God of War

[GeneChing]

Next up, from Sammo.


Cannes: Media Asia Sells 'Line Walker,' 'God of War' Across Asia (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-media-asia-sells-line-893120)
6:03 AM PDT 5/12/2016 by Patrick Brzeski

http://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2016/05/img_2748.jpg
"God of War"

Both films will open in mainland China this summer.

Hong Kong-based Media Asia has pre-sold two of its upcoming Chinese titles to several territories across Asia after debuting some footage from the films in Cannes.

Line Walker and God of War have sold to Sky Films in Taiwan, Clover Films in Singapore and MM2 in Malaysia.

God of War, a period action picture starring martial-arts maestro Sammo Hung, tells the story of 16th century Japanese pirates battling the Chinese army along the coast of the South China Sea.

Line Walker is a contemporary police thriller starring Francis Ng, Louis Koo and Nick Cheung.

Tentative Chinese release dates for Line Walker and God of War are the second week of August and the first week of October, respectively.

Additionally, Sky Films and Clover films picked up rights to Three, directed by Hong Kong's Johnnie To, and Trivisa, produced by To.

[GeneChing]

Score another for Well Go USA (http://www.wellgousa.com/)!


Well Go USA Scores China’s ‘God of War’ for North America (http://variety.com/2016/film/asia/wellgo-usa-chinas-god-of-war-for-north-america-1201865507/)
Patrick Frater
Asia Bureau Chief

http://i0.wp.com/pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/gow-crop.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C1050px%2C585px&resize=670%2C377&ssl=1
COURTESY OF MEDIA ASIA

SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 | 01:41AM PT

Well Go USA has acquired rights in North America, and other English-speaking territories to Chinese-language film “God of War.” The period action extravaganza stars Sammo Hung and Vincent Zhao.

The film is currently in post-production and set for a release in March 2017.

Well Go also acquired rights for the U.K., Australia and New Zealand.

With sales handled by Hong Kong’s Media Asia, it was previously licensed to CDC (Latin America); Sky Films (Taiwan); Clover Films (Singapore); MM2 (Malaysia); Wanda Vietnam Media (Vietnam); Sookie Pictures (South Korea); Golden Yellow Tree (Myanmar); EIM (airlines).

Directed and produced by Gordon Chan, the film is the story of how a Chinese general defeated Japanese pirates by using unique stratagems and maverick tactics.

The deal was sealed in Toronto, where WellGo also picked up rights to Chinese drama “I Am Not Madame Bovary,” directed by Feng Xiaogang.

[GeneChing]

According to the AMC site (https://www.amctheatres.com/movies/god-of-war-53259), the U.S. release (limited of course) will be June 1 2017.


Martial arts giants unite in major production (http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/culture/2017-04/20/content_29005070.htm)
China Daily | Updated: 2017-04-20 07:50

http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/culture/images/attachement/jpg/site1/20170420/b083fe9562de1a623c2308.jpg
Hong Kong actor Sammo Hung (right) and Zhao Wenzhuo team up for the upcoming film God of War. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Martial arts fans have waited for this for a long time－finally, Sammo Hung from Hong Kong, and Zhao Wenzhuo, who was born on the Chinese mainland and is also known as Vincent Chiu, will appear together on the silver screen.

They have joined forces for God of War, which is about two Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) generals fighting the wokou (Japanese pirates) in the 16th century.

The movie will hit the country's big screens on May 27.

The wokou were ethnically mixed pirates who were active on the Korean Peninsula and in China at that time.

Hung, 65, plays Yu Dayou, and the 45-year-old Zhao takes the role of Qi Jiguang. The two figures lead Chinese soldiers and civilians to safeguard their homeland.

Speaking about the movie at a recent promotion event in Beijing, Zhao says: "Just like Qi admired the more senior Yu, I also have respect for Hung. His martial arts are outstanding, and I have so much to learn from him."

Qi's army is often referred to by historians as an ancient Chinese "special operations forces" equipped with new weapons and good training.

Qi is believed to have once led about 3,000 soldiers to defeat more than 20,000 wokou. So he's hailed by the Chinese as a "god of war".

http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/culture/images/attachement/jpg/site1/20170420/b083fe9562de1a623c2f0a.jpg
A scene from God of War. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The film is directed by Gordon Chan, a Hong Kong filmmaker known for his portrayal of Chinese heroes on screen.

Chan says he visited every battlefield Qi fought on and met historians to avoid mistakes.

"We want to show history rather than grab attention with exaggeration," says Chan. "The film is not about provoking an anti-Japanese mood but aims to promote peace. This attitude enticed Japanese stars to join the film," he says.

Japanese actor Ryu Kohata, who is known to Chinese for playing a villain in the Nanjing Massacre-themed film City of Life and Death (2009), and Yasuaki Kurata, a 71-year-old action-film veteran often seen in 1970s' Hong Kong films, are part of the cast.

Yu Dong, president of Bona Film Group, the production company, says: "We want to promote a film on patriotism that is also attractive to the younger generation.

"A few days after the premiere will be Children' Day (June 1). The film will show children that China has its superheroes, and that they are real."

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PHpSj31ACM

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eqloeHolg4

God of War (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69507-God-of-War) & Qi Jiguang (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?59759-Qi-Jiguang-s-chapter-on-boxing-in-English).

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ6xZ_Om2Mo

From our good friends at Well Go USA (http://wellgousa.com/theatrical/god-of-war).


US THEATER LOCATIONS

June 2, 2017
NEW YORK CITY

AMC Empire 25
234 West 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036

LOS ANGELES

AMC Atlantic Times Square
450 N Atlantic Blvd
Monterey Park, CA 91754
(626) 407-0240

AMC Puente Hills 20
1560 South Azusa Avenue
City of Industry, CA 91748

AMC Orange 30
20 City Blvd W
Orange, CA 92868
(909) 476-1234

DALLAS

Cinemark Legacy
7201 North Central Expressway
Plano, TX 75025

AMC Grapevine Mills 30
3150 Grapevine Mills Parkway
Grapevine, TX 76051
(972) 539-5909

BOSTON

AMC Loews Boston Common 19
175 Tremont St
Boston, MA 02111
(617) 423-5801

CHICAGO

AMC River East 21
322 East Illinois Street
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 596-0333

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Regal Cinemas Rockville Center 13
199 E Montgomery Ave
Rockville, MD 20850

AMC Loews Rio Cinemas 18
9811 Washingtonian Ctr
Gaithersburg, MD 20878

AMC Potomac Mills 18
Potomac Mills, 2700 Potomac Mills Cir
Woodbridge, VA 22192
(703) 490-5151

HOUSTON

AMC Studio 30
2949 Dunvale
Houston, TX 77063
(713) 977-4431

LAS VEGAS

AMC Town Square 18
6587 Las Vegas Blvd South
Las Vegas, NV 89119
(702) 362-7283

PHILADELPHIA

AMC Cherry Hill 24
2121 NJ-38
Cherry Hill, NJ 08002
(856) 486-7420

UA Riverview Plaza Stadium 17
1400 S Christopher Columbus Blvd
Philadelphia, PA 19147

PHOENIX

AMC Centerpoint 11
730 South Mill Ave
Tempe, AZ 85281
(480) 207-2534

SAN FRANCISCO / BAY AREA

AMC Cupertino Square 16
10123 N Wolfe Rd
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 252-5960

AMC Van Ness 14
1000 Van Ness Ave
San Francisco, CA 94109

ATLANTA

Regal Cinemas Hollywood 24
3265 Northeast Expy NE
Chamblee, GA 30341
(844) 462-7342

SAN DIEGO

AMC Mission Valley 20
1640 Camino Del Rio N
San Diego, CA 92108

SEATTLE

Regal Cinemas Meridian 16
1501 7th Ave
Seattle, WA 98101
(844) 462-7342

NEW JERSEY

AMC Loews New Brunswick 18
17 US-1
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
(732) 846-2275

CANADA THEATER LOCATIONS

June 2, 2017
TORONTO

Cineplex Cinemas Markham & VIP
79 Enterprise Blvd #169
Markham, ON L6G 0E7, Canada

Cineplex Cinemas Yonge Dundas
10 Dundas Street East #402
Toronto, ON M5B 2G9, Canada
(416) 977-9262

VANCOUVER

Cineplex Cinemas SilverCity Riverport
14211 Entertainment Way
Richmond, BC V6W 1K4, Canada
BUY TICKETS
SilverCity Metropolis Cinemas
4700 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC V5H 4M1, Canada
+1 604-435-7474

OTTAWA

Cineplex Odeon South Keys Cinemas
2214 Bank St
Ottawa, ON K1V 1J6, Canada
+1 613-736-6740

[GeneChing]

Enter to win KungFuMagazine.com's contest for God of War on Blu-Ray™ + DVD (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/sweepstakes-god-of-war.php)! Contest ends 5:30 p.m. PST on 10/26/2017.

[GeneChing]

See our WINNERS: God of War on Blu-Ray™+DVD (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70542-WINNERS-God-of-War-on-Blu-Ray%99-DVD) thread.

[GeneChing]

I just realized I never reviewed this.

It's Sammo & Vincent Zhao in an ultravi sangiounous medieval war epic. Need I really say more? Luved it. Big battles, great one-on-one weapon duels, lots of lopping off of parts and gratuitous blood spurts, an emphasis on draw cuts which was oddly genuine and refreshing, sword fights, sword fights sword fights.

It's based on Qi Jiguang, a pivotal strategist who fought off the Wukuo (Chinese pirates masquerading as Japanese). It's loyal to the source as Qi was instrumental in developing katana-like Chinese swords and these crazy sleeve-tangler pole arms, both of which are explained in graphic detail on the battlefield. Those nods, while overly dramatized, will surely bring a smile to any literate Kung Fu person who has engaged Qi's seminal work, Ji Xiao Xin Shu. And there's good political intrigue, an engaging plots that's somewhat complex, parsed by brutal yet gorgeous fight choreography. Good battlefield tactics and siege sequences. Beautiful sets and costumes, scenic panoramic shots, a fine example of the state of Chinese war epics now.