Bodyguards and Assassins starring Donnie Yen

[GeneChing]

...it's in the Dragonball thread.

[GeneChing]

Old Nick had it really hard.
Persis Khambatta would kick his ass in a baldness hardship contest.

Nicholas Tse Went all out for New Role
2009-05-04 12:57:03 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Tian Tian

Hong Kong actor Nicholas Tse has gone all out for his new role in Director Teddy Chan's 'Bodyguards and Assassins' (formerly 'Dark October').

The actor had his head shaved bald, for the first time, to play a 'rickshaw puller' role in the upcoming star-studded film.

However, Tse has to undertake more than that. The actor who usually appears on screen with a squeaky-clean, handsome image will make do with a scared face in the film. Special makeup for his character allegedly takes hours to do.
Moreover, the actor also needs to devote time to sun bathing in order to get tanned and look more like a weather-beaten rickshaw puller.

The film 'Bodyguards and Assassins' tells the story of a group of people protecting Sun Yat-Sen against assassination when he was in Hong Kong raising funds on October 15, 1905.

Director Teddy Chan once explained that Sun Yat-Sen is not the key figure in Bodyguards and Assassins, rather the film shows the history of Hong Kong through a group of people protecting Sun Yat-Sen.

The power cast also includes Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen, Leon Lai, Tony Leung Ka-Fai, mainland popular actress Fan Bing Bing, veteran actor Wang Xueqi and Hu Jun. Pop singer Li Yuchun would make her screen debut in the film.

The 150 million yuan film produced by Peter Chan begins production in early April 2009 and will be released in December 2009.

[doug maverick]

nic tse is pretty tanned already they trying to make him black??? anyway thats not going all out, freaking Bobby Dinero(he told me to call him bobby on the set of righteous kill so im gonna stick to it, you never know who might be read, LOL) once flew back from making a film in italy to be a taxi cab driver to prepare for his role in taxi driver, now thats going all out.

[Tensei85]

Awesome! It sounds like this is going to be a great year for Chinese action flicks, can't wait!

[GeneChing]

I'm taking the liberty of updating the title of this thread, Doug.

click for pics

Bodyguards and Assassins
2009-05-13 13:42:11 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Liu Wei

The first posters of the upcoming movie "Bodyguards and Assassins" (formerly as "Dark October") were released during the Cannes Film Festival, held May 13-24 in Cannes, France.

The movie is about a group of people protecting Sun Yat Sen against assassination when he was in Hong Kong to raise funds in October 1905.

The 150m yuan film produced by Peter Chan, action directed by Stephen Tung Wai, begins production in early April 2009 and would be released in December 2009.

[doug maverick]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8Qk...layer_embedded


from what i can see this film is going to be big...

[brothernumber9]

How about that? Cung Le maybe in his biggest role ever. Simon Yam is int it, so I'm all in.

[GeneChing]

There's a long overview video - follow the link.

Roundup of films coming to cinemas in last two months
2009-11-12 09:25 BJT

The stars of Bodyguards and Assassins, Leon Lai, Donnie Yen and Fan Bingbing, switched on Hong Kong's first set of Christmas lights on Tuesday in the tourist friendly Tsin Sha Tsui district.

Director Teddy Chen and producer Peter Chan also joined the cast for the festive ceremony.

The epic Bodyguards and Assassins tells the fictional story of a group of bodyguards protecting the leader of China's modern democratic revolution Dr. Sun Yat-sen from assassination during his trip to Hong Kong in 1905.

The film is set to open in late December.

Action star Donnie Yen plays an imperial guard in director Daniel Lee's martial arts movie 14 Blades. Lee and Yen introduced the film at a news conference Tuesday in Hong Kong. The film is to be released in February.

The story is set in Ming Dynasty, when the China's emperor possessed a group of 14 elite assassins, the imperial guards. With unique martial arts skill they devoted their lives to serving the emperor above the law. Yen plays the team leader, Blue Dragon, who escapes and becomes the most wanted criminal in the territory.

Chow Yun-fat says he had to check himself into a Beijing hospital earlier this week after catching a cold while filming mainland director Jiang Wen's upcoming movie Let the Bullets Fly.

Chow stars as a ruthless but funny Chinese criminal during Nationalist Party rule in early to mid-20th century China. The film will be released late next year.

At the production's news conference, director Jiang Wen said his cast, which also includes Cannes award winning actor Ge You, would look after winning the awards, and he would take care of the story.

Peter Chan's upcoming blockbuster to feature an Asian all-star cast
Posted: 22 October 2009 1425 hrs

SINGAPORE: Award-winning Hong Kong director Peter Chan was in Singapore on Monday to promote his upcoming blockbuster Bodyguards and Assassins.

Costing more than US$23 million (S$32 million) to produce, Assassins and Bodyguards is a story based on a group of bodyguards protecting Sun Yat Sen from assassins in 1905 Hong Kong.

Produced by Chan and directed by Teddy Chan, Assassins and Bodyguards will feature more than 10 well-known stars across China and Hong Kong, making it one of the most eagerly anticipated Asian movies at the end of the year.

The stellar cast includes Donnie Yen, Wang Xueqi, Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Nicholas Tse, Hu Jun, Leon Lai, Eric Tseng, Li Yuchun, Simon Yam, Fan Bingbing, Zhou Yun, Wang Po Cher, as well as a guest appearance from Michelle Reis.

While in Singapore for the first round of publicity, Chan said the reason for selecting a star-studded cast was mainly due to commercial viability.

"I could have replaced Leon Lai and Maggie Cheung in Comrades with Chinese actors since the characters were supposed to be from China," explained Chan, using his award-winning Comrades, Almost a Love story as an example to illustrate the importance of featuring well-known celebrities.

When the press asked Chan whose performance among the fourteen big names left a deep impression on him, the 45-year-old director listed two names: Donnie Yen and Nicholas Tse.

"The first one is Donnie Yen. In the past, I used to see him heavily involved in fighting scenes," he said. "This time round, he has more emotional scenes as compared to the past and there were a few crying scenes where he was in his element."

He then added that Yen is also a perfectionist: "(Yen) requested to include an action scene which eventually cost the team to exceed the filming duration for ten days.

"However, the effects turned out brilliantly and have never been seen before in an Asian film. Yen just went on with his role and did not ask for anything in return."

Chan shifted his attention to Nicholas Tse next.

The 29-year-old actor plays an 18-year-old naive character, a drastic transformation from the usual cool and suave roles Tse usually undertakes.

"10 years ago, he had to act as a 30-year-old when he was 18," said the producer. "Now, it's the opposite. I was very surprised and pleased when he managed to bring out the innocence and naivety of his character. In the past, he just had to act cool. This is a refreshing change."

Tse's professionalism also etched a deep impression on Chan.

"There was a scene where (Tse) was beaten up by Hu Jun for protecting Sun Yat-San and he requested for a real fighting scene," he said. "In the end, I got his close friend (a martial arts instructor) to punch him. The friend kept punching his face for more than 10 times till his face was swollen and I decided that was enough."

While having a star-studded cast does have its perks, it is a big headache for the producers when the egos start kicking in. Did Chan encounter any particular problems?

"I faced more problems in Warlords (which feature Jet Li, Jackie Chan and Takeshi Kaneshiro). It doesn't take 14 big names to create a problem, two is already more than enough to handle," Chan laughed.

What about the rumoured disagreement between Donnie Yen and Leon Lai?

"There are absolutely no problems. Don't believe the reports! The ones who are having problems are not reported instead," said Chan, who has indirectly opened up another can of worms.

When pressed by the media to reveal which big names were giving him problems, the bespectacled director replied with laughter: "I would not tell you, of course."

Body and Assassins is scheduled to be release on December 18 in Singapore.