Member AlbertV Posted December 7, 2010 Member Share Posted December 7, 2010 The Hollywood Reporter" BEIJING -- Hollywood and Hong Kong veterans Andre Morgan and Sammo Hung have begun production in Shanghai on the 1920s martial arts film My Kingdom starring Taiwan-based actor-singer Wu Chun (14 Blades), Taiwan starlet Barbie Hsu (Reign of Assassins) and Chinese pop music sensation Han Geng in his film debut. Called Da Wu Sheng in Chinese, the tale of two brothers' quest for fame, love and revenge in the heyday of Shanghai opera is a "multi-million dollar" co-production between Hong Kong-based Celestial Pictures and Beijing-based Skyland Films with DW films, Celestial said in a statement on Monday. Directed by Gao Xiaosong and written by Zou Jingzhi (Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles), My Kingdom is set for release in the second half of 2011. Los Angeles-based producer Morgan last worked with Celestial on director Peter Chan's award-winning Chinese musical drama, which they followed up with The Warlords, a critical and commercial success and winner of the Best Picture prize at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2008. "We are thrilled to be collaborating again with the creative talents of producer Andre Morgan on a movie which blends the best of martial arts action with an intense love story," said Ross Pollack, CEO of Celestial, holder of all rights to the film outside China. Skyland will handle sales and marketing in China, where 2010 box office is expected to shatter last year's record gross of $909 million. Brunei-born actor-singer Wu rose to fame in Taiwan as a member of the boy band Fahrenheit, while Han Geng is an original member of South Korean pop group Super Junior. Hsu is well known for her roles in films from John Woo and Benny Chan. Morgan said My Kingdom had come together after four years of efforts to assemble he script, creative elements, cast and "appropriate financing." "We are excited to finally bring this very fresh story to Chinese audiences," he said. Hung, recent winner of a Golden Horse Award in Taiwan for his action choreography of Ip Man 2, will stage and direct the action scenes in My Kingdom. Hung trained the actors for three months to prepare them for intense martial arts sequences. In November, at the American Film Market in Santa Monica, Celestial, which is owned by Astro All Asia Networks of Malaysia, pre-sold My Kingdom to Golden Scene Cinemas in Malaysia. Peter Poon, Celestial's svp for theatrical distribution, said the company is close to striking distribution deals in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia. Celestial is the operator of global tevision channels and owner of the 760-title Shaw Brothers Film Library of Chinese films. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ShaOW!linDude Posted December 7, 2010 Member Share Posted December 7, 2010 AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! More pop stars turned action/MA stars. This is driving me nuts! It's like if Hollywood cast all their leading men from, like, Australia or some place else. Oh, wait. They do. Well, at least Sammo's doing the choreography. That's something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member sen_pai Posted December 9, 2010 Member Share Posted December 9, 2010 Sounds good to me.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member BLfan Posted April 10, 2011 Member Share Posted April 10, 2011 A movie poster for this film has been released. http://z6.invisionfree.com/FilmSmash/index.php?showtopic=1509 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member sen_pai Posted April 11, 2011 Member Share Posted April 11, 2011 Iooking forward to this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Drunken Monk Posted August 18, 2011 Member Share Posted August 18, 2011 Synopsis (may contain spoilers)... In the closing days of the 19th century, the Prince Regent of the crumbling Qing Dynasty orders the mass execution of the entire Meng clan. Before his beheading in a crowded Beijing marketplace, the Meng clan leader vows that his family will avenge this travesty of justice. Awaiting his death, a five-year-old Meng boy named Erkui bravely sings an aria. The power and purity of his voice touches the onlookers including opera star Master Yu Shengying and his seven-year-old pupil Guan Yilong. Deeply moved, Master Yu rescues the boy and the two orphans, Yilong and Erkui, become brothers. Years later, Master Yu wins the coveted golden "Wu Sheng Tai Dou" ("The Mightiest Warrior") plaque from the Prince Regent, but subsequently loses it in a duel with his archrival Master Yue Jiangtian. Banished from the stage upon his loss, Master Yu spends his time training Yilong and Erkui in Peking Opera and martial arts, perfecting their skills. When the boys grow into men, they set off for Shanghai to pursue revenge and reclaim the plaque from Master Yue. Once they reach Shanghai, they quickly defeat Master Yue, reclaiming not only the plaque but also becoming the new masters of Yue's opera troupe. Almost overnight, they become sensations of the Shanghai opera scene along with Master Yue's protégé and former lover, the beautiful actress Xi Mulan. But soon, their collective pasts catch up with them and all three ends up in a complex web of love, lust, deceit and betrayal, ultimately ending in tragedy. pQHmksNTTok Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted August 18, 2011 Moderator Share Posted August 18, 2011 Wow...the three paragraphs that make up the synopsis could each be for a seperate movie in themselves, this sounds like it's going to have a plot that goes all over the place. The trailer seems equally schizophrenic....heavy metal guitars over a period kung-fu movie?...interesting choice. It has my interest though, it actually looks to have overtones of Chang Cheh's classic 'Vengeance!', complete with knife fighting and Peking Opera scenes. Add to that it has open hand combat choreographed by Sammo Hung, it should make it worth a look, even if there seems to be some wire-work here and there, and there is the unmistakble face of Yuen Biao at the 00:38 mark, although the fact he's not named at the end of the trailer suggest it'll be nothing more than a cameo, still good to see him in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member blue_skies Posted August 19, 2011 Member Share Posted August 19, 2011 it definitely looks interesting but it's just a shame that they have only subtitled low quality trailers of the movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Asmo Posted August 19, 2011 Moderator Share Posted August 19, 2011 Yuen Biao has been promoted pretty heavily, for this film (if I recall). I'll likely be seeing it early next month when it plays here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator KUNG FU BOB Posted August 19, 2011 Administrator Share Posted August 19, 2011 I am going to be all over this! Sammo directing the action, with... Yuen Biao? Oh yes! The trailer was hot. I don't know how this is the first I've heard about or noticed this film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member gorhama Posted August 19, 2011 Member Share Posted August 19, 2011 I am going to be all over this! Sammo directing the action, with... Yuen Biao? Oh yes! The trailer was hot. I don't know how this is the first I've heard about or noticed this film. Agreed....how in the hell did I not see this until now???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member AlbertV Posted August 31, 2011 Author Member Share Posted August 31, 2011 New posters Nicky Wu Chun Han Geng Barbie Hsu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ShaOW!linDude Posted September 1, 2011 Member Share Posted September 1, 2011 I want to be up for this, I truly do, but I'm tired of being disappointed. We'll see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted September 18, 2011 Moderator Share Posted September 18, 2011 Review up on the main site by Jean Lukitsh, as much as the trailer showed promise, like most other movies of late, it sounds like the only thing we`re in for is disappointment - http://www.kungfucinema.com/review-my-kingdom-2011-18783 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member BaronK Posted September 18, 2011 Member Share Posted September 18, 2011 What promise did the trailer show? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted September 18, 2011 Moderator Share Posted September 18, 2011 What promise did the trailer show? Possibly the first time I`ve quoted one of my own posts (#2) ....this was my humble opinion of what I thought when I saw the trailer - It has my interest though, it actually looks to have overtones of Chang Cheh's classic 'Vengeance!', complete with knife fighting and Peking Opera scenes. Add to that it has open hand combat choreographed by Sammo Hung, it should make it worth a look, even if there seems to be some wire-work here and there, and there is the unmistakble face of Yuen Biao Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator KUNG FU BOB Posted September 18, 2011 Administrator Share Posted September 18, 2011 Review up on the main site by Jean Lukitsh, as much as the trailer showed promise, like most other movies of late, it sounds like the only thing we`re in for is disappointment - http://www.kungfucinema.com/review-my-kingdom-2011-18783 The trailer grabbed me the same way. I like the idea of having Peking Opera as the setting too. I just read Jean's review (who BTW always seems on-the-money for me) and I feel a bit sad. I'll still watch it, but I wish it could have lived up to it's potential. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member BaronK Posted September 18, 2011 Member Share Posted September 18, 2011 I see a movie with peking opera poss. as its story and action base. Has a peking opera trained AD, plus to more in Biu and YRG. All i see in the trailer is scenes with people floating on wires. Peking opera stage scenes with peking opera performers NOT flipping and tumbling BUT floating on wires. .hit, even if the leads can't flip, you'd figure in a movie ABOUT peking opera performers, you'd have doubles that can do the flipping and tumbling. Why the ..ck are people floating? Man I can't get excited about Sammo's name attached to anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Travis Posted September 22, 2011 Member Share Posted September 22, 2011 I just saw this in the theater the other night (along with Detective Dee). I thought it was an awful movie. Sammo's action direction was not good at all (same with Detective Dee). The fight scenes are shot mostly in close up with quick cutting so you can't really see what is going on and they just put in a lot of sound effects so you feel like something is being hit, even though visually it is very confusing. They maybe did them this way because that is the style of modern fight scenes, but my guess is the actors can't do martial arts moves so it was a way to cheat them. My Kingdom reminds me of Corey Yuen's Hero which I just saw on DVD last week. The reasons are that they both have Yuen Biao (although his role is more of a cameo in My Kingdom) and they both take place in the same time period and they both have similar themes about coming from nothing and conquering the world. The other thing about My Kingdom is that I think it is very geared towards a Chinese audience. I don't think non-Chinese would enjoy a lot of aspects of this movie. Another thing that really bothered me about the film is all the men look extremely feminine. The policeman, Lu, may as well have been a transsexual. I think they should have had Vice Ganda as part of the cast of this film and he would have fit right in with all the other actors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member BaronK Posted September 23, 2011 Member Share Posted September 23, 2011 Saw it unsubbed. The action is 2 part. Early part is "fights" but they are done opera style literally, with opera stage weapons. Nice concept but Sammo does it no good. Sammo has no sense of flow in his execution. He shoots wide, then too close, then close but not on a weapon or person, then another cut. This thing has too many cuts and angles to ever feel like anything. There's nothing to connect to because of his style. It's too close and over edited. The trailer played out as I thought it would. The other action part has 2 scenes not opera based. The one with the chick shouldn't really count cause it, ain't, good. Sammo lost me with Resurrection Of The Dragon and didn't get me back with Ip Man. There was nothing in Detective Dee action wise to even mention. There were wires all throughout. They were of the floating and not flying variety. They weren't all that distracting but what place do they have in a peking opera movie. Asian guys look like chicks now, so I can't get into anything thats made that has guys that look like that. You have adults that look like men. females that look female and guys with female haircuts. Let's agree that this is a movie geared toward a Chinese audience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Travis Posted September 23, 2011 Member Share Posted September 23, 2011 I haven't been on these forums long but I know a lot of people here have different tastes and opinions from me, so I didn't know how people would react on my opinion of My Kingdom. Your assessment of these films was pretty spot on, Baron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Asmo Posted September 24, 2011 Moderator Share Posted September 24, 2011 It's always possible that Sammo was adhering to what the director wanted. I'm on the fence about seeing this now, but it would be nice to see Yuen Biu (even if he just has a cameo) on the big screen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Travis Posted September 24, 2011 Member Share Posted September 24, 2011 I guess you should go see it if you are that big of a fan. Just don't expect too much. There is really nothing in this film to get excited about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Asmo Posted September 26, 2011 Moderator Share Posted September 26, 2011 The only cinema playing it is kind of far from where I live, and I think they're only showing it once or twice per day now. I'll have a look.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Frank Bolte Posted August 29, 2018 Member Share Posted August 29, 2018 never heard of this, anyone watched this ? Has Yuen Biao in it and Sammo as Action director ... the Trailer Looks ok(ish) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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