Five Fingers of Death (King Boxer) remake

[GeneChing]

The success of this would hinge on who takes on Lo Lieh's role. I'm surprised that Ratner beat Tarantino to this. :rolleyes:


{EXCLUSIVE} BRETT RATNER WILL TAKE ON REMAKE OF KUNG FU CLASSIC “KING BOXER” FEBRUARY 18, 2016 (http://www.tracking-board.com/exclusive-brett-ratner-will-take-on-remake-of-kung-fu-classic-king-boxer/)

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〉 Ratner will produce and direct the remake of the Shaw Brothers classic under his RatPac Entertainment.

Brett Ratner is set to direct the remake of the martial arts classic KING BOXER, also known as Five Fingers of Death. The film was originally released in the U.S. in 1973, and was the catalyst for the American kung fu movie craze of the ’70s.

Ratner and partner James Packer will produce the project, which is set up under their RatPac Entertainment banner. They’ll be working alongside Celestial Pictures, the Hong Kong-based company which owns the rights to the Shaw Brothers film library. Agustine Calderon will serve as the executive for RatPac, while Adam DeMello will oversee for Celestial.

The original movie, directed by Chang Ho Cheng, follows the story of a young student fighter who is sent away by his master to train with an expert. When he returns, he finds that one of his fellow students has betrayed their master. The returning student then trains and regains his strength in order to represent and honor of his master at a tournament.

There is no word on how closely the remake will follow the original, but Ratner has quite a task ahead of him considering the iconic nature of King Boxer. The film is a crucial part of the legendary Hong Kong movie empire created by the Shaw Brothers. Runje, Runme, Runde, and the youngest, Run Run Shaw, released over 1,000 films dating back to the 1950s, but they were primarily known for their martial arts titles which left a mark on both the film industry and pop culture. King Boxer stands out as one of the most significant titles of their filmography, and was even referenced in Quentin Tarantino’s kung fu opus of revenge, Kill Bill.

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RatPac Entertainment’s recent credits include The Revenant, currently nominated for twelve Academy Awards, Truth starring Cate Blanchett, and last summer’s Entourage movie. RatPac’s upcoming projects include the Clint Eastwood-directed Sully, based on the story of Captain “Sully” Sullenberger, with Tom Hanks in starring in the title role, and True Crime with Jim Carrey and Charlotte Gainsbourg. As The Tracking Board exclusively reported back in January, Ratner is also developing a crime drama based on Goodfellas mobster Henry Hill.

Ratner is perhaps best known for directing the three installments of the action comedy blockbuster franchise Rush Hour. He is currently serving as executive producer of the TV adaptation, which is set to premiere on CBS in March.

He is repped by WME.

[Jimbo]

I don't have high expectations about this at all. Anytime an American director seeks to remake an Asian classic, or film any Asian-themed movie, it almost always turns out bad. Meaning, I can see the hero being an American or British guy living in China. American storywriters and directors avoid any originality in their own Asian-based movies like Dracula avoids garlic; originality being American-made, Asian-themed movies actually starring and featuring *gasp* Asians. IMO, Gareth Evans is the only Westerner to film movies in Asia and get it right.

Even the American directors who claim to be fans of the old-school KF movies by Shaw Brothers and etc., always end up making spoofs of KF movies, rather than actual tributes. In truth, they probably only see the genre as campy, and spoofing it is the only way they know how to pay "tribute" to it.

[sanjuro_ronin]

I don't have high expectations about this at all. Anytime an American director seeks to remake an Asian classic, or film any Asian-themed movie, it almost always turns out bad. Meaning, I can see the hero being an American or British guy living in China. American storywriters and directors avoid any originality in their own Asian-based movies like Dracula avoids garlic; originality being American-made, Asian-themed movies actually starring and featuring *gasp* Asians. IMO, Gareth Evans is the only Westerner to film movies in Asia and get it right.

Even the American directors who claim to be fans of the old-school KF movies by Shaw Brothers and etc., always end up making spoofs of KF movies, rather than actual tributes. In truth, they probably only see the genre as campy, and spoofing it is the only way they know how to pay "tribute" to it.

Yeah, I mean a good remake would be a modern telling of the same story, complete with exotic MA training and such with good actors and great choreography.
A great one would be a remake of the original with great MA and acting ( Donnie Yen or Daniel Wu for example) and as little BS as possible.
The premise of the story is good ( typical but good) and could easily be made better simply by better choreography.

[mickey]

Greetings,


"The original movie, directed by Chang Ho Cheng, follows the story of a young student fighter who is sent away by his master to train with an expert. When he returns, he finds that one of his fellow students has betrayed their master. The returning student then trains and regains his strength in order to represent and honor of his master at a tournament"

If the above synopsis is all they got out of the movie, it is bound to suck buffalo rocks.

It would be better to make something based on the movie instead of remaking it.


mickey

[Jimbo]

Greetings,


"The original movie, directed by Chang Ho Cheng, follows the story of a young student fighter who is sent away by his master to train with an expert. When he returns, he finds that one of his fellow students has betrayed their master. The returning student then trains and regains his strength in order to represent and honor of his master at a tournament"

If the above synopsis is all they got out of the movie, it is bound to suck buffalo rocks.

It would be better to make something based on the movie instead of remaking it.


mickey

I'll bet you dollars to donuts the honorable student is a white guy, while the dishonorable one is Asian. Like The Octagon, Karate Kid II, and probably The Challenge (1982; it's been a long time, but I think that's the basic theme of it), and Scott Adkins' ninja movie (the 2nd one, and probably the first as well), and dozens of other American MA films.

[Jimbo]

Yeah, I mean a good remake would be a modern telling of the same story, complete with exotic MA training and such with good actors and great choreography.
A great one would be a remake of the original with great MA and acting ( Donnie Yen or Daniel Wu for example) and as little BS as possible.
The premise of the story is good ( typical but good) and could easily be made better simply by better choreography.

I like the way you think.

But I don't believe any American director is going to make a no-BS KF movie. They just cannot seem to do it. They always camp it up, as a wink and a nod to Americans' views of KF movies. That includes ill-timed dubbing (sometimes), gravity-defying wirework, overdone sound effects (that don't really sound like the old KF movies), silly hand flourishes, etc., etc. And all I know of Brett Ratner is the Rush Hour films. Not confidence-inspiring at all.

[GeneChing]

I caught My Young Auntie on El Rey (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1207) last night. I probably haven't seen that since it came out in '81, and it was such a guilty pleasure. I mean that is one wacky Shaw Brothers flick. I was thinking that it really needs a Hollywood remake, directed by Baz Luhrmann, starring Harry Shum Jr. in Hsiao Ho's role and well, I was pondering who should be the Auntie...Kara Hui is a tough act to follow.

As for Asian films remade by Hollywood, the Samurai-to-Spaghetti Westerns were good - The Magnificent Seven and A Fistful of Dollars were great. I also enjoyed the Departed and Reservoir Dogs. But all of those were massive reworkings of the originals, not Kung Fu flicks, and I don't have a lot of confidence in Ratner's take on the genre.

[mickey]

Greetings,

sanjuro ronin: Race will be the kiss of death for this movie.

I think Gene brought forth a good point about those films that did perform well and it got me thinking. I think that FFOD would be incredible if it combined Smokin' Aces and Inception. It would be way out fun.


mickey

[Jimbo]

I caught My Young Auntie on El Rey (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1207) last night. I probably haven't seen that since it came out in '81, and it was such a guilty pleasure. I mean that is one wacky Shaw Brothers flick. I was thinking that it really needs a Hollywood remake, directed by Baz Luhrmann, starring Harry Shum Jr. in Hsiao Ho's role and well, I was pondering who should be the Auntie...Kara Hui is a tough act to follow.

As for Asian films remade by Hollywood, the Samurai-to-Spaghetti Westerns were good - The Magnificent Seven and A Fistful of Dollars were great. I also enjoyed the Departed and Reservoir Dogs. But all of those were massive reworkings of the originals, not Kung Fu flicks, and I don't have a lot of confidence in Ratner's take on the genre.

IMO, the samurai-to westerns were very good, but like you say, they were reworking the original stories and concepts into a western setting. Those movies, especially the Leone ones, worked perfectly, and we're done respectfully.

Not the same thing as trying to remake an Asian film in Asia with American writers, director, star(s) and film crew. That's a lot of hubris. The equivalent would be if a Chinese or Japanese film company/writers/director/star(s), film crew, etc., went to England and remade Robin Hood as a Chinese or Japanese man in England who leads a group of Merry Men against the sheriff of Nottingham, and wins the heard of Maid Marian, who sees him as the only manly man. Or in Scotland, with William Wallace not a Scot, but a Chinese traveler who was blown off course and leads the rebellion against the king of England. Sounds ridiculous, right? But that's exactly what American filmmakers have been doing for decades in their Asian-themed films.

[boxerbilly]

This was the first MA movie I ever saw. At like 2am on Cinemax. I was maybe 11? You guys recall those little viewer guides they sent each month listing the movies and air times? All hardcore violence and sex stuff was air between 2-6 am. I had to stay up to watch Mad Max and Emmanuelle. LOL.

The very first MA I recall was an Enter the Dragon Commercial on TV. Again, aired at like 12-1am. I was maybe 4. I was awestruck watching it. I recall telling my older brother. I want to be him., LOL. He said, well, he is dead so I want you to be him too.