he was glued to The Beverly Hillbillies, The Six Million Dollar Man and The Green Hornet) and competing revitalized him. He eventually made the team at Northwestern College in Minnesota and went on to play pro ball — "a brief stint, blink and you'll miss it" — for the Minnesota Vikings and San Diego Chargers.

But he'd always wanted to act, so when a knee injury sidelined him, Augustus called agent James Bridges Sr. (the father of a childhood friend) and said he was ready to get serious. The former cornerback and safety took classes. Worked with teachers. Did five years of improv. Augustus landed his first role in the 1988 Dennis Hopper–directed cop drama Colors and has worked steadily ever since, in such series as NYPD Blue, NCIS, Dexter, Bones and Westworld.

Yet he singles out his experience as "Well Dressed Black Man" in 2001's The Mexican.

"That's when I knew I'd arrived," he says, citing the film's A-listers (Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, J. K. Simmons, Quentin Tarantino and Steven Spielberg). During an off day, he learned that costar James Gandolfini had called several agents to vouch for Augustus's talent. He recalls, "Jimmy told me, 'I've watched you rehearse. You're going to make it, dude. Just stick to your guns.' It resonated."

Now he's paying the good deed forward with aspiring actors. "If someone feels pent up against the wall, I say that you must dig down and find your guts," he says. "Nobody can deny you if you know your craft and believe in your ability. And if someone else blows it? Help out."

The first half of season three of Into the Badlands is available on AMC's on-demand platforms; seasons one and two are on Netflix and iTunes.

This article originally appeared in emmy magazine, Issue No. 8, 2018

[GeneChing]

‘Into the Badlands’ & ‘The Son’ To End Runs On AMC, Set Premiere Dates For Final Episodes (https://deadline.com/2019/02/into-the-badlands-the-son-canceled-end-runs-amc-final-season-premiere-1202553597/?fbclid=IwAR24E02EQUeV4mcSSZ6iruy2e3Jd8yiaIe7_oIEJ VVHQjGPUM11y75xw-JY)
by Nellie Andreeva
February 9, 2019 2:30pm

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/into-the-badlands-the-son-2.jpg?w=446&h=299&crop=1
AMC Networks

AMC’s martial arts drama Into the Badlands will end after the upcoming final eight episodes of its third season, which will debut March 24. The network also has set an April 24 premiere date for Season 2 of drama The Son, starring Pierce Brosnan, which will be its last.

Neither cancellation is particularly surprising. Both Into the Bandlands and The Son were renewed for Season 3 and Season 2, respectively, almost two years ago. Into the Badlands’ 16-episode third season was completed awhile ago, the cast was released, and a number of them have taken on new acting gigs. As for The Son, as a Western, it did draw respectable viewership though it was old-skewing. Additionally, I hear star Brosnon only had signed a short-term contract which is the case with many movie stars who do TV series these days.

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/intothebedlands.jpg?w=419&h=279
Photo Credit: Aidan Monaghan/AMC

Into the Badlands’ final 8 episodes will kick off on Sunday, March 24 at 10 PM, following a new episode of The Walking Dead. The series will then move to its regular time slot and will air Mondays at 10 PM, starting March 25.

As we enter the final chapter of Into the Badlands, an imprisoned Bajie warns Sunny that Pilgrim can’t be trusted. But with his son’s life on the line, Sunny struggles with his decision to help Pilgrim unlock the Meridian Chamber. Meanwhile, M.K., still reeling from the revelation that Sunny killed his mother, is hell-bent on revenge. Kidnapped by The Master, the Widow is forced to confront her past. Moon meanwhile races to save Lydia from impending death after she risked her life for his on the battlefield. As the last episodes unfold long buried secrets will be revealed, new alliances will be forged, and the saga will climax in an epic battle to end all battles.

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/intothebadlands2.jpg?w=410&h=273
Photo Credit: Aidan Monaghan/AMC

From AMC Studios, Into the Badlands was created by executive producers, showrunners and writers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar and is executive produced by Stacey Sher and Michael Shamberg, along with David Dobkin, Stephen Fung, Michael Taylor, Karen Richards, Paco Cabezas and series lead Daniel Wu. The ensemble cast includes Wu (Sunny), Nick Frost (Bajie), Aramis Knight (M.K.), Emily Beecham (The Widow), Orla Brady (Lydia), Ally Ioannides (Tilda), Lorraine Toussaint (Cressida), Sherman Augustus (Moon), Babou Ceesay (Pilgrim), Ella-Rae Smith (Nix) and Lewis Tan (Gaius).

Based on Philipp Meyer’s best-selling and Pulitzer Prize finalist novel of the same name, season two of The Son concludes the journey of the iconic “First Son of Texas.” Eli McCullough (Pierce Brosnan) will stop at nothing to secure his legacy against the backdrop of the nascent oil industry of 1917. His tools are deceit, fraud and murder — weapons he wields with the effortless skill of the Comanche warrior he once was. But the biggest challenge he faces will be quelling a civil war under his own roof, triggered by his idealistic son Pete (Henry Garrett). Eli knows the ultimate prize of American dynasty is nearly in his grasp, and time is running out. Meanwhile, in 1851, young Eli (Jacob Lofland) is now married and a respected warrior among the Comanches, but tragedy forces him into a leadership position as the vast Comanche empire crumbles around him. Broadening the scope, a 1988 timeline is introduced, bringing the McCullough saga into the more immediate past. Here, at age 85, Eli’s granddaughter Jeanne Anne McCullough (Lois Smith) is confronted with a long-buried family secret.

The Son is produced by AMC Studios and Sonar Entertainment. Showrunner and writer Kevin Murphy, director Kevin Dowling, author Philipp Meyer, and Sonar Entertainment’s Tom Lesinski and Jenna Santoianni are Executive Producers. In addition to Brosnan, Smith, Garrett and Lofland, the series also stars Paola Núñez, Zahn McClarnon, Jess Weixler, David Wilson Barnes, Sydney Lucas, James Parks, Elizabeth Frances, Shane Graham and Kathryn Prescott.

So saddened to hear that Into the Badlands wasn't renewed. Daniel Wu actually emailed me privately a week or so prior to the announcement to let me know.

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ekx5oTbwfco

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ArE-JIsIKA

[GeneChing]

I'm down. Let's save the Badlands!


https://www.hypable.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/into-the-badlands-season-3b-sunny-large.jpg

BY KAREN ROUGHT | EDITED BY BRANDI DELHAGEN | 11:00 AM EST, FEBRUARY 13, 2019
‘Into the Badlands’ fans fight for renewal with #SaveTheBadlands campaign (https://www.hypable.com/into-the-badlands-renewal-campaign/)
Hypable

Following the Into the Badlands cancellation, fans of the AMC series are trying to save the show.

It’s always difficult when a show that’s been a staple in your life gets cancelled. Not only is there the profound sense of loss that comes with the idea you won’t be able to watch your favorite characters get up to their usual shenanigans, but if the creators didn’t have a chance to give you a proper ending, it can leave an even more bitter taste in your mouth.

On the upside, as we’ve seen with Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Lucifer (plus countless others), the end isn’t always the end. Other networks or streaming services have taken a chance on cancelled shows, sometimes to give them a new permanent home and sometimes to give them the ending they deserve.

That’s what Into the Badlands fans are hoping will happen following the creation of their #SaveTheBadlands campaign. Badlands fan CoolGuyJ has a great breakdown of what fans of the show are hoping to accomplish and what everyone can do to help the movement gain attention, which will hopefully lead to renewal.


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DzAEeFqU8AAOHlr.jpg
View image on Twitter (https://twitter.com/CoolGuyJ84/status/1094379641362468865/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwte rm%5E1094379641362468865&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hypable.com%2Finto-the-badlands-renewal-campaign%2F)

CoolGuyJ
@CoolGuyJ84
Hey fellow Badlanders!
Please make sure to join our SaveTheBadlands campaign. How to join? Make one or more tweet about ITB everyday with just the hashtags #IntoTheBadlands & #SaveTheBadlands
So spread the word to all other Badlanders to join our cause!

166
3:36 PM - Feb 9, 2019
136 people are talking about this
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CoolGuyJ
@CoolGuyJ84
Replying to @CoolGuyJ84
#0. The purpose of this campaign is get the attention of other Networks or streaming service providers (such as Netflix, or Amazon) and have one of them pick up Into The Badlands for season 4 and onwards, by using two different stat keeping algorythms to our advantage.

22
3:37 PM - Feb 9, 2019
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CoolGuyJ
@CoolGuyJ84
Replying to @CoolGuyJ84
Namely, Neilsen ratings for social media and Twitter's internal 'trending' numbers.

#1. As the campaign title states, the keywords that we're looking to focus on and really start trending are the following: #SaveTheBadlands and #IntoTheBadlands.

8
3:37 PM - Feb 9, 2019
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CoolGuyJ
@CoolGuyJ84
Replying to @CoolGuyJ84
#2. In your tweet only use #SaveTheBadlands and #IntoTheBadlands. Don't add any other #'s or @ mentions. More than two hashtags or any @'s included in your tweet will flag it as a 'bot' tweet and will not be counted.

6
3:38 PM - Feb 9, 2019
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CoolGuyJ
@CoolGuyJ84
Replying to @CoolGuyJ84
#3. Try to keep the tweet as short and succinct as possible (reason is, we don't wanna burden the person seeing the tweet with too much reading).

5
3:39 PM - Feb 9, 2019
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CoolGuyJ
@CoolGuyJ84
Replying to @CoolGuyJ84
#4. Be creative with your tweet. You can attach following to your tweet for the visual appeal:

- pics/gifs/clip of ITB episode.
- Fan art you've drawn
- Photo showing anything else you've made/done regarding Badlands.

4
3:39 PM - Feb 9, 2019
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CoolGuyJ
@CoolGuyJ84
Replying to @CoolGuyJ84
Also, with the tweet itself, you can choose to use a memorable quote from an episode.

#5. Make a #SaveTheBadlands tweet as often as possible, though follow these steps:

5
3:39 PM - Feb 9, 2019
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CoolGuyJ
@CoolGuyJ84
Replying to @CoolGuyJ84
- Do not make the same tweet/retweet your own tweet, over and over again. Instead, make new (different) #SaveTheBadlands tweets as often as possible (everyday is good!)
- Just because the episodes are no longer airing, it doesn't mean you should stop tweeting. Keep them going!)

7
3:39 PM - Feb 9, 2019
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CoolGuyJ
@CoolGuyJ84
Replying to @CoolGuyJ84
- Number of people tweeting affects the nielsen ratings, and the time and the hashtags used affects the trends.

So, here are hypothetical examples of how to do #SaveTheBadlands tweets:

Example 1) We need more #IntoTheBadlands #SaveTheBadlands

- Short and to the point.

6
3:40 PM - Feb 9, 2019
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CoolGuyJ
@CoolGuyJ84
Replying to @CoolGuyJ84
Example 2) I didn¡¯t come here to dwell on the past. I want to discuss the future. #IntoTheBadlands #SaveTheBadlands

- Using the Widow's season 1 quote for added flare, creativity.

6
3:40 PM - Feb 9, 2019
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CoolGuyJ
@CoolGuyJ84
Replying to @CoolGuyJ84
I'd like to emphasize, that this is, OUR FINAL CHANCE TO SAVE "INTO THE BADLANDS." If we fail on this, it's all over (Badlands is gone, and there's no coming back).

5
3:40 PM - Feb 9, 2019
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CoolGuyJ
@CoolGuyJ84
Replying to @CoolGuyJ84
So, if you're really serious about saving Badlands from this point of no return, participate in this #SaveTheBadlands campaign.

8
3:41 PM - Feb 9, 2019
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Will there be an ‘Into the Badlands’ season 4?

As of right now, the answer to that question is no. AMC cancelled the show and the network will not air any subsequent episodes after the final eight have been released, starting March 24.

However, that could change if the #SaveTheBadlands campaign is successful. With enough outcry from fans and traction on social media, another network or streaming service could see Into the Badlands as a valuable and profitable addition to their lineup. The show would fit in well on a network like Syfy or on a platform like Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon.

While we shouldn’t get our hopes up that Into the Badlands will be saved (even though it does happen, it’s rare to get a renewal), we also shouldn’t stop fighting.

If you’ve seen even one or two episodes of this show, you’ll know how rich the universe is and how incredible the cast and crew are. The cinematography, the costumes, and the fight sequences make Into the Badlands stand out against other series.

Here’s to hoping we can #SaveTheBadlands so everyone can enjoy this show just a little bit longer.

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR6kJuLIsfU

#savethebadlands

[GeneChing]

‘Into the Badlands’: Co-Creator & New Photos Offer Emotional Look at Series’ End (https://www.indiewire.com/2019/02/into-the-badlands-final-season-how-it-ends-photos-al-gough-1202045514/)
Exclusive: One of current TV's most original series is planning to go out with a kick, punch, and a bang.
Liz Shannon Miller
Feb 21, 2019 11:00 am
@lizlet

https://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ITB_311_AM_0327_0081_RT.jpg?resize=1024,683
“Into the Badlands.”
Aidan Monaghan/AMC

It was announced this month that when the third season of the AMC martial arts drama “Into the Badlands” returns March 24, it’ll be for eight final episodes that will bring the story to a close — for the most part.

But as the first-look photos below show, there’s a lot of action in store before the end. Co-creator Al Gough told IndieWire, “It really builds on the first half of Season 3… A disparate group of people coming together against a common foe. There’s definitely sort of a ‘Magnificent Seven’ kind of vibe to it as well as the season progresses: At the beginning, everybody’s been kind of blown apart. And then slowly through the course of the season, the Widow goes on her own emotional journey, Sunny and Bajie go on their emotional journey. It’s ultimately leading everyone to regroup and reconnect. They put their differences aside to face off against the ultimate threat.”

https://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ITB_309_AM_0109_0818_RT.jpg?resize=1024,683
“Into the Badlands.”
Aidan Monaghan/AMC

Alongside co-creator Miles Millar, Gough has shepherded the action-packed show about life in a post-apocalyptic world, where society has devolved into various fiefdoms ruled by barons, and the lack of guns doesn’t mean a lack of violence. But while “Badlands” has always featured jaw-dropping martial arts sequences, brought to life by the Hong Kong-trained team of stunt performers and fight choreographers, Gough noted that in the writers’ room, “When you have these sort of large fantasy worlds and everybody’s, you know, kung fu fighting, it has to be grounded in an emotional stories and relatable stories.”

He added, “What we always tried to do, even with this crazy world that we’ve created, is make sure that the characters feel like they’re grounded in emotion that you can understand and relate to.”

To Gough, Sunny’s (Daniel Wu) journey began in Season 1 as “the guy who’s great at his job, who’s reached a certain age and goes, ‘I don’t want to do this for the rest of my life. No, I want to settle down and have a family,’ and in this world that he’s not allowed to do that.”

Meanwhile, Gough described the Widow (Emily Beecham) as “the upstart who comes into this and basically wants to shake up the system. She’s [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] or any politician who comes in and really wants to shake it up.”

https://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ITB_310_AM_1212_0162_RT.jpg?resize=1024,683
“Into the Badlands.”
AMC

While the emotion is present, Gough does promise that the last eight episodes won’t skimp on the action, even after the sprawling war scene that dominated the colossal midseason finale. “I can tell you there are a couple of epic battles to come that, that even surpass that one. It was definitely an amazing season. It was 16 episodes and the fight team shot for like, I want to say, 120 days. They shot 40 fights for 16 episodes over nine months.”

The series’ action scenes are legendary for the care put into them, but Gough said, “We had a rule in the writer’s room where we’d ask, why are we fighting? And if we’re fighting because we’re trying to solve a plot point, you can’t do that. You have to fight for the fights to be for compelling emotional reasons. Because they’re expensive and hard to do, so you can’t just use them to patch the plot holes.”

Along with these photos comes the poster for the final episodes, specifically the below striking image created by the AMC marketing team, which Gough said he and Millar loved immediately when they first saw it.

https://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Into_The_Badlands_S3B_vertka.jpg

“In a show with so much kinetic energy, whether it’s the fights and the fury, there is just something really quietly poetic about that image that we just love,” he said. “Because with Sunny there’s always been a stillness to him and, and the quiet even as the world swirls around him. It’s always the intimate and the epic, and that poster, for us, really sold what these final episodes are going to bring.”

Gough said that the writers had been aware that there was a possibility of Season 3 being the last season, and so they plotted it with the desire to drive towards “a conclusion that was very epic, and very emotional. I think that’s what we really tried to do, so that fans who have been going on this journey with us for four years, you know, felt that they had a satisfactory end to the story.”

This doesn’t mean that every plot thread will be wrapped up at the end: “We left some back doors open — we’ve always known one of the things the story ends with, but there were obviously doors that we left ourselves open that we could go into in a Season 4. You always leave a few escape hatches in any finale. This story definitely has a conclusion, but it doesn’t mean that the world has had stopped and everybody’s packing our bags and gone home.”

https://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ITB_309_AM_0111_0181_RT.jpg?resize=1024,683
“Into the Badlands.”
AMC

While he didn’t offer plot specifics about what to expect, beyond the aforementioned showdown with the season’s ultimate big bad, Gough did say that the ending would contain a “hopeful note. If you look at Miles’ and my work, even in a show like this, which has a lot of moral gray areas, we always tried to strike a hopeful tone. The world can get better. It doesn’t mean that people won’t go through a lot, but I don’t think we’re nihilistic people by nature.”

That said, “I don’t think the ending will be what people expect.”

There’s a chance the world of “Into the Badlands” could continue in the form of novels, comics, or even an animated series; Gough says that the producers are in conversations about such ideas with the studio, but are focused on releasing the final episodes for now. “Those are things that we would love to actively explore,” he said.

After all, over three seasons this world of Clippers and Barons and magical powers has truly become its own story universe, one which Gough takes great pride in. “The best compliment I get is when people are like, ‘Wait, this isn’t based on a graphic novel or a book? It feels like there are many stories you could tell in that world, you know, that go beyond just what you’re seeing on your television set.”
continued next post

[GeneChing]

In the meantime, “Into the Badlands” begins its final run of episodes on Sunday, March 24 on AMC. Check out more first look photos below.

https://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ITB_310_AM_0118_0087_RT.jpg?resize=1024,683
“Into the Badlands.”
Aidan Monaghan/AMC

https://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ITB_310_AM_0118_0042_RT.jpg?resize=1024,683
“Into the Badlands.”
AMC

https://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ITB_309_AM_0111_0118_RT.jpg?resize=683,1024
“Into the Badlands.”
AMC

https://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ITB_314_AM_0424_0030_RT.jpg?resize=1024,683
“Into the Badlands.”
Aidan Monaghan/AMC

https://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ITB_314_AM_0420_0082_RT.jpg?resize=1024,683
“Into the Badlands.”
Aidan Monaghan/AMC

https://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ITB_314_AM_0328_0016_RT.jpg?resize=1024,683
“Into the Badlands.”
AMC

AMC sent me screeners for the final 8 eps. The platform is a bit choppy and watermark-protected with my name and email. I'm two eps in and binging it. The Widow pic above is a massive ep2 spoiler.

[GeneChing]

Return to the Badlands this Sunday! READ INTO THE BADLANDS Season 3: Arming the Badlands Part 2 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1477) – Moon's Hand by Gene Ching

http://www.kungfumagazine.com/admin/site_images/KungfuMagazine/upload/8377_20191308-badlands-moonhand.jpg

[GeneChing]

Free Access to Chamber of the Scorpion (for a limited time) (https://www.amc.com/shows/into-the-badlands/full-episodes/season-03/episode-09/chamber-of-the-scorpion)

[GeneChing]

Tune in Tonight! READ INTO THE BADLANDS Season 3: Fresh Blood – Sherman Augustus & Lewis Tan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1480) by Gene Ching

http://www.kungfumagazine.com/admin/site_images/KungfuMagazine/upload/6547_20191502-Badlands.jpg

[GeneChing]

I got together with Daniel Wu last week for a final INTO THE BADLANDS interview. I'll drop that with the show finale.

Tune in tonight - Season 3: episode 13 : Black Lotus, White Rose

https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/57430264_10213797958525017_4326266741320581120_o.j pg?_nc_cat=106&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=d7c4976a8b51f857db9f1e1d3c265136&oe=5D45BAA9

[GeneChing]

She adds a lot to the Badlands but these are the final episodes.


Into the Badlands Casts Daughter of Martial Arts Legend as Sunny's Sister (https://screenrant.com/into-badlands-sunny-sister-actor/)
BY NICHOLAS RAYMOND – ON APR 15, 2019 IN SR ORIGINALS

https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Sunny-in-Into-the-Badlands-With-Cheng-Pei-pei.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=798&h=407&dpr=1.5

Sunny's sister, Kannin, made her first appearance on Into the Badlands in the latest episode, played by Chinese-American actress and former Olympic gymnast Eugenia Yuan. Interestingly, Yuan has deep connections to the martial arts genre, and not just through her own work in movies. Yuan is the daughter of Cheng Pei-pei, a martial arts legend known to many as the "Queen of Swords", and the first major female martial arts star.

Sunny's sister is one of the season's most important mysteries. Earlier in Into the Badlands season 3, Sunny was told that he had a sister named Kannin who helped him escape from Azra several years ago. Despite his efforts to learn more about her, Sunny has been unable to find out what happened to her after Azra was destroyed by the Black Lotus. After being captured by the Black Lotus in "Black Lotus, White Rose", Sunny finally reunites with his sister, who has been a member of the secret cult since she was recruited as a child.

The actress who plays Kannin is no stranger to the martial arts genre. Eugenia Yuan has appeared in a handful of martial arts films, including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny and The Man with the Iron Fists 2. Her mother, on the other hand, is a kung fu icon who starred in dozens of martial arts movies in the 1960s and '70s.

https://static3.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Eugenia-Yuan-Kannin-Into-the-Badlands.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=738&dpr=1.5

Chinese actress Cheng Pei-pei rose to stardom in 1966 with her role as Golden Swallow in King Hu's Come Drink with Me. In Come Drink with Me, Cheng Pei-pei's Golden Swallow is a one-woman army who effortlessly wipes out a large number of swordsmen in an effort to rescue her brother. The film is widely regarded as one of the best and most influential kung fu films of all-time. Come Drink With Me served as the inspiration for Ang Lee's Academy Award-winning classic, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which featured Cheng Pei-pei as the villain, Jade Fox. At 72, the actress is still active in the industry, and will next appear in Disney's Mulan in 2020.

Her work is credited with revolutionizing the martial arts genre. Before Come Drink with Me, kung fu films typically featured male actors in the lead roles. Cheng went on to play the main character in several films in the years that followed, including The Lady Hermit, The Jade Raksha, The Lady of Steel, and several more. Over the years, her warrior woman image earned her the title of "Queen of Swords". Her work in the industry has also set the standard for other female martial arts stars, such as Michelle Yeoh. The link between Into the Badlands' Eugenia Yuan and this martial arts legend is easy to miss, but it provides a fun connection between the AMC series and a legendary pioneer of kung fu cinema.

THREADS
Into The Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67844-Into-The-Badlands)
Cheng Pei Pei (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70456-Cheng-Pei-Pei)

[GeneChing]

The penultimate episode is tonight! READ Daniel Wu on #SaveIntoTheBadlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1486) by Gene Ching

http://www.kungfumagazine.com/admin/site_images/KungfuMagazine/upload/3745_20192009_DanielWu.jpg

[GeneChing]

The Final Episode is tonight! READ Daniel Wu on the Fight to the End (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1488) by Gene Ching

http://www.kungfumagazine.com/admin/site_images/KungfuMagazine/upload/5894_201922042_DanielWu.jpg

[GeneChing]

Save Into The Badlands(ITB)! (https://www.change.org/p/amazon-netflix-any-broadcasting-company-that-wants-something-special-save-into-the-badlands-itb)

https://assets.change.org/photos/4/pe/cg/DLPeCGSWAnRvGIP-800x450-noPad.jpg?1551603208

David Moore started this petition to Amazon and 5 others
AMCs Into The Badlands has been cancelled after 3 Epic seasons.
This show is most diverse and creative dystopian/martial arts show out there, just massively under-promoted by AMC in favour of it's undead fetish.
I cannot stress enough the way this massively diverse show creates bonds between it's fans, the cast and the crew. Always working together to create an awesome experience for all.
The article below gives 15 excellent reasons why the Badlands should continue!
https://www.cbr.com/watch-into-the-badlands/

13 hours ago
6,000 supporters
3 months ago
David Moore started this petition

Thanks to your support this petition has a chance at winning! We only need 1,261 more signatures to reach the next goal - can you help?
Take the next step! (https://www.change.org/p/amazon-netflix-any-broadcasting-company-that-wants-something-special-save-into-the-badlands-itb/psf/promote_or_share?source_location=petition_show)


Support the Badlands. Sign the petition.

[GeneChing]

‘Into the Badlands’: Creators Explain Their Plans for ‘Deadwood’-esque Spinoff (https://www.indiewire.com/2019/05/into-the-badlands-spinoff-creators-interview-1202139424/?fbclid=IwAR2NHvn0o6hxMFwszyhjaKzIJAVIwaPqiowoIzZ8 D7MSYT-S4VO74d-0n-I)
Al Gough and Miles Millar wrote the ending to their series hoping for a chance at a follow-up down the road.
Liz Shannon Miller
May 9, 2019 5:59 pm
@lizlet

https://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/10_IntotheBadlands.jpg?resize=960,600
“Into the Badlands”
Aidan Monaghan/AMC

[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for the series finale of “Into the Badlands.”]

Imagine “Deadwood,” but with kung fu. That was the pitch “Into the Badlands” creators Al Gough and Miles Millar made for a potential spinoff for their fan favorite series, which aired its final episode this week.

Gough and Millar learned during production on the first half of Season 3 that this would be the final season of their complex and fascinating post-apocalyptic martial arts drama, which concluded Monday after an epic battle featuring the show’s primary characters. But the creators had plans for a spinoff, which led to the events of the series finale, in which Sunny’s baby Henry survives and the Widow is with child.

“The spinoff would have jumped probably 20 years into the future and it would have been following The Widow and Gaius’s daughter and Henry as young people,” Gough told IndieWire. The project was developed with AMC before ultimately being put aside. “And Bajie (Nick Frost) would have still been around acting as sort of the mentor character. It was more like a kung-fu Western, is how we described it.”

Added Gough, “Bajie would kind of be the combination of sort of sheriff and the mayor and running this town, and obviously, the big threat coming in was that more and more people were getting weapons.”

That follow-up, sadly, probably won’t happen now, but it’s fascinating to consider, especially how it would have incorporated “Badlands'” big series finale moment — the introduction of guns into this feudal land.

https://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ITB_314_AM_0424_0030_RT.jpg?resize=1024,683
“Into the Badlands”
Aidan Monaghan/AMC

On one level, guns would have been necessary for the Western element — “you couldn’t really do a traditional Western [without them],” Millar said — and also adding guns would have given the spinoff “its own thing that would make it distinctive from ‘Into the Badlands.'”

“It was really covering the ‘whys’ of guns and how that was [going to] become a much bigger problem — and also sort of merging kung-fu with firearms,” Gough said.

An “Into the Badlands” spinoff with guns would make for a notable difference from the original show, which put a heavy emphasis on the martial arts skills of its characters. As Millar said, “I think, as disciplined writers, it’s good to have those boundaries, particularly when you are creating a new world. It actually forces you to be smarter. And it also is an equalizer. Without weaponry, everyone was now equal. It was about skill, rather than having a gun. It made us smarter as well.”

More importantly, the spinoff would have had a much different approach to its storytelling. “‘Badlands’ was more of a journey to enlightenment and a show which, frankly, had a lot of quests,” Gough said. “This [spinoff] was a show that would have taken place in and around a town, it would have been more akin to ‘Deadwood,’ I think.”

https://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/ITB_309_AM_0116_0018_RT.jpg?resize=1024,683
“Into the Badlands”
AMC

The idea of centering the spinoff around a central town had a budgetary component to it, as Gough said: “How do we do something where we’re not on a quest every week?” But, he added, “we would have built the town out and as the story goes, the world would get bigger. But, it was just an idea of how do you do something where it’s more about stories can cross in through the town, or come through the town, versus ‘They’re off on a journey again’?”

As Millar said, “It’s just really making sure that the spinoff [feels] distinct from the mothership. That they were two separate shows and you could drop into the spinoff without knowledge of ‘Into the Badlands.’ If you’re going to do a spinoff you really need it to feel like its own thing and it has a reason to be.”

“It can’t be overly reliant on the mothership,” Gough said.

As Gough said in the lead-up to the final season, ideas about other ancillary follow-up works are still in the mix. “A graphic novel feels like an obvious choice. But now there could be shorter mediums which could be a potential as well,” Millar said. “In a world of so much content and so many different platforms, there could be, in the future, a market for return to the Badlands. We’re certainly open to it and are exploring.”

Meanwhile, the current ending of “Into the Badlands” includes plenty of loose ends, but Millar and Gough are somewhat content with that. “I think it’s very valid that we don’t answer all the questions, it’s very Badlands that we don’t. It really makes people think about what who they are, and I think it puts the characters in a great place,” Millar said. “I think we answer many, many questions and then we also pose that you’re not always going to answer questions and the future is still to be decided. I really like that as well. I mean, if I were a viewer watching it would I be angry or frustrated with us? Maybe? But I also think it’s very consistent with what the show is.”

I actually got together with Daniel Wu on the day prior to the Badlands finale. He was doing an in-store at Darkside Initiative (https://www.thedarksideinitiative.com/collections/the-darkside-initiative-x-into-the-badlands) in SF's Little Italy for some exclusive Into the Badlands merchandise. They sold out quickly. AMC only licensed for a very limited run (I got mine tho! :D). We grabbed some pizza after. I was hoping to get him to come to our Tiger Claw Elite Championships (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71001-2019-Tiger-Claw-Elite-Championships-amp-KUNG-FU-TAI-CHI-DAY-May-18-19-San-Jose-CA) again next weekend, and he was into it because he loves seeing his old martial friends, but unfortunately he has this little event he was already committed to called Cannes (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?53853-Cannes).

[GeneChing]

My sources tell me this is highly unlikely, but here's to hoping...


'Into The Badlands' Season 4 Could Land On Netflix (https://en.businesstimes.cn/articles/111750/20190508/into-the-badlands-season-4-could-land-on-netflix.htm)
By Rachel Cruz
May 08, 2019 05:43 PM

https://data.en.businesstimes.cn/data/thumbs/full/92066/750/0/0/0/into-the-badlands.jpg


WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Into the Badlands that may influence your enjoyment in discovering the plotlines. Read at your own risk.

Into the Badlands is done on AMC as the show aired its finale episode last Monday, May 6. Since the confirmation of its cancellation, however, fans have been campaigning for the series to be picked up for season 4 on a different platform, such as Netflix.

According to Screen Rant, it's possible Into the Badlands season 4 may get another life on the popular streaming platform because of its dedicated fanbase. Even the cast and crew have been reposting their #SaveTheBadlands campaign on social media to gain more attention from the TV bosses.

Incidentally, the earlier seasons of Into the Badlands are already streaming on Netflix. In a few weeks, the second half of season 3 will also be launched on the platform as well. There is an audience for Into the Badlands on Netflix. Will the streaming giant consider acquiring the show as one of its originals then?

AMC announced earlier this year that Into the Badlands season 3 would be its last. Its ratings failed to impress the network bosses, but Alfred Gough and Miles Millar remain grateful because they didn't think AMC would pick up the series in the first place.

"We would have bet against it, for sure. The show ended up being the most satisfying experience of our career," Millar told Deadline. Indeed, there was nothing quite like this series that spliced stories about ninjas, warlords, magic with stories about parenting, duties, and deceptions.


The creators of Into the Badlands also revealed via IndieWire that they had discussions with AMC to continue the story on a different format. If not as a TV show, Into the Badlands, may have comic book releases or an animated show in the future.

Meanwhile, the martial arts drama would have a completely different direction had Into the Badlands season 4 been renewed, as hinted in the finale. The final episode ended with Eli (played by Thom Ashley) finding an item near the meridian chamber, which was revealed to be a gun.

As fans are aware, guns were outlawed in the history of Into the Badlands; thus the fighters have been defending themselves using martial arts, swords, and bows. But that final scene revelation should have introduced a new dynamic to Into the Badlands season 4.

[PalmStriker]

:) If Netflix gets involved they could definitely pull it off to launch season 4, fingers crossed.

[GeneChing]

:) If Netflix gets involved they could definitely pull it off to launch season 4, fingers crossed.

Read my exit interview with Daniel - Daniel Wu on #SaveIntoTheBadlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1486):

GC: Since the show was cancelled, the fans have rallied with a #SaveIntoTheBadlands campaign. How do you feel about that?

DW: It’s amazing. I’m super touched by it. It might work. It may not. I don’t know what channel would want to take it on. I know for a fact that we’ve shopped it to a couple other places like Netflix and Hulu and all that stuff, and we’ve been politely turned down just because they have their own content now. Netflix has Wu Assassins coming up with Lewis [Tan]. And it’s ironic because we started this trend and now were getting rejected because everyone else is doing something.

More on Wu Assassins here (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70838-Wu-Assassins).

Anyone else get nostalgic when they hear that new 2019 Audi A4 ad (https://www.ispot.tv/ad/oVvp/2019-audi-a4-vision-a4-t2)? :(

[GeneChing]

Congrats to Emily Beecham. I've had the pleasure of meeting her three times, interviewing her once and having dinner seated next to her once. She's very sweet and drop dead gorgeous in person.


Britain's Beecham joins A-list with Cannes best actress win
AFP AFP•May 25, 2019

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/M4ICQkxUYdifE1mfBx0iNA--~A/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9ODAwO2g9NjAwO2lsPX BsYW5l/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/10bf9b4acceda8720cacb50f01078ac5bd67c95d.jpg
Beecham has spent most of her career in supporting roles (AFP Photo/Valery HACHE)

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/Q6b5KwCJwQn79NZXKGRnGQ--~A/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9ODAwO2g9NjAwO2lsPX BsYW5l/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/55e3ab42a3045da1c1bcf49ae7efb8ac8f27e462.jpg
Beecham has spent most of her career in supporting roles (AFP Photo/Valery HACHE)

Cannes (France) (AFP) - Britain's Emily Beecham has been catapulted into the movie big time by winning best actress at the Cannes film festival for playing an enigmatic scientist in "Little Joe".

Beecham, who has spent most of her career in supporting roles, was a surprise choice for the award for her performance as a botanist working on a flower that gives off a scent so ambrosial it makes people euphoric just to sniff it.

Indeed she admitted that she was so shocked that "I forgot to pack my toothbrush" when she received a call, after she'd left Cannes, telling her to come back and pick up the prize.

But while Beecham's rise has hardly been meteoric, the 35-year-old has been marked out as a talent to watch for a decade, winning best actress awards at both the Edinburgh and London Independent film festivals for one of her first films, "The Calling", in 2009.

Her big break came two years ago playing what Variety called "one of the more unpleasant characters in recent memory", a misanthropic young woman who witnesses a stabbing in Peter Mackie Burns' arthouse gem, "Daphne".

That helped consolidate the reputation the Manchester-born actress had won for a stream of British television roles including in the award-winning series "The Unforgiven", and the even more acclaimed "The Village", where she played opposite Maxine Peake and John Simm in the gritty historical rural drama.

- Martial arts queen -

Doors really began to open up for her in the United States, her mother's homeland, after she landed a small part in the Coen brothers 2016 sword and sandals send-up, "Hail, Caesar!"

By then she had landed the role of The Widow in the US martial arts action series, "Into the Badland".

Although her father is a pilot, she caught the acting bug at her school, the elite Hurtwood House in Surrey, which bills itself as "the most exciting school in England".

It is also the alma mater of the "Mary Poppins" star Emily Blunt and Princess Sarah Zeid of Jordan.

Beecham told AFP that she jumped at the chance to work with the highly-rated "Little Joe" director Jessica Hausner.

"She's one of the only female directors I've worked with so far. She's extraordinary," Beecham said of the Austrian, who was vying for Cannes top prize, the Palme d'Or.

"But I'm noticing more scripts and things come through with female directors attached. It's brilliant."

- Smart women -

The actress, who played opposite fellow Briton and "Mary Poppins" star Ben Whishaw and New Zealander Kerry Fox in the movie, said she was "profoundly inspired" by the French microbiologist Emmanuelle Charpentier and the naturalist Jane Goodall as she researched her role.

"One thing they both talked about -- Jane Goodall discussed it specifically -- is that her relationship with her family interfered with her research. She kind of had to put (her family) on the back burner and put the chimpanzees in the forefront."

Beecham said that she tried to work the pain of that into her character, a senior researcher in a biotech firm in the UK of the near future.

Hausner said she wanted to explore how "crazy" becomes a label used to keep women down.

"I was always fascinated by the films about crazy women. I felt that male perspective and I thought 'Yeah, but what's so crazy about them?'" she said.

"The 'craziness' of women is actually the very interesting point about them because I think it's also about being sensitive and intelligent."

Beecham told AFP after she won the prize that she was drawn to Hausner after seeing her previous film "Lourdes", set in the French town where some Catholics believe the Virgin Mary appeared.

"So I loved her work already. Ben Whishaw was attached and I read the script and it was unquestionably a great project to be involved in and I really wanted to do it," she said.

THREADS:
Cannes (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?53853-Cannes)
Into The Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67844-Into-The-Badlands)

[GeneChing]

action = porn. yeah, we know all about that around here... ;)


TURES JUNE 3, 2019 8:30AM PT
How ‘Bodyguard,’ ‘Ozark,’ ‘Into the Badlands’ Use Action to Enhance Tension (https://variety.com/2019/tv/features/emmys-bodyguard-ozark-into-the-badlands-action-thriller-drama-1203229787/)
By CHRISTIAN LONG

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/ozark-the-bodyguard-action-scenes.jpg?w=1000&h=562&crop=1
CREDIT: COURTESY OF NETFLIX/BBC

The idea of using traditional thriller tropes in a TV show can be a tricky one. Unlike action movies, in which the story is typically used to string together elaborately choreographed fight scenes long enough for the hero to limp off into the sunset, with a series, the action has to be balanced out with the larger story, while the consequences of any shootouts or sword fights will ripple through the narrative long after the smoke clears.

But utilizing action on the small screen can heighten and subvert the storytelling and help elevate the medium. While there are obvious big-budget contenders, including HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” others, such as BBC America’s “Killing Eve,” AMC’s “Into the Badlands” and Netflix’s “Ozark,” all utilize action-thriller elements as a method to amplify their storytelling, rather than overshadow it.

“Action can be like porn, in that you just skip through the drama to get to the action,” says Miles Millar, co-showrunner of the post-apocalyptic epic “Into the Badlands.” “For us, action’s only meaningful if you care about the characters.”

While the series concluded its three-season run in May, the action sequences were crucial to its narrative. Set in a distant, war-torn future in which guns no longer exist, it used elaborate combat sequences influenced by Hong Kong martial-arts cinema. But, for all its stylized choreography, there always needed to be a reason for a fight to occur in the first place.

“The fighting had to move both the character and the plot forward,” says co-showrunner Alfred Gough. “The first thing we’d ask in the writers’ room is, ‘Why are we fighting?’ It couldn’t be just, ‘We’re going to stop and have a fight.’ The fights are like musical numbers. They need to be plot-movers and show-stoppers and really carry our story forward and have a unique concept.”

Jed Mercurio, the showrunner behind BBC and Netflix’s political thriller “Bodyguard,” has a similar approach, despite the series’ very different premise. “Bodyguard” kicked off its six-episode run last August in the U.K. before debuting in the U.S. in October, and takes place in the much more grounded world of present-day counter-terrorism. So its action had to remain fundamental to the narrative, as well as its main character, the PTSD-plagued protection officer David Budd, played by “Game of Thrones” alum Richard Madden.

“We wanted to portray this type of character, the protection officer, as someone who was very adept in an action sequence,” Mercurio says. “It was really about constructing action sequences that gave him choices to make and moved his character journey forward.”

Along with serving the show’s larger narrative, the action scenes in “Bodyguard” also needed to feel of the world to keep even the biggest moments grounded.

“It was more going for the tone of realism, the sense that the action has to play out on the plausible level,” Mercurio says. He wanted to avoid “the kind of comic-book violence and action that you see in a lot of movies at the present time.”

That sentiment is shared by Chris Mundy, showrunner of the Netflix crime drama “Ozark,” which premiered its second season in August.

Even before production on the first season began, Mundy and executive producer, director and star Jason Bateman discussed their plan to use traditional action tropes within the confines of their story.

“We didn’t want things to be hyper-real. We didn’t want them to be exaggerated, both in language, but also in violence and things like that,” Mundy says.

“We didn’t want to play it overly heightened because it would just be a different kind of show than we wanted to do. What we really talked about is [that] it needed to feel real for everybody involved on screen so that it could be effective, even when we were doing crazy things.”

Even before the tone of the action was established, it was important for Mundy and Bateman to find the right pacing to allow for its storytelling to unfold naturally.

“We needed to work that out before we figured out how much action we did, how much we didn’t, how talky we were, how
visceral we were,” Mundy says. “It definitely took some time. I would say we were four or five episodes into Season 1 before we figured out what the recipe was for us.”

Despite the premise and tone of each individual series, thriller elements are proving to raise the dramatic tension overall.

“As we go into each action sequence, we have an understanding of where the characters are and what’s at stake for them,” says Mercurio. “So as we go through the action sequence, we’re invested in the outcome for the characters.”

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5adoW7T5jk

[GeneChing]

https://scontent-sjc3-1.cdninstagram.com/vp/b837dc2b8b21bbda725d04539db37409/5DB76346/t51.2885-15/e35/s1080x1080/64317358_2345375398872346_4029328669466312916_n.jp g?_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.cdninstagram.com
https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/65121810_10214251755589660_6860357296329850880_o.j pg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_eui2=AeEecCz6Y6q1DM71iBNU2Vo1gSi9DFz6QY6Bi7uhU _02_Nyw77eY8he5e2PdPXzdVf13LvKP_Q6CAxSBrrFte-qDCvT6AMewuZwVcl7fZ9Xy-w&_nc_oc=AQmwkZnzSix8yYnUCqaHHff5FQv72u5gQsyHfG3SdK5 DZOyLX5u6xMPO7V-of3isz84&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=0ec79e637d550f75bb6f94c5d57fb350&oe=5D8B776E

THREADS
Into The Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67844-Into-The-Badlands)
Wu Forever! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49338-Wu-Forever!)

[GeneChing]

...Team Widow forever!


Shanghai: Emily Beecham on the Mental Health Challenges of Acting (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/shanghai-emily-beecham-mental-health-challenges-acting-1220811)
3:38 AM PDT 6/25/2019 by Mathew Scott

https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2016/06/gettyimages-492555864-h_2016.jpg
Michael Tran/FilmMagic
Emily Beecham

"Be a happy person even if the person you are playing is not," says the Palme d'Or winner and 'Into the Badlands' star, who was joined at the Shanghai festival by Chinese star Yong Mei to discuss the art of acting.

Palme d'Or-winning British actress Emily Beecham (Little Joe, Into the Badlands) at the Shanghai International Film Festival urged fellow actors to look after their mental health and to be prepared for the difficulties that can come with playing "difficult characters."

"Be a happy person even if the person you are playing is not," she said. "Be aware that the mind is a powerful thing, so use it in the right way."

Beecham was joined on stage by Chinese actress Yong Mei – winner of this year’s Berlin’s Silver Bear for her turn in the Wang Xiaoshuai-directed drama So Long, My Son – for the final masterclass at this year’s Shanghai festival. Entitled "Actress on Actress," it shed light on the craft that has brought both actresses fame, and on its effects.

"Some of the best actors I have worked with do suffer from anxiety and emotional [problems]," said Beecham. "I think it goes hand in hand with being a sensitive person. A lot of great actors are very sensitive and vulnerable. It can affect you. So it is good that people are talking about this."

Beecham said laughter had helped in her own career, which has included her award-winning turn as the scientist messing with life forces in director Jessica Hausner’s Little Joe, as well as a long-running part as the Widow in the martial arts-themed TV series Into The Badlands.

"You have to have a sense of humor about it as well," she said. "You’re not a doctor, not saving people’s lives. It’s just acting, so don’t take it too seriously. Have empathy with the character you are playing, but leave it at the end of the day."

The 35-year-old revealed that when starting out, she had heard other actors talk about "leaving the role at home." But "I’d never quite understood it until I started getting in to it," she said. "The hours are very long, so you can do really strange hours and then you have to just switch off and go to sleep. That can be a lot of pressure, especially if you’ve done a scene where you’ve been chased by a monster, or you’ve seen a death. So look after yourself, and look after your mental health as well."

The pair discussed in general terms how they prepared for roles, and the differences they have found between acting for the large and the small screen. Beecham said that input was often welcomed in the former but frowned upon in the latter.

"My last two films I’ve really liked the scripts and didn’t want to change them," she said. "But I did do a TV series. It needed ratings, to keep the ratings up. It was entertainment; it wasn’t very deep. There were lots of things I wanted to change about that, but I had no control. It was not welcomed, my opinion. So that’s just a different kind of job, really. There are just different jobs, [but] amazing, independent film is just a privilege to be in." She didn't share which TV series she was referring to.

Beecham also said she hadn’t found much use for her classical theater training since moving on to movies. "I don’t believe you really need it," she said. "Especially with film. There are techniques you can use, but I have found life experience to be a much better teacher. Learning about yourself as a human being is a much better way of learning. Understanding human beings. Life."

The 49-year-old Yong revealed she had landed her first role – in the Chinese series The Man Who Herds the Clouds (1997) – with no previous acting experience. "I trained myself," she said. "I was my own teacher, and I learned from exchanges with the director and other actors. You try your best to accumulate life experience in order to become a better actor."

THREADS
Into The Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67844-Into-The-Badlands)
Shanghai International Film Festival (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71333-Shanghai-International-Film-Festival)

[GeneChing]

The Widow is on FIRE!

I'm tempted to make an indie thread just for Emily but I haven't done that for Daniel yet (and he's a personal friend). :o


‘Cruella’: Cannes Best Actress Winner Emily Beecham Joins Disney Live-Action Prequel With Emma Stone (https://deadline.com/2019/09/cruella-cannes-best-actress-winner-emily-beecham-joins-disney-live-action-prequel-with-emma-stone-1202739455/)
By Andreas Wiseman
International Editor
@AndreasWiseman
September 20, 2019 7:24am

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2019/09/emily-beecham-e1568979472782.jpg?w=681&h=383&crop=1
Credit: Alberto Tandoi

EXCLUSIVE: Cannes Best Actress 2019 winner Emily Beecham (Little Joe) has joined Disney’s live-action prequel Cruella.

About a young Cruella de Vil, the ‘baddie’ from Disney classic 101 Dalmations, the family pic is currently shooting in the UK at Shepperton Studios. Previously announced are Emma Stone as de Vil, Emma Thompson, Paul Walter Hauser and Joel Fry.

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/cruella.jpg?w=300&h=169
‘Cruella’ first-look photo
Disney

Story line and character details are being kept largely under wraps. Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya) is directing and U.S. release date is set for May 28, 2021, Memorial Day weekend. Disney released a fun first look at the movie at D23 this summer.

Rising UK actress Beecham most recently starred with Ben Whishaw and Kerry Fox in drama-sci-fi Little Joe, which played in competition in Cannes and was picked up by Magnolia for U.S distribution. Beecham won the festival’s Best Actress prize for the film which rolls out this autumn and winter.

She is also known for her roles in SXSW comedy-drama Daphne and AMC action-adventure series Into The Badlands. The actress recently starred with Anthony Mackie in Netflix sci-fi Outside The Wire and she has UK feature Sulphur And White upcoming.

Beecham is repped by ICM, Troika and Seven Summits Pictures & Management.

[GeneChing]

SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 6:00PM PT
Daniel Wu Joins Genies Avatar Agency (EXCLUSIVE) (https://variety.com/2019/digital/artists/daniel-wu-joins-genies-avatar-agency-1203350898/)
By PATRICK FRATER
Asia Bureau Chief

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/daniel-wu-tomb-raider.jpg?w=1000&h=563&crop=1
CREDIT: MEDIAPUNCH/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

Asian-American star, Daniel Wu has partnered with Genies, the Los Angeles-based company that creates working avatars for celebrities.

The company’s proprietary technology allows users to express ideas, thoughts, and feelings in a way they cannot with text, voice, or camera – and to be in two or more places at once. Other users include Rihanna, Cardi B and “Hustlers” star Jennifer Lopez

Wu will use his avatars to help expand brand engagement in both China and the U.S., leveraging his dual celebrity status in both countries. He joins Yoshiki and Namie Amuro as Genie’s third strategic brand partner in the Asian marketplace this month.

Wu has starred in over 50 films and is currently produces and stars in the AMC martial arts drama series “Into the Badlands.” Within Asia, his film hits include “Overheard” and “Go Away, Mr Tumor.”

“Wu is an multi-hyphenate actor, producer and director, with a global fan base that is continuing to grow as he enters a third decade in the industry,” said Peter Loehr, senior advisor to Genies. “He stays relevant by being an innovator.”

Within the Genies app and each platform, talent and brands can search through an extensive library of clothing, and then animations using keywords, emotional categories, or topical action packs that are refreshed every week.

The company recently announced integration of its avatars on social media and chat platforms including Instagram, Snapchat, and WhatsApp and for Asia it has compatibility with social platforms Weibo, WeChat, Line, and Kakao.

Daniel often likes my gram posts. That amuses me greatly.

'multi-hyphenate' - must remember that term.

[GeneChing]

Character Media Announces Nominees For 18th Annual Unforgettable Gala (https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/Character-Media-Announces-Nominees-For-18th-Annual-Unforgettable-Gala-20191015)

https://cloudimages.broadwayworld.com/columnpiccloud/21571145171.jpg?ezimgfmt=rs:250x128/rscb1/ng:webp/ngcb1

Character Media announced today the nominees for the 18th Annual Unforgettable Gala. The Gala is the preeminent awards show to recognize Asian American icons and changemakers in the entertainment industry, who are representing the community through their creativity and excellence. Nominees were voted on by Character Media's selection committee of experts, who represent various fields and creative disciplines, including film, television, music, sports, digital technology and philanthropy.

The following are this year's nominees. Additional awards will be announced at a later date.

Actor/Actress in Television:

Daniel Wu - "Into the Badlands"

Jameela Jamil - "The Good Place"

Karen Fukuhara - "The Boys"

Leonardo Nam - "Westworld"

Nico Santos - "Superstore"

Actor/Actress on Film:

Ali Wong - "Always Be My Maybe"

Awkwafina - "The Farewell"

Kumail Nanjiani - "Stuber"

Randall Park - "Always Be My Maybe"

Steven Yeun - "Burning"

Breakout Actor/Actress on Television:

Andrew Koji - "Warrior"

Derek Mio - "The Terror: Infamy"

Greta Lee - "Russian Doll"

Maya Erskine - "Pen15"

Sydney Park - "Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists"

Breakout Actor/Actress on Film:

Charles Melton - "The Sun is Also a Star"

Himesh Patel - "Yesterday"

Maya Erskine - "Plus One"

Tiffany Chu - "Ms. Purple"

Viveik Kalra - "Blinded by the Light"

Comic Performance:

Ali Wong - "Always Be My Maybe"

Hasan Minhaj - "Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj"

Jo Koy - "Comin' in Hot"

Ken Jeong - "Ken Jeong: You Complete Me, Ho"

Ronny Chieng - "The Daily Show"

Director:

James Wan - "Aquaman"

Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi - "Free Solo"

Justin Chon - "Ms. Purple"

Lulu Wang - "The Farewell"

Nisha Ganatra - "Late Night"

Digital Influencer:

Bobby Hundreds

Bretman Rock

Jenn Im

Jubilee Media

Steven Lim

The award recipients will be announced at the 18th Annual Unforgettable Gala, held at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, CA, on December 14, 2019.

THREADS
Asian Film Festivals and Awards (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?48392-Asian-Film-Festivals-and-Awards)
Into The Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67844-Into-The-Badlands)
The Farewell (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71409-The-Farewell)
Warrior (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68676-Bruce-Lee-s-Warrior)
Aquaman (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70874-Aquaman)

[GeneChing]

Not sure why this is popping up now. It's so after-the-fact.


Into The Badlands: Daniel Wu's Original Role (It Wasn't Playing Sunny) (https://screenrant.com/into-badlands-show-daniel-wu-not-sunny-original-role-producer/)
Before playing the deadly Clipper, Sunny, in Into the Badlands, Daniel Wu initially a rather different role in the AMC series.
BY NICHOLAS RAYMOND
DEC 06, 2019

https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Into-The-Badlands-Sunny.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=960&h=500&dpr=1.5

Daniel Wu, who played the lead character on AMC's Into the Badlands, almost didn't star in the show, and originally had just a behind-the-camera role in the post-apocalyptic martial arts series. For three seasons, Daniel Wu starred in Into the Badlands as a highly-trained killer named Sunny. At the beginning, Sunny was in the service of Baron Quinn (Marton Csokas), but by the end of the series, Sunny was a wandering swordsman whose main responsibility was protecting his child.

Before joining the cast of Into the Badlands, actor Daniel Wu had an impressively long list of movie roles under his belt. Wu, who was largely associated with the Hong Kong movie industry, was a frequent collaborator of celebrated Hong Kong movie director and former martial arts star, Derek Yee. Wu, who has a background in martial arts, has appeared in several kung fu movies, working alongside notable martial arts actors and directors like Yuen Woo-ping, Stephen Chow, and on numerous occasions, Jackie Chan. Wu's biggest film is Derek Yee's Protégé, an award-winning crime drama which had Wu in the starring role.

When AMC began developing Into the Badlands, Daniel Wu was hired as an executive producer due to his experience in martial arts. Wu was expected to handle the martial arts side of the series. Wu played an active role in finding an Asian actor who could play the lead character, Sunny. At the time, Wu was uninterested in starring in the show, due to his age. The 40-year-old actor was concerned that the intensity and the frequency of the fights would be too physically demanding because there was a possibility that the show could last for several years [via The Frame].

https://static3.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Into-the-Badlands-season-3-Sunny-Daniel-Wu.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=740&h=370&dpr=1.5

For this reason, Wu decided to look for an actor in his late 20s or early 30s with enough martial arts experience to play Sunny. When the search didn't yield any satisfying results, Wu decided to play Sunny himself. According to Wu, playing the lead character was "very physically challenging" because of the high numbers of fight scenes he had to shoot, which is more than what would be expected of him in a movie.

One of the reasons why Into the Badlands was so loved by fans was its commitment to presenting viewers with authentic kung fu and beautifully choreographed fight scenes, including the stunning final battle in the series finale. As its star (and one of its executive producers), Daniel Wu was a big part of that, so it's hard to imagine what the show would have been like without him.

We had a good run in the Badlands. I miss it.

[GeneChing]

'Into The Badlands': The Auction of the Props. A six day auction at The Heritage Golf Resort - 6411 Lots (https://www.easyliveauction.com/catalogue/a1922686c2e719088ab195db02500eb1/0af8d24542e81eb9357e7ef448a6646f/into-the-badlands-the-auction-of-the-props-a-six-day-auc/)
by Sean Eacrett Auctions
29th Jun 2020 from 10am BST


https://dee2fx0lhl024.cloudfront.net/auctions/images_lots/B9A5D15396D84C5CF2BE3343BAE2FA16_ash02/1100092422_PREVIEW.JPG

There's a lot of crazy stuff in these auction lots. Sad to see. Having been in the prop rooms, th quality of a lot of this stuff is just amazing.

Badlands was an amazing place.

[GeneChing]

Read my latest feature for Den of Geek: Into the Badlands: Daniel Wu On How The Series Became A Cult Hit (https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/into-the-badlands-daniel-wu-on-how-the-series-became-a-cult-hit/).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGeOEVEJFVg&feature=emb_logo

[GeneChing]

Read my latest feature for Den of Geek: Into the Badlands: What’s Next For Daniel Wu (https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/into-the-badlands-whats-next-for-daniel-wu/).

https://www.denofgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/into_the_badlands_1.jpg?resize=768%2C432

Threads
Into-The-Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67844-Into-The-Badlands)

[GeneChing]

Read my latest feature for Den of Geek: Into the Badlands: What’s Next For Daniel Wu (https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/into-the-badlands-whats-next-for-daniel-wu/).

https://www.denofgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/into_the_badlands_1.jpg?resize=768%2C432

Threads
Into-The-Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67844-Into-The-Badlands)
January-February-2016 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69087-January-February-2016)