Reign of Assassins (Jianyu Jianghu)

[GeneChing]

The WWII project is Tai Ping. Not sure about the Chow Yun Fat project - it's not Confucius, is it?

Woo, Yeoh set to collaborate on martial arts project
22 June, 2009 | By Screen staff

Michelle Yeoh is set to star in a martial arts film, Jianyu Jianghu, which will be co-directed by John Woo and Taiwanese director Su Chao-pin.

Woo will supervise and Su execute the direction of the film, which is scheduled to start shooting in China this September. The literal translation of the Chinese title is Rain Of Swords In The Martial Arts World.

Yeoh talked about the film yesterday on the closing day of Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF). Taipei-based Stellar Entertainment, a talent agency set up by Yeoh and Woo’s long-term producer Terence Chang, later confirmed the project and tentative title.

The story and financial backers of the project have not been disclosed, but Chang and Stellar’s Taipei-based managing director David Tang will be involved as producers.

Su, who previously directed Silk and scripted Chen Kuo-fu’s Double Vision, signed with Stellar earlier this year. The agency now represents all of Su’s script-writing and directorial projects.

Stellar previously co-produced Dirt, Rich In Shanghai with Hong Kong’s Mei Ah Entertainment, Sil-Metropole Organization and Taiwan’s Tosoa Entertainment. The romantic comedy will be released in Chinese-speaking territories in October.

Woo, who attended SIFF’s opening ceremony on June 13, also told local press that he had been preparing a martial arts film, a film set in World War II and a project in which he will collaborate with Chow Yun-fat.

[GeneChing]

Rain of Swords in the Martial Arts World is a great translation.

Yeoh making kung fu moves
Actress set to star in Su Chaopin's romantic thriller
By Jonathan Landreth
Oct 18, 2009, 07:11 PM ET

BEIJING -- Asian Bond Girl and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" lead Michelle Yeoh will soon star in a romantic kung fu thriller to start shooting in Shanghai on Oct. 30 with writer-director Su Chaopin ("Silk"), producer Terence Chang of Lion Rock Prods. told The Hollywood Reporter.

A $12 million co-production with Beijing Galloping Horse Prods., Media Asia of Hong Kong and two publicly traded Taiwan media companies, the tentatively titled "Jianyu Jianghu" can be described, Chang said, as " 'Face/Off' meets 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' set in the Ming Dynasty."

Chang will produce with his filmmaking partner, Hong Kong-based director John Woo. Hong Kong-based sales company Fortissimo will represent the film in the international marketplace.

"It's great to have the opportunity to work again with John and Terence, who as producers have once again assembled a fantastic team -- from the stellar cast, including Michelle Yeoh, to the director to the crew," Fortissimo co-chairman Michael Werner said.

Galloping Horse, perhaps best known for the hit Chinese TV series "Three Kingdoms," has put up half the financing for the film that is part of a first-look deal it has with Lion Rock for projects shooting in China.

In the film, whose tentative title loosely translates as "Rain of Swords in the Martial Arts World," Malaysian Chinese star Yeoh plays an assassin who falls in love with the son of a man whose father was killed by her gang. Unaware that he also is a trained martial artist, their love blossoms and then tensions rise as the past comes back to haunt them.

"Every actress in Asia wanted this lead role," Chang said, noting that his friendship with Yeoh stretches back 30 years.

The project also is set to star Korean actor Jung Woo-Song ("The Good, the Bad, the Weird") as the male lead, Chinese actor Wang Xueqi ("Forever Enthralled") and popular Taiwanese singer and television actress Barbie Hsu, among others.

Director Su will begin shooting at the Shanghai Song Jiang Shen Qiang studio, move to the Hengdian World Studios outside the city, then over to Taiwan, where a quarter of the film will be made.

"Jianyu Jianghu" is set to be completed for a late-summer 2010 release.

Fortissimo picks up Michelle Yeoh martial arts thriller
19 October, 2009 | By Liz Shackleton

Fortissimo Films has picked up international rights to martial arts thriller Jianyu Jianghu (working title), starring Michelle Yeoh and produced by John Woo and Terence Chang’s Lion Rock Productions.

Taiwanese filmmaker Su Chao-pin (Double Vision) is directing the $12m film which starts shooting at the end of this month in Shanghai. Lion Rock is co-producing with Beijing Galloping Horse Productions, Hong Kong’s Media Asia and two as-yet-unnamed Taiwanese companies.

Yeoh will play a female assassin who retires after killing a monk she had fallen in love with, and marries an ordinary postman, hoping to lead a peaceful family life. But as the postman is actually the son of an official she might have killed, the past soon returns to haunt her.

Also set to star are Korean heartthrob Jung Woo-song (The Good, The Bad, The Weird), Chinese actor Wang Xueqi (Forever Enthralled), Hong Kong’s Shawn Yue and Kelly Lin and Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu. Behind-the-scenes talent includes DoP Arthur Wong and production designer Yang Beigui.

After shooting in Shanghai, production will move to nearby Hengdian World Studios and then across to Taiwan. Release is tentatively scheduled for late summer 2010.

Fortissimo and Lion Rock were originally planning to work together on John Woo’s historical epic 1949, but the project fell apart earlier this year due a dispute over script rights.

[GeneChing]

This mentions a few films we've been discussing here: Shaolin, Little Big Soldier, Mulan...have we about Legend of Chen Zhen? I couldn't find a thread...

Exhausted execs hit AFM
Busy Asians hitting market after Pusan, TIFFCOM
By Patrick Frater
Nov 3, 2009, 10:25 PM ET

HONG KONG -- Asia's film executives can be forgiven for arriving in Santa Monica a little exhausted, and it's not just the 16-hour jetlag.

Many recently have trekked from Pusan to the Tokyo festival and market, and some even added a few days at last week's China Film Group-organized Beijing Screenings. Despite that, most arriving at the American Film Market are expecting to do business.

Pusan and Tokyo's TIFFCOM effectively were warm-up events before the main show, and both were better attended than last fall, when the severity of the global financial meltdown was making itself felt.

Since then, Asian economies have largely recovered, boxoffice has proved resilient and local and regional films have shown themselves capable of being financed and prebought within the region. Further intra-Asian business is definitely on the AFM agenda this week.

Still, Pusan and Tokyo essentially were regional events, whereas this week's AFM is viewed as a global sales event. It is being attended by buyers from North and South America who did not attend the two Asian festivals, by a far more representative selection of European buyers and also by some of the cannier Asian buyers who realized that sellers would hold off on key deals until they had met with all their clients.

Also, Pusan and Tokyo have a stronger accent on art house and festival titles than AFM, which because of its English-language bias is a place for more mainstream commercial and genre fare.

Several leading Hong Kong sales companies and studios -- including Fortissimo, Emperor and Universe -- sent acquisitions staff to the other recent events but avoided taking sales booths. They now are at AFM with suites, packed schedules and sales on the mind.

"We are certainly expecting a busy time given that our meeting slots have largely been taken up," Emperor CEO Albert Lee said. "We chose not to go to Pusan and Tokyo and now have a strong lineup for AFM."

Indeed, several Asian sales companies have opted to unveil top new product at AFM rather than nearer to home:

-- Korean giant CJ Entertainment is opening sales on the thriller "Secret" and crime drama "White Night" and also drumming up ongoing international interest for "Sophie's Revenge," a romantic comedy starring and produced by Zhang Ziyi, and market screenings for "Haeundae" its big-budget disaster movie now the No. 3 film all-time in Korea.

-- Korean indie Mirovision is putting on a good show with a sales debut for "The Housemaid," a love-triangle horror drama that is a remake of one of the best Korean movies of the 1960s.

-- Hong Kong's Distribution Workshop, which is fed by a film fund and its Cannes deal with Singapore's Media Development Authority, has a powerhouse slate that includes the Jackie Chan starrer "Little Big Soldier," a new live-action version of "Mulan" and the 3D shark actioner "Bait," on which it shares sales duties with Arclight.

-- Emperor also is in the Chinese action business with "Shaolin," a production backed by the Shaolin temple of martial arts now in preproduction, and director Jiang Wen's "Let the Bullets Fly," which is now shooting.

-- Media Asia is unwrapping "Legend of Chen Zhen," a Donnie Yen- and Shu Qi-starring martial arts actioner directed by Andrew Lau ("Infernal Affairs"), and "Jianyu Jianghu," a Mandarin-language action thriller that stars Michelle Yeoh and Korea's Jang Sun-woo.

On the other side, Asian buyers are likely to remain picky. First, they are spoiled for choice with local and other Asian material playing strongly. But their business models have also been made more precarious by DVD markets that are shrinking or in come cases have been obliterated completely.

The weakest point in Asia remains Japan, where a string of indie distributors have collapsed and only Toei and the TV-backed groups seem to be making much money. Still, it is possible to secure sales in Japan with the right product, as Korea's Fine Cut proved this week with the art house title "A Brand New Life."

India also looks quieter after a flurry of buying activity last year. Not only has the wider Indian cinema economy's bubble burst, but also new art house distributors have attained cruising speed after a phase of stocking up.

Still, Hong Kong could prove a bright spot for art house sellers as a new specialty movie channel continues its acquisition hunt.

[doug maverick]

didnt make a thread about it yet but i did mention it in a thread along with the list of other donnie yen films. but thread coming up right now.

[GeneChing]

A little link fu and I feel much better about this morning's post. Thanks again, Doug!

[GeneChing]

Where have I heard Rain and Assassins before?

Wushu film about female assassin
By Xu Wei | 2009-11-10 |

JOHN Woo's latest movie, now being filmed in Shanghai, is about a retired female assassin and gang leader in ancient times whose past catches up with her.

The US$12 million-budgeted film stars kung fu star Michelle Yeoh making her return to the martial arts epic genre after Ang Lee's Oscar-winning film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000).

The film "Jian Yu Jianghu" ("Rain of Swords in the Martial Arts World") is a joint directorial effort between Woo and young Taiwanese film maker Su Chao-pin, known for box-office hits "Silk" and "Twenty Something Taipei." He wrote the script for "Rain."

The film is to be released next summer.

Woo's two-episode historical war epic "Red Cliff" has become the highest-grossing Chinese-language film in Chinese film history, earning more than 500 million yuan (US$73.53) in box office on the Chinese mainland.

The Hollywood-based Hong Kong director says he aims to break stereotypes of martial arts films. Its cinematography will be very different, he says.

"When I read it three yeas ago, I was very excited," Woo recalls. "It's one of the best scripts I have ever seen. We decided to film it."

Yeoh plays a retired female assassin and gang chief who falls in love with the son of a man whose father was killed by her gang.

"Traditional martial arts films used to simply assign good guy-bad guy labels to the characters," the actress says.

"But in this film, we see complex personalities. The past really haunts the present. Everyone is trying to discover his true self and find balance in life again."

The film aims for the global market and has a star-studded cast, including Chinese mainland actor Wang Xueqi, Hong Kong actor Shawn Yue, Taiwanese pop star Barbie Hsu and South Korean actor Jung Woo-song.

Costumes are created by Japanese designer Emi Wada, noted for the Oscar-winning creations in Akira Kurosawa's "Ran" and efforts behind the technicolor wardrobe of Zhang Yimou's "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers."

The martial arts film also features Woo's daughter, Angeles, in a supporting role of a mysterious killer.

Angeles follows her father's film path. In 2004, her directorial debut film "Coleridge's Couch" was entered in the short film contest at the 61st Venice International Film Festival.

[TenTigers]

never quite got the technical difference betweem Jianghu and WuLin.

[TenTigers]

Originally Posted by TenTigers

never quite got the technical difference betweem Jianghu and WuLin.

anyone care to comment on this??

[GeneChing]

I should change the title of this thread soon.

Here's the new trailer: Reign of Assassins - Promo Trailer

TT: Jianghu literally means 'river lake' and it refers to itinerant martial artists that traveled the waterways of China. Wulin means 'martial forest' and it refers to the community of Chinese martial artists. Wulin is a bigger term - we are all wulin. Jianghu is a little more secular, a little more 'street' if you will.

[Zenshiite]

Gene, I was under the impression that Jianghu was actually more broad. It not only refers to martial artists, but also bandits, thieves, gangsters, and other sorts of outsider underworld elements as well as the yuxia of the Wulin.

[GeneChing]

I was thinking that those dark society aspects of the jianghu would be included in the wulin and of the jianghu as the itinerant sector of the wulin, thus a subset, but that's not quite right. Wulin does imply an attitude of chivalry, so I might concede your point.

Rivers, lakes, trees...

[JamesC]

I'm excited about seeing Michelle Yeoh again.

I want to have her babies...

[GeneChing]

...with lots of fight scenes, I hope...

Publicity launched for "Reign of Assassins"
English.news.cn 2010-08-20 13:46:07

BEIJING, Aug. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- John Woo's new multi-million dollar martial arts film "Reign of Assassins" set up its official website on Thursday, August 19, and released posters of the twelve leading roles.

Director John Woo, actors Wang Xueqi, Shawn Yue, Leon Dai, Guo Xiaodong and Li Zonghan attended the press conference in Beijing. At the conference, director Woo said he would like to be Jing Ke, a famous assassin during the Warring States period, if he could be a historical martial arts figure.

The upcoming film, budgeted at 14 million dollars, stars Michelle Yeoh, Jung Woo-Sung, Wang Xueqi, Barbie Hsu, Shawn Yue, Kelly Lin, Leon Dai, Paw Hee-Ching, Pace Wu, Guo Xiaodong, Li Zonghan and Jiang Yiyan. The all-star film has popularly been called the "film without a supporting role."

John Woo, praised for his ability to depict the friendship between men in his work, has decided to turn his attention on women. The director explained, "'Reign of Assassins' is not a film that simply focuses on kung-fu and hatred. In fact, it tells a romantic love story.''

However, all his actresses were absent from the conference. When the five main actors were asked about their collaboration with the actresses, , Dai summarized that Michelle Yeoh had strong and tender tempers in the same body, while Barbie Hsu was good at performing and very accurate.

In the posters, the twelve astrological horoscopes are used to describe each character. For instance, Michelle Yeoh, of course, is a Pisces girl, and actor Wang Xueqi belongs to Leo.

At the conference, the five actors were divided into two groups, a group of good guys and a group of bad guys, according to their characters in the film.

The three actors in the group of villains, Wang Xueqi, Leon Dai and Shawn Yue, described their combination as a cleaning company, which takes charge of killing aliens. They also showed off their own weapons, such as sword, double blades and a pair of long chopsticks.

The film will be released nationwide on September 28.

[GeneChing]

Woo wins lifetime achievement award
Published: Sept. 3, 2010 at 3:50 PM

VENICE, Italy, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Chinese director John Woo earned the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement award Friday at the Venice Film Festival.

Woo, whose martial arts epic "Reign of Assassins" premiered at the festival, told Variety he considers himself a bridge between China and Hollywood.

"From now on I want to make more movies to bring together the good things from the West, and the good things from the East," he said.

"Reign of Assassins," shot in China and set during the Ming Dynasty, stars Michelle Yeoh as an assassin who falls in love with the son of a man killed by her gang. It is Woo's first film with a female protagonist.

The Weinstein Co. will release "Reign of Assassins" stateside.

"In China we had not had a film with a real female hero for a long, long time," Woo told Variety. "Some people think martial arts movies are about men and about their friendships. But I think this is changing."

Audiences today want movies, "even martial arts movies," that make them think and feel, said Woo, whose titles include "Mission Impossible II," "Face/Off" and "Hard Boiled."

John Woo did not expect Venice honor
'Jianyu' helmer thought fest's director was joking
By Eric J. Lyman
September 3, 2010, 03:48 PM ET

VENICE -- Director John Woo became the first Chinese recipient of the Venice Film Festival's honorary Golden Lion for career achievement Friday.

Woo, who co-directed "Jianyu" (Reign of Assassins), which premiered Friday on the Venice Lido out of competition, returned to China two years ago after directing Hollywood films for 16 years, including Broken Arrow," "Face/Off" and "Mission Impossible 2." "Jianyu" is his third film since his return.

Venice artistic director Marco Mueller praised Woo in a press briefing before the award was officially presented.

"I don't feel we are bestowing an honor here," Mueller said. "The prize was simply there waiting for him."

For his part, Woo said he did not expect such an honor.

"When Marco called me, my first reaction was shock," Woo said. "Then I thought he might be joking. Then I felt emotional, and finally I was just grateful."

The festival declared Friday was John Woo Day on the Lido.

The official ceremony took place in a packed Palazzo del Cinema, just ahead of the world premiere of "Jianyu," which was co-directed by Chao-Bin Su.

The film, which is set in ancient China, tells the story of a female assassin trying to return the remains of a mystical monk to their rightful place. It stars Michelle Yeoh in the main role.

I love the notion of John Woo Day. If I had known, I would have donned a trenchcoat and shot a lot of people in slow motion with doves flying in the background.

[GeneChing]

Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen & Detective Deeand the Mystery of the Phantom Flame got good buzz there too. Chollywood risin...

Reign of Assassins brings Mr & Mrs Smith to China
By Deborah Young
Mon Sep 6, 2010 11:44pm EDT

VENICE (Hollywood Reporter) - "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" relocate to ancient China in the dazzling martial-arts epic "Reign of Assassins," in which Asian superstars Michelle Yeoh and Jung Woo-Sung play an ordinary married couple, each unaware the spouse is a world-class assassin.

Replacing guns and bombs with flashing swordplay, aerial fighting and fantasy effects, the beautifully balanced story finds time for humor and a piercingly romantic finale. This lush visual treat should have no trouble finding kung fu audiences, with crossover potential to the Western art circuit. It bears the double direction of Taiwanese writer-director Su Chao-Pin ("Silk") and genre master John Woo.

The delightful animated credit sequence that opens the film is a taste of fantasy to come. It is followed by an impossibly fast introduction to the film's characters and backstory guaranteed to throw unprepared viewers into a panic. No fear, the large cast of villains -- and they're all bad in this movie -- gets sorted out over the next two hours along with the incredibly convoluted story.

The main concept to grasp in the opening fight sequence, set in an ancient monastery before a giant statue of Buddha, is that the earthly remains of a mystical Indian monk have magical properties, able to grant control of the martial-arts world to their possessor. And the terrible Dark Stone gang wants them. Their most invincible and ruthless assassin is Drizzle (Kelly Lin), a beautiful girl who has been trained by the Dark Stone leader, the Wheel King. Having just killed an important minister, she also dispatches his son, Renfeng. All of this happens before the film begins, but it's good to keep in mind.

Back to the ancient monastery, where Drizzle kills the man she loves, the monk Wisdom, rather than repent as he wishes. But his death so disturbs her that she decides to quit the gang.Ordering a surgeon to "make her look older," she is transformed into Zeng Jing, played with her customary aplomb by Hong Kong's kung fu queen Michelle Yeoh ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"). To cover her tracks, she rents a house in the city and opens a market stall selling cloth. There, she attracts the attention of a messenger boy, Ah-Sheng (Korean star Jung Woo-Sung in his first martial-arts role).

Their humorously told courtship, which ends in a happy marriage, is absorbing enough to forget that no fighting has taken place for a long time. Until one day, Zeng Jing and Ah-Sheng are in the bank when a sinister gang of black-robed robbers appears. Just as they are about to be run through with swords, Zeng Jing springs into action and saves their lives in a brilliant one-woman show.

Alas, her technique is recognizable a mile off, and the Wheel King knows Drizzle is back in town. He calls to him the three most terrible assassins in his gang -- Lei Bin (Shawn Yue); the bratty girl murderer Turquoise (Barbie Hsu); and the Magician (Leon Dai) -- to force her to hand over the monk's remains. Little logic prevails over the final action sequences, which take place near the speed of light.

Just when Zeng Jing is overcome and all looks lost, her clumsy husband retrieves his rusty sword and reveals his true identity. His heroic transformation doesn't come as much of a surprise, but it is an exhilarating moment that makes the last scenes exciting as well as touching, when the husband and wife open old wounds, fight each other and test their love and spirit of self-sacrifice.

The ending is moving and poetic, confirming the acting depths of the two principals, who are much more than martial-arts stars. Another nod goes to the character actors, who round out the film with unexpected humor. Like the cast, the top-grade technical staff comes from all over Asia.

Although the directing role of Woo, who produced with Lion Rock partner Terence Chang, is not that clear, it is easy to spot his oft-used theme of facial and identity changes ("Face/Off," "Mission Impossible: 2").