Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2: Sword of Destiny

[Siu Lum Fighter]

Natasha was very cute for sure. The action scenes were actually pretty epic and the story, despite it feeling like a slight knock-off of the original (but that's OK), was pretty good. As a guy who likes authenticity and isn't as concerned with Chinese accents (because I would barely be able to differentiate one anyway), I was disappointed it wasn't in Mandarin. The English came across a little too much like a Robin Hood movie or a walk down medieval/fantasy movie lane. That's really my main gripe with the film. Otherwise, I was pleasantly surprised.

[GeneChing]

Netflix's 'Crouching Tiger,' Hidden Movie Grosses
5:00 AM PST 3/3/2016 by Pamela McClintock


Courtesy of Netflix

Though film distributors started to see numbers for 'Sword of Destiny' on comScore, they quickly disappeared, sparking rumors that numbers for the film — released on the streaming service and in theaters at the same time — weren't good.

By early afternoon on Feb. 26, film distributors started to see grosses for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny pop up on reporting service comScore. Then they disappeared.

Netflix and Imax decided not to disclose opening-weekend grosses, sparking buzz the numbers weren't good. The film's release was controversial from the get-go. Cinema owners who operate Imax screens were furious in fall 2014 when Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos and Imax announced a deal to make the long-awaited follow-up to Ang Lee's Oscar-winning film, released in 2000, available on the streaming service and Imax theaters at the same time. Imax, the film's U.S. distributor, backed off, and the film later was pushed from August to now.

Yuen Woo-ping's Sword of Destiny, whose lead producer is The Weinstein Co., ultimately opened in only 10 to 12 Imax sites. Netflix, notoriously secretive about viewership numbers on its streaming service, did not comment when queried about the reason for not reporting grosses. Ditto for Imax. "Who does that? This is a theatrical run like any other," says a studio executive. While it's true the company's business model doesn't rely on theatrical returns, no one wants to be tied to a perceived box-office failure. In the fall, Beasts of No Nation — the first original movie from Netflix — only made $90,777 in a smattering of theaters willing to play it. (The poor showing might have hurt the film's Oscar campaign).

The good news: Sword of Destiny has grossed nearly $36 million at the overseas box office, the majority from China.

See now? It wasn't just me who noticed.

It didn't even chart on Box Office Mojo for Domestic, only for China and Hong Kong.

And there's more...

A big theater chain has reversed its ban on Netflix movies — as a 'favor'
Nathan McAlone
Mar. 1, 2016, 9:44 AM 1,570 1


Netflix

Theater chain AMC has reversed its ban on showing Netflix’s “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” sequel, according to CEO Adam Aron.

While AMC had previously said it would boycott the release, Aron indicated a slight change of heart on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Monday.

“We actually did wind up, as a favor to IMAX, showing Crouching Tiger,” Aron said.

But it wasn’t a complete victory for Netflix. AMC only showed the film at 4 to 6 of its 153 IMAX screens, according to The Wrap, and none of its regular screens.

AMC is one of a host of theater chains that has refused to show Netflix's original films. The major sticking point is Netflix’s commitment to “day-and-date releases,” which means Netflix releases are available to stream on Netflix the same day as they arrive in theaters.

When Netflix originally announced its plans for “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” back in late 2014, the response from theaters, including market leader Regal, was uniformly negative.

"Regal we will not participate in an experiment where you can see the same product on screens varying from three stories tall to 3" wide on a smartphone. We believe the choice for truly enjoying a magnificent movie is clear," Regal spokesman Russ Nunley said in a statement.

“It's going to be very, very difficult for Netflix to get the major theater chains to carry its movies,” FBR Capital Markets analyst Barton Crockett told The Los Angeles Times.

Remember AMC = Wanda.

[GeneChing]

It's really a shame that this went so sour. The film isn't horrible, but it's marred by its predecessor and this strange marketing ploy.

The box office for the 'Crouching Tiger' sequel is so awful Netflix won't reveal it
Business Insider By Jason Guerrasio
March 3, 2016 1:00 PM


(Netflix)
"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny."

You probably didn’t realize it, but you could have seen the sequel to the groundbreaking, Oscar-winning 2000 martial-arts movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” in theaters last weekend. The thing is, you just had to have lived near a select IMAX screen in the suburbs of New Jersey or California that showed it.
Netflix has vowed that it will release movies it's making in theaters and on its streaming service, simultaneously. But the company never said it would operate like the traditional distributors and report the box office of those movies.

“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny” is Netflix's latest release rolled out via theaters and streaming on the same day, and as with “Beasts of No Nation” before, most of the major movie chains (AMC, Regal) refused to show the film, since it didn’t adhere to the typical 90-day delay between theatrical and home video/streaming (many independent film houses released “Beasts”).

But unlike “Beasts,” “Sword of Destiny” has had no reporting of its box-office results, leaving many in Hollywood shaking their heads.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, distributors started seeing the grosses for the movie show up on reporting service comScore the afternoon of Friday, February 26th, but they quickly disappeared.

“When you release a film in theaters, whether the results are good or bad, it's customary to report grosses,” Jeff Bock, senior box-office analyst at Exhibitor Relations, told Business Insider. “With a sequel of this magnitude, it's a shock that Netflix did not issue numbers, which can only mean they were pedestrian at best, terrible at worst.”

Perhaps the poor business “Beasts” did in theaters on its opening weekend, grossing just $50,699 in 31 theaters in 30 US cities (a theater average of $1,635) caused Netflix to keep “Sword of Destiny” numbers to themselves. But there’s no way to confirm. Netflix said it has no comment for this story.


(Netflix)
"Beasts of No Nation."

Regardless, major studios and independents release their weekend grosses every week, regardless of how they might look, and many in Hollywood believe Netflix should be held to the same standard.
“If you want to be in the distribution game, it's helpful to exhibitors [theaters] to be transparent,” Bock said. “Netflix was with ‘Beasts of No Nation,’ and the results were poor. The fact that they are basically hiding debut numbers makes everyone uncomfortable in the distribution world. It's no wonder they had a difficult time booking the film.”

A big reason why “Sword of Destiny” even played in theaters is because AMC reversed its ban at the 11th hour and allowed four to six of its 153 IMAX screens to show the film over the February 27-28 weekend.

An IMAX rep told the New York Post that, in total, “Sword of Destiny” was shown on 10-12 IMAX screens.

The kicker to all of this is there seems to be no trouble finding out how "Sword of Destiny" did overseas. According to THR, the movie grossed nearly $36 million abroad, mainly in China.

[PalmStriker]

I watched the movie on Netflix the first night it streamed, re-watching it tonight with a new pair of cinematic sound headphones for the full studio sound effect, my old set was on it's way out first time around, can appreciate much more visually, pace, character introductions, etc. second time around. Returning to movie.

[GeneChing]

...for CTHD2? Well, I guess the UN Sec-Gen is cool. But man, the Met Gala? That looks like a crazy party.

Michelle Yeoh skips Met Gala for ‘top-secret’ film event
By Ian Mohr May 2, 2016 | 9:26pm


Michelle Yeoh Photo: FilmMagic

Michelle Yeoh attended the Met Gala a year ago, but on Monday she was instead throwing her own event downtown.

The martial-arts star was scheduled to co-host a “top-secret” screening of her sequel “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny” with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for diplomats, sources said.

In March, Yeoh — who also starred in the 1997 James Bond adventure “Tomorrow Never Dies” with Pierce Brosnan — was named a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Development Programme.

[GeneChing]

Michelle Yeoh flies from 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2' to 'Marco Polo'
BY JIM SLOTEK, POSTMEDIA NETWORK
FIRST POSTED: THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2016 11:02 AM EDT | UPDATED: THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2016 11:15 AM EDT


Malaysia actress Michelle Yeoh poses on the red carpet for the fundraising gala organized by amfAR (The Foundation for AIDS Research) in Hong Kong, Saturday, March 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Michelle Yeoh is calling from Paris about her introduction to the Netflix series Marco Polo, as a mysterious, vengeful martial arts master known simply as The Hand Maiden.

Why Paris? Appropriately enough – given the connection between the two acting jobs – it’s to take a bow for the sequel Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny at the Chinese Film Festival in France.

“It’s a great excuse to be in Paris,” she says. “The weather is good, but the city is on strike. Just for today, thank God.”

The connection? John Fusco, the creator of Marco Polo is also the writer of Sword of Destiny. And he had the entire shoot of the feature film to sell her on joining his TV series.

Fusco was so confident he could land her that he ended Season 1 with a scene involving her character, played by a double. “He was hoping I would play this part but it was not a definite yes.

“When he ended Season 1, where the little emperor was handed over to the Hand Maiden, you never saw her face. So that was a very good set-up.”

I suggest to Yeoh that Marco Polo should be called Kublai Khan, since it’s all about the intrigue in the Mongol court and the unification of China taking place in front of Polo (Lorenzo Richelmy). They named the show after the only non-Asian in it, even though very little of it is about him.

Yeoh laughs at the observation. “It’s true, Marco Polo is just a fly on the wall who’s reporting all these amazing things he’s seeing. But reporting is an important job, as you know,” she says, playfully to her interviewer.

“But of course, it can only be about Kublai Khan. Ben (Benedict Wong who plays Kublai) is such an amazing force.



“Marco Polo deserves credit, because if he hadn’t brought all these tales to the West, the West wouldn’t have understood this incredible dynamic leader who managed to break through the Great Wall of China and start a new dynasty.”

The Hand Maiden, however, is on the other side of the fence. After failing in her task to protect the little emperor, she sets out to either retrieve him or exact vengeance on the Mongols. En route, she fights with Polo and discovers he has kung fu skills that could only have been taught to him by her ex-lover, the blind master Hundred Eyes (Tom Wu).

(We never said this was a documentary, folks).

“She has one mission, and then she has another,” Yeoh says of the Hand Maiden. “She suddenly discovered that there was someone else in the Mongolian court, which was Hundred Eyes, the love of her life. Why would he still remain working for Kublai? He shouldn’t be there, he should be helping us and the rebellion.”

It’s a set-up that Fusco apparently has been working towards since the first season. “The greatest fight scene of the series. In his mind, it was me and Hundred Eyes. The action sequences we have together are not just about fighting. It’s very, very deeply emotionally bonded. It’s not about wanting to take the life of the other person, but to subdue the other person and bring them back to the truth, which is more powerful.”

So Yeoh went from one martial arts role to another. In Sword of Destiny, she was working with legendary director and fight choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping, with whom she has worked since the early ‘90s in Hong Kong action films.

“Working with Master Yuen is something I’ve been doing on and off for 20 or 30 years, so we have a rhythm,” the ballet-trained Yeoh says. “But every time you have to adjust to a new dance partner who’ll bring you a spring in your step and joy.

“When you’re working with somebody new like Brett (Marco Polo stunt coordinator Brett Chan) and his team, you discover a whole new sensuality, which is a lot of fun.

“And Tom, who plays Hundred Eyes, is just brilliant to spar with and fight with.”

Yeoh, a sometime Bond girl and one of People’s 50 Most Beautiful People in the World, admits her action career has not been a typical actress’s journey.

“When I first started out, I don’t think anybody (in Hollywood), thought a woman should be doing things I was doing,” she says. “But the history of Chinese filmmaking, they’ve always had the woman warrior.

“But I think in Hollywood you have stronger women roles now, and they’re getting more physical – like Charlize Theron in Mad Max.”

Season 2 of Marco Polo hits Netflix on July 1.

Twitter: @jimslotek
JSlotek@postmedia.com

I can hardly wait to binge MP Season 2.

[GeneChing]

DECEMBER 15, 2017 8:33AM PT
‘Crouching Tiger’ Actress Accuses Harvey Weinstein Asia Associate of Sexual Misconduct
By Vivienne Chow


CREDIT: CHA/INVISION/AP/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

Actress JuJu Chan has accused Harvey Weinstein’s Asia associate Bey Logan of making an unwanted sexual advance and later pressuring her romantically during production of The Weinstein Co.’s 2016 film “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny.”

Chan told Variety that Logan, a friend of Weinstein’s and a consulting producer with TWC, “forcefully kissed” her one evening after a party and later complained during shooting of “Sword of Destiny” that she refused to be his girlfriend.

Logan vehemently denies the allegations by Chan, who is the latest woman to accuse him of sexual misconduct. Earlier this week, the Hong Kong online news site HK01 published allegations by seven actresses that Logan had sexually harassed them. Only one of the accusers, actress Sable Yu, has been willing to give her name to HK01.

In response to HK01’s report, Logan denied any criminal misconduct but apologized for having had a “too carefree attitude towards physical encounters with women” in the past.

Chan, who stars in upcoming action film “The Invincible Dragon,” said Logan’s unwanted advance toward her occurred in 2009, soon after she had returned to Hong Kong from studying in New York and was attempting to break into the movie industry.

She said she was introduced to Logan at an event, and he was looking for an actress for the reshoot of his film “Blood Bond.” She said Logan invited her to an audition, which was conducted in a normal and professional manner.

Chan did not sign up for the film, but ran into Logan later on at a party. She was on her way out when Logan asked to share a taxi. During the cab ride, “he forcefully kissed me on my lips,” Chan said.

“I was so young and was in shock. I just graduated. I did not know how to react,” Chan said. “I pushed him away. He said goodbye and left.”

Chan said she tried to avoid Logan afterward despite his status as a producer with Hollywood connections. But several years later, she was cast as one of the main characters in “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny,” which Logan produced.

Chan said Logan, who has appeared on camera as well as worked behind it, blamed her for not casting him in a previous project she was involved in, even though she did not have casting authority.

“When it was clear that the [“Sword of Destiny” producers] wanted to include me in their film, he called me offering me a really low pay to do a side role, while also insulting my abilities. I rejected his offer,” Chan said. “In the end, the casting director for the film contacted me directly with an offer that I accepted. Bey was obviously upset to see me on the set.”

More than that, Logan appeared upset about her refusal of his romantic overtures, Chan said.

“He didn’t want me to be in the cast. I never gave him a chance to be close to me. I’m not ‘his girl.’ He tried to kick me out of the movie,” Chan said, adding: “He said to me: ‘Almost all girls I work with are my girlfriends. Why can’t you be my girlfriend? You are the only girl who refused.’”

Towards the end of the shoot, Chan said, Logan asked her to be in his next movie, “Lady Blood Fight.” Chan told him to speak to her manager.

Logan denies Chan’s allegations. “I was a co-producer on ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon II: Sword of Destiny,’” he wrote in an e-mail to Variety. “I did not have authority to and did not make the casting decisions. I did not determine the artists’ pay or engagement terms. Such matters were handled by the relevant line producers. I did not have authority to and did not make any attempts to ‘kick’ anyone out of the movie. I have never made any propositions to her.”

Chan also said that Weinstein himself approached her during the after-party of “Sword of Destiny’s” Beijing premiere in February 2016.

The Hollywood mogul “came over to me and asked me if I could meet him in his [hotel] room to spend some ‘private time’ together. I said no, why did we have to meet privately? My manager was there, too, and she could come up,” Chan said. “He was unhappy and I walked away.”

Chan said it was difficult for Asian actors and actresses to come forward with accounts of sexual assault and harassment. “They are afraid of being blacklisted. It is so difficult to get a role and when people are desperate, they don’t think. They just let things happen,” Chan said.

“I’ve also seen people not getting any roles after they gave in. There’s no guarantee,” she said. “People who use their power to have sex – [it] is not right.”

I've interacted with JuJu fleetingly. Last time she came through SF, we had hoped to meet for an interview or something, but it didn't work out in either of our schedules so we said we'd do it next time. She was professional and courtesy, and our dialog was short.

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[GeneChing]

Read my latest feature for Den of Geek: The Old Guard: How the Immortal Quynh Was Brought to Life.



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