New Hong Kong Martial Arts Movies — Will They Redefine The Genre?

Forget elegant high-wire martial arts films. A new team is ready to deliver some old-style bone crunching — with an updated twist. A newly formed collaboration has announced the development of three new martial arts action movies.

The players: 1) The Weinstein Company, owners of a reported $275 million Asian film fund and 2) Qi (pronounced “chee”), a partnership between Tony Krantz, producer of Mulholland Drive and the series “24″; and Andrew Lau, director or co-director of over 30 Asian films, including the Infernal Affairs trilogy (basis for Scorsese’s The Departed).

The films: A promised rejuvenation of the martial arts genre, with an emphasis on plot and character… and fighting. Krantz told Variety, “We think we’re coming at this with a very different foundation than the typical Hong Kong action movie.”

This sounds exciting, but two other Asian projects from The Weinsteins sound like sorry ideas: A live-action version of Mulan (what?) and a Seven Samurai remake (double what?!).

QUESTION: What do you think of this new approach to martial arts movies? TELL US

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2 Comments

  1. Comment by Mark on June 25, 2007 10:51 pm

    The New version of “7 Samurai” seems impossible to screw up so Im really looking forward to that one.
    ….”Mulan” on the other hand…..

  2. Comment by Norm S. on June 25, 2007 11:04 pm

    Mark-

    I’m too much of a purist when it comes to Seven Samurai. I just think Kurosawa’s masterpiece should probably left alone.

    (We do agree on Mulan though)

    -Norm S.

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