Zhou Xun and Zhang Ziyi vie for role in Keanu Reeves’movie Man of Tai-Chi

[galvatron1976]

Zhou Xun and Zhang Ziyi vie for role in Keanu Reeves’ movie

Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves, who is part Chinese, will make his directorial debut in the movie Man of Tai-Chi, which is set to begin filming next year.

The inspiration behind Man of Tai-Chi came from Keanu's love for Chinese martial arts. The actor had already spent two years preparing for the movie.

It is believed that the female lead of the movie had not been decided, but Keanu is considering Chinese actresses Zhang Ziyi and Zhou Xun.

It is widely speculated that Ziyi's chances of becoming the female lead is higher than Zhou Xun, because Keanu had a better impression of Ziyi from her role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and that the movie is scripted mainly in English.

The media then contacted the male lead of Man of Tai-Chi and Chinese martial arts choreographer Tiger Chen.

"I'm definitely the male lead," he admitted, "Contenders for the female lead included Zhang Ziyi, Zhou Xun and Gong Li."

Keanu will be heading to Beijing next month to prepare for the shoot. The actor will also have to do training in martial arts daily.

"He will also learn karate and boxing, apart from Tai-Chi," Tiger said.

Next year, a couple of movies with Tai-Chi as their main theme will be released consecutively.

When asked if he was worried of having a similar theme, Tiger replied, "Each movie has a different style. We will fuse Western martial arts with Tai-Chi. Jet Li's is a period movie and Stephen Chow is most likely to add comedy into his."

link

http://entertainment.xin.msn.com/en/celebrity/buzz/asia/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5391434

Hello,which actress do you prefer to take the role?

Is Zhang more popular in United States which she could more likely to get the role?

thanks.

[Asmo]

I can't speak for the U.S. or people in it but if you want my opinion Zhang Ziyi might be more popular or at least more known due to her appearances in Rush Hour 2, House of Flying Daggers and Memoirs of a Geisha along with CTHD.

[Guest Markgway]

Who's Tiger Chen and why worry about casting an unknown Chinese female lead when you have an unknown Chinese male lead...?

[ShaOW!linDude]

Who's Tiger Chen and why worry about casting an unknown Chinese female lead when you have an unknown Chinese male lead...?

I believe he was one of the stunt personnel who worked with KR during the filming of the MATRIX films.

Oh, and I vote Zhang Ziyi all the way. Just hope they don't make her whack her hair off.

[AlbertV]

Tiger Chen was a member of Yuen Woo-Ping's stunt team. He was Keanu Reeves' trainer when they worked on THE MATRIX. Keanu helped Tiger learn English while on the set and the two became friends.

After the success of the THE MATRIX, Keanu had been wanting to help Tiger get a lead role in a movie and Reeves is not only appearing in MAN OF TAI CHI, but he also put money towards the film, which means he will get an executive producer credit.

If you want to see Tiger Chen in some good action, see HOUSE OF FURY. He played a superkicking member of Michael Wong's bad guy team. He is the kicker who sports the cap alongside Philip Ng and Josie Ho.

[blue_skies]

Zhang Ziyi is possibly one of the most beautiful women on the planet and she has put some good performances in from a martial arts point of view. I have no idea who the other girl is but if The leading lady is to have a lot of Fights I would rather they went with a known or unknown female actress with real martial arts talent. How about Donnie Yen's little sister Chris Yen? I haven't seen much barring a couple of really awful picture quality YouTube videos but if she's as good as I think she is, She could make a great choice. plus she is as cute as anything!

In all likelihood though since the main villain is Keanu Reeves I have my doubts that how good a film it's going to be anyway.

[MonkeyFu]

I have no idea who the other girl is

You'd probably know her if you saw her (Zhou Xun). She has been in quite a few movies and was the lead female in the recent Painted Skin. I don't think she has much martial arts training though.

Keanu Reeves is a pretty bad actor though, so I'm not holding my breath on this one, especially if he is directing too.

[Travis]

This is Tiger Chen on Travel Channel. You see him about 3:25.

Mvdn0EgUiGs

[blue_skies]

thanks for posting that video Travis but that has me even more curious because it says Tiger Chen already starred in his own movie "kung fu hero" yet AlbertV said on another thread that that film had been scrapped, or did I misunderstand? Has anybody seen "kung fu hero"?

http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4985

[ShaOW!linDude]

Yeah, thanks for that, Travis.

Hmmm. Interesting. You're a good detective, b_s. That's strange that the clip show footage which is captioned "Kung Fu Hero". (And it didn't look too shabby, either.) Hopefully someone can weigh in here and shed a little light.

Hmmm. Even more interesting. A quick search of the title leads to an IMDb link stating this has been released in October 2010. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1534449/

Note the bottom of the page citing the proposed release in 2013 of "Man Of Tai Chi".

[blue_skies]

Yeah, thanks for that, Travis.

Hmmm. Interesting. You're a good detective, b_s. That's strange that the clip show footage which is captioned "Kung Fu Hero". (And it didn't look too shabby, either.) Hopefully someone can weigh in here and shed a little light.

Hmmm. Even more interesting. A quick search of the title leads to an IMDb link stating this has been released in October 2010. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1534449/

Note the bottom of the page citing the proposed release in 2013 of "Man Of Tai Chi".

SD, well your detective skills helped me find a little more information about the film which was called "kung fu man" leading to some exclusive onset pictures at the main site here.

http://www.kungfucinema.com/exclusive-kung-fu-man-set-pics-11561

Principal photography commenced on KUNG FU MAN last week, and is scheduled to continue through January in various locations throughout China. The intricate plot details are currently a guarded secret, but look for exclusive kungfucinema.com reports in the future.

KUNG FU MAN stars Tiger Chen, who best known for his stunt work on THE MATRIX and CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON. Tiger also had roles in MATRIX REVOLUTIONS and UNLEASHED. With his skills honed by the master of action Yuen Woo-Ping, he is highly regarded as the next major action star. Tiger is versatile, athletic and energetic. Although KUNG FU MAN is his first acting role, Chen is absolutely ready for a masterful breakout performance as the main character Ping.

The lead female role in KUNG FU MAN belongs to the alluring, vivacious and talented Vanessa Branch. The sultry Branch, who is no stranger to action, worked on all three PIRATES OF CARIBBEAN movies, Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 video game, and the upcoming Dante’s Inferno video game. Branch’s stunning looks have also landed her in Maxim and Stuff Magazines, in addition to several national TV commercials. Branch’s character name in the film is Susan.

KUNG FU MAN is directed by Ying Ning. Virtually unknown by western audiences, her previous movie is the critically acclaimed, avant guard film, PERPETUAL MOTION. The unusual work follows the lives of four women on New Year’s Eve, with the protagonist intricately and subversively trying to find out which of the other three slept with her husband.

As with many Chinese produced films, a second director is used for all of the action sequences and choreography in KUNG FU MAN. Brother of Yuen Woo-Ping , Yuen Cheung-Yan expertly handles the intense action directing duties and reunites him with fellow MATRIX alumni Tiger, Chyna, and Daxing Cheng. The seasoned veteran Yeun has worked on more than 60 films, all throughout the world, with various sizes of budgets, including CHARLIES ANGELS, DAREDEVIL, and THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM.

Andre “Chyna” McCoy (MATRIX, RED HERRING) plays the lead villain in KUNG FU MAN. Chyna’s strong features coupled with a commanding voice, bring out his natural ability to play antagonistic characters. Although officially an action comedy, KUNG FU MAN should bring out the intensity in Chyna’s acting arsenal. As of press time, specific details surrounding his character are perpetually evolving, even his character name is still a mystery!

Judging from the hi flying wire work involved, international cast, and well trained martial arts veterans, KUNG FU MAN is set to be a full force action film aimed at an international audience. The current release date is set for China next July.

- Danny Shamon

[ShaOW!linDude]

Cool, b_s.

That story is right at almost 2 years old. Wonder what happened? Did it get completed? Did it get shelved?

Anybody know anything?

[blue_skies]

Cool, b_s.

That story is right at almost 2 years old. Wonder what happened? Did it get completed? Did it get shelved?

Anybody know anything?

I did a lot of searching and think it's been shelved, probably waiting for "man of Tai Chi" to be released and then strike while the iron is hot. They'll probably do well off the back of a Hollywood action movie starring/directed by KR and get Tiger Chen a lot of publicity.

[ShaOW!linDude]

I'd buy that line of thinking. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

[ShaOW!linDude]

The prep work is starting.

http://twitchfilm.com/news/2011/11/keanu-reeves-to-commence-martial-arts-training-with-yuen-woo-ping-for-man-of-tai-chi.php

[blue_skies]

The prep work is starting.

http://twitchfilm.com/news/2011/11/keanu-reeves-to-commence-martial-arts-training-with-yuen-woo-ping-for-man-of-tai-chi.php

looks like Yuen Woo Ping is on board now too. Although previously mentioned that the action choreography was due to be done by his brother, I should think he has been brought on board to make funding happen and help sell the movie.

[Drunken Monk]

I hope Yuen Woo Ping brings something to this production. I must say that his return to film making ("True Legend") didn't exactly feature his best choreography. Less wires and pseudo break dancing, please.

[ShaOW!linDude]

I hope Yuen Woo Ping brings something to this production. I must say that his return to film making ("True Legend") didn't exactly feature his best choreography. Less wires and pseudo break dancing, please.

Agreed.

I hear both good and bad things about TRUE LEGEND. Just based on the trailer it looks too wire-work based for my taste. But I like Vincent Zhao and haven't seen him in anything in a while. I'm waiting for it to hit a movie channel in order to check it out before committing to buying a dvd.

[Drunken Monk]

Agreed.

I hear both good and bad things about TRUE LEGEND. Just based on the trailer it looks too wire-work based for my taste. But I like Vincent Zhao and haven't seen him in anything in a while. I'm waiting for it to hit a movie channel in order to check it out before committing to buying a dvd.

When I first saw it, I found it tawdry and lazy. However, I bought the DVD and watched it again last week. You know what? It's fun. It's not what I wanted from Woo Ping at all but it is a fun little ride. I appreciated it much more the second time around.