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  1. #1
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    WOLF WARRIOR 2 - Official Teaser (Wu Jing, Frak Grillo)

    Gene Ching
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    電影《戰狼2》國際版預告【吳京、盧靖姍、吳剛】|Wolf Warriors Ⅱ

    Gene Ching
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    Trailer #3

    Time to split this off from the original into it's own indie thread.

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    吴京与《美队》头号反派徒手格斗 《战狼2》曝开战版预告

    Gene Ching
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    U.S. theatrical release JULY 28, 2017

    From Well Go USA's site:

    July 28, 2017
    NEW YORK CITY

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

    College Point Multiplex Cinemas
    2855 Ulmer St
    Flushing, NY 11354

    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

    AMC Tustin 14 at The District
    2457 Park Ave
    Tustin, CA 92782
    (714) 258-7036

    ATLANTA

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

    INDIANAPOLIS

    AMC Showplace Bloomington 11
    1351 S College Mall Rd
    Bloomington, IN 47401

    CHICAGO

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

    COLUMBUS

    AMC Lennox Town Center 24
    777 Kinnear Rd
    Columbus, OH 43212

    DALLAS

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

    WASHINGTON, D.C.

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

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

    EUGENE

    Regal Cinemas Valley River Center 15 & IMAX
    500 Valley River Center
    Eugene, OR 9740
    (844) 462-7342

    HAWAII

    Regal Dole Cannery
    735 Iwilei Rd
    Honolulu, HI 96817
    (844) 462-7342

    Consolidated Theatres Kapolei
    890 Kamokila Blvd #107
    Kapolei, HI 96707
    (808) 674-8031

    Pearlridge West 16
    98-1005 Moanalua Road
    Aiea, HI 96701
    (808) 483-5339

    HOUSTON

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

    Edwards Houston Marq'e Stadium 23 & IMAX
    7620 Katy Fwy
    Houston, TX 77024
    (844) 462-7342

    LAS VEGAS

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

    MIAMI

    AMC Sunset Place 24
    5701 Sunset Dr #300
    South Miami, FL 33143
    (305) 740-8904

    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

    PITTSBURGH

    AMC Waterfront
    300 West Waterfront Dr.
    West Homestead, PA 15120

    PHOENIX

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

    SAN DIEGO

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

    SAN FRANCISCO / BAY AREA

    AMC Metreon 16
    135 4th St Suite 3000
    San Francisco, CA 94103
    (415) 369-6207

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

    SACRAMENTO

    UA Laguna Village 12
    8755 Center Pkwy
    Sacramento, CA 95823
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    Gene Ching
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    Opens this Friday



    Here's the U.S. trailer, same as the one above, but with subtitles.
    Gene Ching
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    Wolf Warrior 2

    I'm just going to launch this thread already (giving the BO, part 3 will surely happen) and copy it to Wolf Warrior 2 and the Adventurers.

    Headlines from China: Andy Lau Expressed His Interest in Playing in ‘Wolf Warriors 3’
    BY CHINAFILMINSIDER AUG 11, 2017


    Andy Lau Expressed His Interest in Playing in Wolf Warriors 3

    In a recent interview, Hong Kong movie star Andy Lau talked about his upcoming movie The Adventurers, his previous hit movie Infernal Affairs, and the Chinese film market. When Andy was asked about Infernal Affairs, he said that none of the Hong Kong action movies produced over the past 15 years achieved the level of success Infernal Affairs achieved, and co-production might have been one of the important reasons, as co-produced movies try to cater to audiences from different cultures and restrict filmmakers’ creative freedom. In addition, Andy commended on the uncertain nature of the movie industry, saying that he is not sure if he will be invited to play in Wolf Warriors 3, but he will be prepared.

    And for reference, here's Wolf Warrior 1.
    Gene Ching
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    Seen

    I caught this on Friday and enjoyed the ultravi. I'll have a personal review up later.

    Media & Entertainment #BoxOffice
    AUG 14, 2017 @ 03:00 PM
    Box Office: 'Wolf Warrior 2' Cracks 100 All-Time Biggest Grossers List
    Scott Mendelson , CONTRIBUTOR
    I cover the film industry.
    Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.


    Well Go USA Entertainment
    'Wolf Warrior 2'

    Wolf Warrior 2 has now earned $685 million after earning $83m over its third Fri-Sun frame in China. That’s a mere drop of 50% from last weekend’s record-crushing $162m Fri-Sun frame and down just 41% from its opening weekend of $141m two weeks ago. Yes, the Chinese action sequel made more money in its second weekend than in its opening weekend. Moreover, that $162m Fri-Sun cume was the biggest non-opening weekend ever, ahead of The Force Awakens’ $149m in Christmas of 2015. Sadly, the $83m third frame was below Force Awakens’ $90m third weekend, so no new records there.

    The film has earned $683 million in China after 17 days (including Thursday previews), along with $2m in North America on just 32 screens. So, here’s the gist: The film is now the first non-Hollywood release ever to crack the top-100 list of all-time biggest global box office champions. And with around $680m, it is now in 99th place, between Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation ($682.7m in 2015) and The Hunger Games ($694.7m in 2012). I don’t have Monday numbers at the moment (thanks to time zone magic, today is technically Tuesday in China), but if it hasn’t crossed $700m in China already, it will in a day or two.

    Speaking of which, with a relative downturn in that third weekend, which would still be insanely leggy for any other movie of this scale, the film is probably not going to catch the $937 million North American gross of Star Wars: The Force Awakens or the worldwide total of Universal/Comcast Corp.'s Despicable Me 3 ($921m-and-counting) to win the summer. But with $680m+ and counting, it is already the third-biggest single-territory gross in history, behind only the North American totals of Avatar ($760m in 2009/2010) and The Force Awakens ($937m in 2015/2016).

    By the way, if you don’t count the online ticketing fees that have only recently been included in the respective Chinese box office, then the film actually sits in fifth place in single-territory grosses, with $644 million, or behind Jurassic World ($652m in 2015), Titanic ($658m in 1997/1998 and then 2012) and the other two aforementioned biggies.

    But even with that Roger Maris asterisk, it’s all-but-certain to end up in second place behind Walt Disney’s Star Wars sequel when all is said and done. Heck, it’s entirely possible that it will be the biggest-grossing single-territory earner of 2017, as there is no guarantee that Star Wars: The Last Jedi will reach the $800-$850m final total of Wolf Warrior 2’s China run via its North American sprint. But that’s a conversation for another day.

    One fun milestone that the Wu Jing action spectacular has already notched is essentially becoming the biggest “part 1 to part 2” jump for any modern sequel where both films played in somewhat wide release. Wolf Warrior 2 has earned $685 million thus far, which is 7.7x the $89m Chinese total of Wolf Warrior back in 2015. If you look at North American sequel jumps, that’s ahead of the likes of Austin Powers ($54m for International Man of Mystery/$204m for The Spy Who Shagged Me) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day ($39m/$204m) and The Dark Knight ($205m/$534m).

    The only two bigger such jumps were for Boondock Saints ($30,471 in five theaters vs. $10.2m for Boondock Saints II in 524 theaters nine years later) and Robert Rodiguez’s gunslinger series ($2m for El Mariachi on 88 screens vs. $25m for Desperado on 2,027 screens). But as you can see, those franchises began as limited runs and went wide for the sequel. Otherwise, Wolf Warrior 2 has taken the biggest such jump for any wide release film (in North America or elsewhere) that I can find.

    So, that’s enough for one update. It is all-but-certain that Wolf Warrior 2 will become the second film in history to earned $800 million in a single territory. So now the only questions are how far it’ll go, how well Wolf Warrior 3 will perform and how the almost inevitable English-language, PG-13 remake will play out.
    Gene Ching
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    first forum review coming...

    Yes, I did see this last Friday and I will review it here soon. And spoiler alert - I enjoyed it thoroughly. But given it's popularity in China, it did give me pause. These articles touche on some issues that crossed my mind too.

    Wolf Warrior movie is a wake-up call too
    China’s new-found confidence is well reflected in the entertaining hit move Wolf Warrior 2, though the stereotypes and generalisation in it have the potential to stir dangerous nationalistic feelings
    PUBLISHED : Sunday, 13 August, 2017, 12:57am
    UPDATED : Sunday, 13 August, 2017, 12:57am



    China’s new-found place in the world was bound to be eventually reflected in its movies. Chinese audiences have resoundingly taken to the idea, propelling the action film Wolf Warrior 2 into the box-office stratosphere. In a matter of weeks, it has broken all records, crowds in part drawn by the Hollywood-style production elements of fast pace and impressive stunts. But its success can also be put down to national pride, patriotism and recent messages from President Xi Jinping about the nation’s might.

    Wolf Warrior 2 was released as the People’s Liberation Army was celebrating its 90th anniversary. The displays of latest-generation naval vessels, aircraft and weapons and the claims by leaders that the military was primed to repel any threat were fresh in the minds of audiences. The on-screen exploits that then unfolded of a tough-guy former soldier who travels to an unspecified African country on special operations to rescue Chinese citizens from Western mercenaries and protect locals was therefore a perfect fit. It also reflected a measure of reality; that three decades of Chinese economic growth and development have led to rising power and influence around the world.
    The reason for Wolf Warrior 2’s runaway success in China is what’s keeping Western viewers away

    The movie’s hero, Leng Feng, played by the mainland’s first action superstar, Wu Jing, expertly translates those changes onto the big screen. Leng is in the mould of Western fictional characters like James Bond and John Rambo and, like them, he is deeply patriotic for his country and what it stands for, no matter how much he has been wronged. Those rescued have the highest praise for his heroic deeds and superhuman fighting skills. The idea is the same as that articulated in countless Hollywood war and action films, only with a Chinese focus: that China is strong, able to protect Chinese and others anywhere in the world, will act in the best interests of the downtrodden and has to be alert to those eager to exploit.
    As Wu’s film shows, that is obviously what mainland audiences proud of the nation’s rise and achievements want to see. Movies are not reality, though, and in a format like that of Wolf Warrior 2, are bound to exaggerate. But while such a blockbuster is highly entertaining, it also, through stereotypes and generalisation, has the potential to stir nationalist feelings. Unchecked, that can lead to arrogance and racism.
    There is nothing wrong with being patriotic and loving one’s country. But coupled with a belief that no nation is better and a “them against us” mentality, there is the risk of poor relations with outsiders and domestic instability as a result of finger-pointing. Wolf Warrior 2 reflects China’s growing confidence, but it should also serve as a wake-up call.
    China’s Wolf Warriors 2 in ‘war-ravaged Africa’ gives the White Savior complex a whole new meaning


    Saving the day. (Wolf Warrior)

    WRITTEN BY Lily Kuo
    OBSESSION China in Africa
    August 14, 2017 Quartz Africa

    In the film Wolf Warriors 2, Leng Feng, a former special forces operative, is on a one-man mission to save Chinese nationals and innocent locals from local rebels and mercenaries in a generic African country. In the film’s trailer, a jeep trawls through a green savannah, passing two lions. African workers dancing around a bonfire at an apparently Chinese-financed factory are attacked by white mercenaries. A busy throughway in a market town comes under fire. Leng, armed with a knife and his martial arts skills, arrives at a compound, telling its occupants, “I’m here to save you.”
    Wolf Warriors 2 is now China’s highest grossing film ever, having earned $687.5 million in its first two weeks, takes place on a continent where China’s military muscle and status as a global power are increasingly on display.
    The film is a first in other ways. Leng, played by the Chinese action actor Wu Jing, is China’s own version of the White Savior. A Wikipedia entry, referring to American movies, describes the White Savior narrative as “a cinematic trope portraying a white character rescuing people of color from their plight.”


    On a mission. (Wolf Warriors 2/Douban)

    Leng, a Rambo-style lone wolf fighter who miraculously dodges bullets and uses a mattress to stop a grenade, is charged with getting the adopted African child of a slain Chinese doctor to safety. He’s the first to survive a disease called “lamania” that has killed many locals, thanks to the doctor who discovered the cure before his death.
    China has long framed its partnerships in Africa as alliances of equals, built around mutual economic benefit. Now, China is stepping up its role as a humanitarian actor and protector of world peace. Earlier this month, China opened its first overseas military base, in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. It has 700 peacekeepers in South Sudan where it is also sending medical teams and food supplies.
    Wolf Warrior 2, China's highest grossing film ever, takes place in generic "war-ravaged Africa."


    A screenshot of the official trailer for Wolf Warrior 2. (Youtube/HK Cinema)

    When two Chinese peacekeepers were killed in fighting in South Sudan last year, Chinese officials and media described the men as heroes and their deaths as the price of China’s new status($) as a major power. Despite concerns about the experience and capabilities of Chinese peacekeepers, Chinese president Xi Jinping has pledged to increase China’s peacekeeping force to 8,000 troops, from the 2,600 deployed today.
    Like many Western films before it, the specifics of the African setting of Wolf Warriors 2 are irrelevant. The film was mostly shot in China and in Soweto in South Africa, but no country is ever named. Leng’s colleagues say they like Africa because of its good food, scenery, attractive women, and the opportunity to use their weapons.
    Reaction to the film in China has been mixed, we reported earlier this week, with the film receiving only 7.5 out of 10 on the film portal Douban. Commenters called the movie’s appeal to a sense of patriotism “phony” and testosterone-fueled. “The film tells us Chinese people can also save the world,” one commentator said.
    Gene Ching
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    Second-Biggest Single-Market Film Ever After 'Force Awakens'

    Wolf Warrior 2 continues to dominate - plus some news on Sha Po Lang 3: Paradox


    Doubt it'll catch Force Awakens though.

    China Box Office: 'Wolf Warrior 2' Becomes Second-Biggest Single-Market Film Ever After 'Force Awakens'
    8:14 PM PDT 8/20/2017 by Patrick Brzeski


    Courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment
    'Wolf Warrior 2'

    The Chinese juggernaut climbed to $769 million and nudged aside 'Avatar' in the single-territory charts, with only 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' having earned more from one territory.

    Wolf Warrior 2 devoured the competition for a fourth consecutive weekend at the Chinese box office.

    The runaway action phenomenon, starring and directed by Wu Jing, added $35.7 million, lifting its local total to an astonishing $768.5 million after 25 days. The blockbuster also climbed higher in the all-time record books, nudging aside Avatar ($760.5 million) to become the second-biggest film ever in a single market. Only Star Wars: The Force Awakens earned more from one territory (($936.7 million, North America).

    Hong Kong-Chinese genre vehicle Paradox — the third film in Wilson Yip's SPL action franchise — came closest to unseating Wolf Warriors to date, earning $31.6 million from Friday to Sunday. The crime film, which stars Louis Koo and Thailand's Tony Jaa, opened Thursday and actually topped Wolf Warriors on its first two days. But it quickly fell far behind on Saturday and Sunday to finished the weekend in second place. The film's Thursday-to-Sunday debut totaled $41.4 million, just a notch below the $43.4 million four-day opening of its predecessor, SPL II: A Time for Consequences (2015).

    Twenty Two, a documentary about the lives of the last surviving Chinese women who experienced forced prostitution at the hands of the Japanese military during WWII, opened Monday (Aug. 14) with just $610,000. But heavy buzz on social media helped the film expand throughout the week, lifting it to third for the weekend with $9 million. By Sunday, Twenty Two's six-day total sat at $18.6 million — an uncommonly strong showing for a nonfiction film in China.

    Other new releases included iQiyi Pictures' animated franchise title Seer Movie 6: Invincible Puni, which opened in fourth with $9.3 million, just ahead of Tencent's animated sequel One Hundred Thousand Bad Jokes 2 at $8.6 million.

    China's annual policy of blocking Hollywood releases during the late-summer blockbuster season — known locally as "domestic film industry protection month" — will come to a close this week when Luc Besson's Valerian, Disney's Cars 3 and Sony's Baby Driver open simultaneously Friday.
    Gene Ching
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    A back-up plan? They need a general plan first.

    Wolf Warrior 2 rekindled Chollywood's rising.

    Wolf Warrior 2 and the Future of Imported Films in China
    By Matthew Dresden on August 21, 2017
    POSTED IN CHINA BUSINESS, CHINA FILM INDUSTRY



    What a wild ride it’s been for the Chinese film industry! Until July 27, it had been a year of one depressing story after another. Downward-trending box office, high-flying entertainment companies imploding, deals to purchase foreign assets falling through, the biggest movie studio on the planet sold to a real estate developer, the can’t miss co-production The Great Wall tanking. Even the Transformers franchise couldn’t save the day, with the latest installment performing well below expectations in China.

    But on July 27, the action film Wolf Warrior 2 opened, and within 12 days of its release it had already become the highest-grossing film of all time in China. As of this writing the film has pulled in more than $720 million in China alone. The narratives are almost writing themselves, with pundits trying to explain why Chinese people are going in droves to see a jingoistic film about a Chinese special forces operative in Africa.

    I’m not going to wade into those waters except to note William Goldman’s aphorism that when it comes to the film business, “Nobody knows anything.” The phenomenal success of Wolf Warrior 2 was anything but a foregone conclusion. The first movie was a surprise hit, earning about $89 million, but it’s not like people were lining up Episode 1-style for a sequel. Back in May, Wolf Warrior 2 was pilloried online when it came to light that its trailer had lifted footage from X-Men: First Class. Moreover, Wolf Warrior 2 was released on the same date as the government-backed propaganda film The Founding of an Army, and the latter was allotted the lion’s share of screens.

    This movie – this particular movie – couldn’t have come at a better time for China. Hollywood is in the midst of negotiating the terms of foreign (read: Hollywood) films’ market access to China. American studios find China’s protectionism exasperating on multiple levels, with the biggest complaints being (1) the quota system, which only allows 34 foreign films (largely US studio films) each year on a revenue-sharing basis (2) the low percentage of receipts allotted to the foreign studio (currently 25%) for such revenue-sharing films, and (3) the foreign studio’s inability to control the release date. The last point is more serious than might immediately be apparent – not only does the Chinese government determine when each film will be released (via a largely opaque process), it also imposes unofficial blackouts during which no new foreign films are allowed to be released.

    Aside from discussions about WTO obligations and fair play, US studios’ best argument for expanding access to the Chinese film market has been an economic one: Chinese audiences want to see American movies (and don’t particularly want to see Chinese movies), and with thousands of new screens every year, Chinese movie theaters need movies people want to see. In other words, limiting the number of American movies hurts the Chinese economy.

    Setting aside the fallacy that the Chinese government’s interests are aligned with those of Chinese theater owners, the success of Wolf Warrior 2 upends all of those arguments. Wolf Warrior 2 was released on the first day of a blackout period, and it is already the most successful movie in Chinese history. It is a Chinese-made movie, with purely (even exclusively) Chinese content, and Chinese theaters are raking in the money – and not having to send any of it overseas. The Chinese government will likely infer that Wolf Warrior 2’s success is not in spite of their protectionist policies, but because of them. And President Trump’s saber-rattling about a trade war isn’t likely to improve their attitude.

    I certainly hope the U.S. negotiating team is able to make some headway, but U.S. studios and production companies shouldn’t assume anything. They need a backup plan, and right now the best one seems to be investing in and otherwise creating productions in China solely for the Chinese market. A number of studios and production companies are already going down this road, and I think it’s the smart play. Better to be an investor in the next Wolf Warrior than to be shut out completely.
    Gene Ching
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    A pact

    China's Alibaba Pictures Pacts With 'Wolf Warrior II' Production Company
    3:02 AM PDT 8/28/2017 by Patrick Brzeski


    Alibaba Pictures Group
    Alibaba Pictures CEO Fan Luyuan

    Jack Ma's film studio says it will work closely with Beijing Culture on film financing, marketing and distribution after the studio's latest release pulled in more than $800 million.

    Jack Ma's Alibaba Pictures Group has formed a strategic partnership with Beijing Culture, one of the production companies behind Wolf Warrior II, China's biggest blockbuster of all time.

    The partnership was unveiled at a press conference in central Beijing on Friday. The two companies said they would cooperate in areas spanning film financing, promotion and distribution, along with movie merchandising.

    Fan Luyuan, Alibaba Pictures' newly appointed CEO, pointed to the partners' recent collaboration on Wolf Warriors II as an example of the scale of success that's possible when Chinese stakeholders work together to get the formula right — while also leveraging the internet prowess of tech giants like Alibaba.

    "We want to be part of the infrastructure of China’s movie industry,” Fan said.

    Written by, directed by and starring Chinese martial artist Wu Jing, Wolf Warrior II has earned a colossal $810 million in China since its release on July 26. Fan said some 40 percent of all Wolf Warrior II ticket sales were transacted over Alibaba's Taopiaopiao mobile ticketing platform. The service also was used to drive marketing and merchandising offers to filmgoers.

    Beijing Culture has been amassing a powerful collection of partners. In April 2016, the company signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Anthem and Song, the Chinese studio venture set up by Joe and Anthony Russo, the Hollywood directors of Marvel's Captain America franchise. That tie-up proved especially fruitful for Wolf Warrior II, on which the Russos consulted and provided their usual stunt team, led by veteran stunt coordinator Sam Hargrave (The Avengers, Suicide Squad, The Hunger Games), elevating its action to a Hollywood standard. The Russos also introduced the film's villain, Frank Grillo, to their Chinese partners.

    "For China's film industry infrastructure to be improved, we need to work together," said Alibaba's Fan.

    Beijing Culture produces and distributes films, television and internet series, as well as runs a talent agency. The studio's next release will be Feng Xiaogang's period drama Youth, written by popular Chinese novelist Yan Geling, out in China on Sept. 30.
    I doubt Youth will do as well. But then again, I had no idea Wolf Warriors 2 would do well.

    Alibaba & Wolf Warrior 2
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    Big Wilson Yip interview from SCMP

    Hong Kong director Wilson Yip on SPL instalment Paradox, Wu Jing’s rise and Bruce Lee’s key part in the upcoming Ip Man 4
    Filmmaker explains his casting of Louis Koo in a martial arts action film, says he’s not surprised SPL stars Donnie Yen and Wu Jing have become superstars, and talks about Ip Man 4’s focus on the relationship between Ip Man and Lee
    PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 23 August, 2017, 2:16pm
    UPDATED : Wednesday, 23 August, 2017, 4:58pm
    Edmund Lee
    edmund.lee@scmp.com



    Fans of Chinese kung fu cinema will recall the deadly fight scene between Donnie Yen Ji-dan and Wu Jing in the 2005 action film SPL – Hong Kong director Wilson Yip Wai-shun’s ambitious attempt to blend the gritty narrative of crime thrillers with bone-crunching violence delivered by top martial arts actors.

    “In my opinion, that scene in particular looked like it’s coming from a wuxia film – even though the characters are in contemporary clothing,” says Yip. “Some of Johnnie To’s films, like Running Out of Time, also play like wuxia movies. SPL is a bit similar to that in style.”



    While SPL was – even by Yip’s own account – “quite a weird movie”, it struck a chord with many movie fans, who have since seen both its main actors rise to superstardom – Yen via the Ip Man films, also directed by Yip, including Ip Man 3 , and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Wu with the record-breaking Wolf Warrior 2 .



    Yip, 53, handed the directing duties to close friend and long-time work partner Soi Cheang Pou-soi (The Monkey King 2) when a sequel to SPL was made in 2015. By reshuffling its plot elements for a new story, SPL2: A Time for Consequences – on which Yip served as both producer and script consultant – provided an efficient template for future instalments to follow.
    In new film Paradox – which Yip curiously refuses to call “SPL3” but is really just that in all but name – the franchise’s fixation on karma and destiny finds a new expression with the recasting of the previous chapter’s villain as the film’s hero: just as Wu Jing went from playing the protagonist’s nemesis in SPL to the hero in SPL2, Louis Koo Tin-lok has followed the same path between SPL2 and Paradox.

    “It’s a coincidence,” says Yip, who reveals that his original intention was to tell the origin story of Koo’s character in SPL2 – the evil leader of an organ-trafficking syndicate – until he realised that this amoral tale was never going to get past the censors. Instead, the director turned to an idea that had been gestating since he watched the Liam Neeson vehicle Taken in 2008.
    “It’s true that Taken has a considerable influence on me,” he admits. “I remember very well that I showed it to Sammo Hung Kam-bo when we were shooting the first Ip Man film; it’s a really great movie. I’ve kept the story inside me as a potential idea. … Here, I’ve used a father’s search for his daughter as the story’s starting point, but after that, our films [diverge].”

    In Paradox, Koo plays a Hong Kong policeman who arrives in Thailand to look for his teenage daughter after she is abducted there. As a widower who can’t afford to see his only child in peril, Koo turns into a vengeful killing machine on his way to tracking down the organ traders responsible for his daughter’s disappearance.

    The casting of Koo in the intense action film – featuring splendid action choreography by Hung – represents a statement of sorts by Yip, who explains that he wanted to show he “could still make an SPL film even without a brilliant martial arts actor in the lead”.
    “I would just as comfortably label a film SPL even if it’s all gunfights. I think of this simply as an action series with strong dramatic elements,” the director says.



    While it remains to be seen whether Koo will replicate the meteoric rise of Yen and Wu after their respective star turns in SPL and SPL2, Yip isn’t surprised by the subsequent success of his regular leading men.

    “Actually, you could see the signs,” he says. “After Yen made SPL, people in the industry were all waiting for him [to make it big]; we all considered him a really capable veteran.



    “Wu, at that time, was also doing great. He didn’t have many scenes in [Tsui Hark’s] The Legend of Zu (2001), but [as a] teenager [he] was already very eye-catching. [These actors] need time [to develop] – and 20 years after [he started his acting career], Wu Jing is taking flight. As a martial arts actor, you usually need some time [to make the next step].”

    Yip will reunite with Yen on Ip Man 4, his next directorial project. The filmmaker is currently developing the script, and hopes to start shooting in 2018 and release the film by the end of that year.
    “In Ip Man 4, I’m inclined to show how Ip Man views his relationship with Bruce Lee,” Yip says of the real-life teacher-student pair around which the film will be based. Danny Chan Kwok-kwan is – if his schedule allows – Ip’s preferred actor to reprise his role in Ip Man 3 as Lee, who, Yip says, will have “a very important presence” in the new film.



    “[The story] won’t be just about Ip Man,” says Yip. “How in reality did Chinese martial arts practitioners live after they went overseas in the 1960s and ’70s? [The film will explore this] through Lee and his martial arts school the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute, and his relationship with Ip.”



    In the meantime, the SPL series is also set to roll on for a fourth instalment, which is still in the scriptwriting stage and won’t be ready for shooting until next year at the earliest. To many people, the fact SPL2’s Soi Cheang will return to direct the fourth instalment may be less of a surprise than Yip’s decision to label that film SPL3.

    “I don’t treat Paradox as SPL3,” he reiterates. “I don’t know why, but I didn’t include the name ‘SPL’ [in the Chinese film title] at first. It’s only when I wanted to tell the audience about the tone of my film that I added SPL to it.”
    (From left) Tony Jaa, Louis Koo and Wu Yue in Paradox.
    I tell Yip that his resolve to name the fourth instalment SPL3 is going to cause a great deal of confusion for everyone involved. “Never mind, we’ll deal with it when it’s here. That’s fate,” he says with a chuckle, before adding: “Or maybe we should call that SPL4 instead? It’s just a name.”

    Paradox opens on August 25
    SPL3: Paradox + Wolf Warrior 2 & Ip Man 4
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  14. #14
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    Wolf Warriors TV show

    Shoulda seen this one coming...

    Chinese Box Office Smash Hit ‘Wolf Warriors’ Set To Become TV Show
    BY FERGUS RYAN AUG 30, 2017

    The jingoistic action thriller that has taken China by storm is now heading for the small screen.


    Official still of ‘Wolf Warriors 2’

    ‘Wolf Warriors II’ (战狼II) rode a wave of patriotic fervor to become the second film in history to reach $800 million in a single territory over the weekend, and now it’s heading for the small screen.

    The 2006 military novel that inspired the Chinese box office hit will be adapted into a new TV series, the film’s executive producer Han Hao confirmed this week.

    “A deal was made last year for the IP of the novel, so the show is a certainty,” Han said in an interview with the Yangtse Evening Post on Monday.

    ‘Dan Hen’ (弹痕), which translates as “Bullet Hole”, is a hit online novel by writer Dong Qun which he wrote under the pseudonym Fen Wu Yao Ji. Originally published on literature site Qidian Chinese, the novel has garnered a cult following since it was first published in 2006. Dong Fun later became the main scriptwriter for Wolf Warriors II, which is based on his work.

    Wolf Warriors II, the second installment of the Wolf Warriors series, became the second film in history to reach US$800 million in box office in a single territory. It is the only non-English film to make it to the top 100 across the globe.

    The film tells the story of a Chinese special forces operative who takes on missions around the world and finds himself in the midst of an African coup against vicious foreign mercenaries.

    Han told the Yangtse Evening Post that the TV show will need to distinguish itself from simlalir shows that are already flooding the Chinese entertainment market. “It will need to be different,” he said.

    Filming for the show is set to kick off next year, but casting is already under way. Wu Jing, the lead actor, and director of the Wolf Warriors movies will not take part in the TV series.

    The news comes as Wolf Warriors II has been crowned as China’s top grossing film in history, an achievement made within only a month of its debut on July 27. Second-tier Chinese cities have taken the lion’s share of the sales, according to online movie tickets platform Maoyan.

    Despite the outsized success of the film, reaction to the announcement it is being turned into a TV show was met with skepticism and derision online.

    Many Weibo users scorned what they saw as a cynical ‘churning out’ of derivative products to capitalize on the Wolf Warriors fever – something they think will be counterproductive. “Stop the hype, people are going to lose their interest,” said one Weibo user. “Nothing can guarantee its success, the smash hit success of Wolf Warriors II can’t be copied so easily,” said another.

    Additional reporting Amber Ziye Wang
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  15. #15
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    Wolf Warrior 2

    I'm copying this last portion of this article continued from the previous post on the Academy Awards thread on the Wolf Warrior 2 thread.

    Wolf Warrior 2: China’s propaganda smash

    While Taiwan and Hong Kong’s submissions are quiet independent films, Wolf Warrior 2 is an action blockbuster that projects Beijing’s idealized vision of China on the world stage, as well as the growing nationalist sentiment among its citizens.
    The film tells the story of Leng Feng, a Rambo-esque former member of the Chinese Special Forces who leaves China for an unnamed African country after being discharged from the army. There, he winds up fighting to save overseas Chinese workers and locals stuck in a civil war. There’s also a subplot involving a fictitious disease known as “Lamanla,” and a romance between Leng and Rachel Smith, a dual US-Chinese citizen who worked with a team of Chinese doctors to develop the vaccine for the disease.



    Of course, what appears as a generic action film on the surface is really a subversion of the white savior Hollywood trope, with Chinese characteristics. Its theatrical release came days before China opened its first-ever overseas military base in Djibouti, which also coincided with the 90th anniversary of the formation of the People’s Liberation Army.
    The film’s overt politics will likely prevent it from receiving the nomination, but reviews suggest that there’s value in considering what a Hollywood-style action film would look like when the geopolitical context is flipped. Noel Murray of the Los Angeles Times writes, “There’s something bracing about its patriotic fervor, which asserts that the Chinese will act in the best interests of the world’s downtrodden, while the rest of the world just exploits them. It’s instructive to recognize the presumptions we’re used to finding in American blockbusters, but with the heroes and villains reversed.”
    Chinese moviegoers have flocked to Wolf Warrior 2. The film has raked in 5.6 billion yuan ($824 million) to date at China’s box office (link in Chinese), making it the highest-grossing film ever in the country. Explosions and car chases certainly help draw viewers, but there is also a palpable sense of increasing nationalism (paywall) among Chinese citizens themselves. In Africa and elsewhere, China has asserted itself more aggressively, at times championing itself as a bastion of globalization particularly at a time when America’s leadership role is in question. Meanwhile, many Chinese individuals, whether online or in real life, are standing up for China’s interests in the face of criticism from abroad. After years of watching white men save the world, Wolf Warrior 2 gives Chinese audiences a hero of its own.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

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