Renny Harlin's Next 3 Chinese Movies: The Legend of the Ancient Sword, Bodies at Rest, & Operation Somalia

[One Armed Boxer]

Very interesting article over at the Wall Street Journal (of all places!) of how, after moving to China in 2014 to direct 'Skiptrace', Renny Harlin decided to stick around, and is now being leaned on by the Chinese film industry to bring their blockbusters up to (what they consider) a Hollywood standard.

Looks like he has a full slate ahead of him, with 'The Legend of the Ancient Sword' in the editing phase of post-production, 'Bodies at Rest' (which can best be described as his Chinese version of 'Die Hard 2') currently shooting, and 'Operation Somalia' due to start filming in May.

Check out the full feature here - https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/china-wants-to-make-better-movies-so-it-turned-to-the-guy-who-made-die-hard-2-1514477181?

[kami]

Unfortunately the article is behind a pay-wall which can, however, be circumvented via adblocker. I can understand the appeal of making prominent big budget movies again to Harlin, on the other hand his movies still won't have a global audience, only a very big domestic one. And honestly, playing a big fiddle in an immature, newly rich, censored and self-censoring big budget movie industry like the chinese one won't get him back the fame and good reputation of his Die Hard 2-days.

Edited January 25, 2018 by kami

[Takuma]

3 hours ago, kami said:

Unfortunately the article is behind a pay-wall which can, however, be circumvented via adblocker. I can understand the appeal of making prominent big budget movies again to Harlin, on the other hand his movies still won't have a global audience, only a very big domestic one. And honestly, playing a big fiddle in an immature, newly rich, censored and self-censoring big budget movie industry like the chinese one won't get him back the fame and good reputation of his Die Hard 2-days.

I agree with everything you said, however,  I don't think Harlin has any chance of getting his reputation back in Hollywood either. He's been B-listed, and perhaps for a reason... I don't think he's as good a director anymore as he was 25 years ago. Working in China seems like the best move for him now. And from what I've understood, he's quite enjoying it.

[whitesnake]

Renny Harlin's fantasy film, Legend of the Ancient Sword (aka Sword of Legends aka Gu Jian Qi Tan Zhi Lin Yue Zhao Ming). is expected to be released in China later in 2018.  It is based on the video game Gu Jian Qi Tan 2.   Plot - "Due to a fateful occurrence, Yue Wuyi leaves home.  He meets revered master Xie Yi, who imparts to him the magical arts of Yan, and thus begins his journey of cultivation.  Along the way he meets Wen Renyu, Xia Yize, An Ruan and company.  They discover the schemes and conspiracies of Shen Ye, the grand priest of Liu Yue City.  The group of adventurers undergoes dangers to defeat Shen Ye, and prevent a disaster from befalling the world."  (from Wikipedia)  Cast includes Leehom Wang (Blackhat), Victoria Song (My New Sassy Girl), Godfrey Gao (The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones), Karena Ng (Ip Man 3), and Archie Kao (Blackhat). 

Bodies at Rest (aka Silent Witness aka Chen Mo Zheng Ren) is also expected to be released in Asia in late 2018.  It is currently in post-production.  IMDB plot - "Working in the morgue, a forensics expert and his assistant are suddenly accosted by masked intruders who demand  access to a body involved in a recent crime."  Cast includes Nick Cheung (the White Storm), Richie Jen (Trivisa), and Zi Yang.     

Operation Somalia is supposed to have started shooting in China and Australia in April.  I cannot confirm.  "Operation Somalia is based on real events and 'revolves around an epic rescue operation against Somali pirates mounted by Chinese special forces'."  The movie is scheduled for a 2019 release.  (From https://radiichina.com/chinese-action-flick-operation-somalia-begins-production-with-die-hard-2-director-on-board/   

Another Renny Harlin Chinese film project mentioned is The Hanging Coffin.  The action adventure-thriller will feature "extreme sports, tomb raiding and mutant creatures, from a script by Tony Jaswinski.  "The film is expected to star both Hollywood and Chinese talent."  IMDB lists the project as "in development".  (From https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/shanghai-renny-harlin-direct-chinese-thriller-hanging-coffin-1014492  

"Director Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger) and producer Daljit DJ Parmer (Kung Fu Yoga) have launched Extraordinary Entertainment Limited, a production and finance company based in Beijing and Hong Kong.  Parmer will serve as CEO and Harlin as Chief Creative Officer.  The company will focus on developing international co-productions, as well as local language Chinese production.  The company is backed by funding from strategic investors targeting the Chinese market, with a pipeline of $10-$50 million for theatrical feature films covering the action, adventure, sci-fi, and comedy genres, and new age premium scripted online television series... The first original film in development will be Solara, which Harlin is aimed to direct and produce with Parmer... Solara is a Chinese tentpole sci-fi epic adventure revolving around an international team who have to work together in order to save the earth from a global catastrophe which threatens the entire human existence."  (From online article posted May 8, 2018 - http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/944263-renny-harlin-and-daljit-dj-parmar-launch-extraordinary-entertainment-limited)  Not to mention the new 3-film deal between Extraordinary Entertainment and India's B4U, which includes Operation Wild. 

poster for Legend of the Ancient Sword -

poster for Bodies at Rest -   

promo banner for Operation Somalia - 

[DragonClaws]

53 minutes ago, whitesnake said:

Renny Harlin's fantasy film, Legend of the Ancient Sword (aka Sword of Legends aka Gu Jian Qi Tan Zhi Lin Yue Zhao Ming). is expected to be released in China later in 2018.  It is based on the video game Gu Jian Qi Tan 2.   Plot - "Due to a fateful occurrence, Yue Wuyi leaves home.  He meets revered master Xie Yi, who imparts to him the magical arts of Yan, and thus begins his journey of cultivation.  Along the way he meets Wen Renyu, Xia Yize, An Ruan and company.  They discover the schemes and conspiracies of Shen Ye, the grand priest of Liu Yue City.  The group of adventurers undergoes dangers to defeat Shen Ye, and prevent a disaster from befalling the world."  (from Wikipedia)  Cast includes Leehom Wang (Blackhat), Victoria Song (My New Sassy Girl), Godfrey Gao (The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones), Karena Ng (Ip Man 3), and Archie Kao (Blackhat). 

 

He's also got another production lined up, Operation Wild, how he will fit this into his current schedule, who knows?.

 

 

[whitesnake]

Operation Wild is only the first of a Three-film deal made between Renny Harlin's company and the Indian company, B4U.  If Harlin is going to be as involved in the two follow-up movies to Operation Wild (such as being director), then he'll be even busier into the future.  A series of Chinese - Indian co-productions makes sense right now, considering the current popularity of Indian movies at the Chinese box office.  

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

He was awful in English and Dutch, and now he can be awful in Chinese. The problem is that like most multinationals, the Chinese film industry is looking for a bargain, while they make things "blow up big". I will stick to my old school films, and every now and then a gem like CALL OF HEROES will come out. The industry has flipped. People like to root for the underdog, but now the films focus on pompous heroes who are better than everybody, etc. Just not the same. Meanwhile, real kung fu in China is all but dead. The most popular martial arts are Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Wu Shu (which is dancing) MMA and old people doing Tai Chi. Very little real martial arts left. I have a theory that the brave badass guys, the heroes of their time, were probably killed off while the guys that "studied" (learned forms and little more) ran off to HK, Taiwan and the "west". It's a shame, and dreck from this guy certainly isn't going to help anything. Time to put on Shaw Brothers......

[whitesnake]

13 hours ago, NoKUNGFUforYU said:

People like to root for the underdog, but now the films focus on pompous heroes who are better than everybody, etc.

You mean like Jack Ma, who defeats everyone in his short film, Gong Shou Dao?  

[whitesnake]

Looks like Renny Harlin's Legend of the Ancient Sword has gotten a trailer - "Legend of the Ancient Sword... (2018) fantasy blockbuster teaser trailer".  "Fantasy blockbuster?  Isn't' that a bit premature?  The producers thought Asura would be a blockbuster until this past weekend.  That was another Chinese fantasy movie biting the dust.  Legend of the Ancient Sword definitely has a steampunk look to it.  Here's the trailer - 

 

 

[whitesnake]

IMDB gives Legend of the Ancient Sword movie a release date in China of October 18.  It may turn out to be a big empty fantasy, but with its big budget at least it will look good.  Some eye candy posters were posted on https://twitter.com/AsianFilmStrike/ on August 8th. 

A lovely lady - 

A handsome young warrior - 

[whitesnake]

Chinese theatrical release date for Legend of the Ancient Sword is now October 1, 2018. Here is the new (final) trailer.  News from https://filmcombatsyndicate.com/legend-of-the-ancient-sword-final-trailer-2/   Update - trailer removed due to copyright infringment.  Hereps a replacement trailer - 

 

  

Edited December 28, 2018 by whitesnake

[whitesnake]

Movie review of Renny Harlin's Chinese fantasy Legend of the Ancient Sword here - https://asianfilmstrike.com/2018/10/26/legend-of-the-ancient-sword-2018-review/

and it isn't pretty - The movie is an "overbearing clutter of fantasy tropes... Visuals that are here [are] not just uneven as in many Chinese fantasy films, but downright mediocre; costumes vary between routine and embarrassing cosplay... physical sets are serviceable but all blend in together after a while, CGI creatures are shoddy, while CGI backgrounds have the feel of late-nineties screensavers.  A few steampunk robots and ships are a nice touch, but anthropomorphized pandas, elephants and rats are an eyesore and a weird way to attract small kids, who otherwise might be disturbed by all the stabbing and slashing on display (with Qin Pengfei's action design quite unremarkable).  It doesn't help that the cast can't muster more than a thimbleful of charisma... Long Story Short: Several steps backwards for the Chinese big screen fantasy, Legend of the Ancient Sword is narratively uninvolving, visually mediocre, and desperately low on sweep and charisma."

[whitesnake]

Renny Harlin's Chinese-language crime/action movie, Bodies at Rest, set in a morgue, is now in post-production.  It is set for a Chinese release in April 2019.  Media Asia is handling international sales.  Info at https://www.screendaily.com/features/afm-2018-the-buzz-titles-from-hong-kong-and-china/5134200.article

[kami]

Since Legend Of The Ancient Sword has bombed even more spectacularly at the Chinese box office than the disastrous Asura maybe Renny Harlin should start packing his bags. He could try Russia next. But they probably won't let him into the country after his horrible Georgian propaganda movie 5 Days Of War.

Edited April 4, 2019 by kami

[whitesnake]

A new poster has been released for Renny Harlin's Bodies at Rest.  The movie opens in China on April 4, 2019.  Info from http://cityonfire.com/nick-cheung-dies-hard-with-renny-harlin-for-witness/  and https://twitter.com/AsianFilmStrike posted on December 24, 2018. 

[whitesnake]

Another new poster for Renny Harlin's Bodies at Rest, posted at https://twitter.com/AsianFilmStrike on January 31, 2019 

[whitesnake]

Latest teaser trailer was released in March for Bodies at Rest.  Cityonfire.com says it's getting a Chinese release on July 18, 2019 - http://cityonfire.com/nick-cheung-dies-hard-with-renny-harlin-for-witness/   

 

Edited June 3, 2019 by whitesnake

[whitesnake]

Renny Harlin talks about making Bodies at Rest, which opened at the 2019 Hong Kong International Film Festival on March 18th.  Renny Harlin talks here - https://variety.com/2019/film/asia/hkiff-renny-harlin-festival-opener-bodies-at-rest-1203165120/

[whitesnake]

Final(?) trailer for Bodies at Rest, since the movie opens in China on August 15.  Info and trailer from https://cityonfire.com/nick-cheung-dies-hard-with-renny-harlin-for-witness/  

 

 

Edited July 9, 2019 by whitesnake

[whitesnake]

At last a Chinese Renny Harlin movie gets some praise, even if its reception in China isn't overly enthusiastic.  "Renny Harlin's Hong Kong-set crime thriller Bodies at Rest proved no match for Ne Zha's mass appeal. The Hong Kong-China co-production... opened to a respectable $18.1 million.  Produced by Wanda Pictures, the pressure-cooker crime flick was well received by international critics when it opened the Hong Kong International Film Festival in March.  In the mainland, the reception has been somewhat more tepid, with the film scoring 7.5/10 with Maoyan's users and 5.7/10 with Douban's hipster film reviewer community."  From https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/china-box-office-ne-zha-hurtles-600-million-1232865

Here's one review for Bodies at Rest - https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/bodies-at-rest-review-1195242 - "It's no Cliffhanger, but for fans of the genre it will do fine." 

And an August 2019 interview with Renny Harlin - https://www.star2.com/entertainment/2019/08/19/bodies-at-rest-renny-harlin-nick-cheung/ - "HK thriller 'Bodies at Rest' is like 'Die Hard 2' in a morgue".

Edited August 25, 2019 by whitesnake

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

Die Hard 2, never forget. Didn't this dude did predator 2 as well?

 

[whitesnake]

Renny Harlin April 24, 2019 interview - https://www.easternkicks.com/features/renny-harlin-interview  at the Hong Kong International Film Festival 2019 - "I just finished a fourth movie in Abu Dhabi literally three days ago, finished the shoot there, which is not a Chinese movie, it's an American movie, but I had a window and it popped in.  But I'm definitely back here and I started my own company here last spring in May, we got funding for it so that we have our own development fund.  We have half a dozen really exciting movie projects in different stages, some are finished scripts, some are treatments, we have another half dozen TV series that we're negotiating with iQIYI and Yoku and Tencent, talking to Netflix about things..."  But the only movie listed on IMDB for director Renny Harlin, following Bodies of Rest, is The Misfits, which is in post-production.  This must be the "fourth movie" that Harlin mentioned in the interview.

The cast of The Misfits includes Pierce Brosnan, Rami Jaber, Tim Roth, Nick Cannon, and Jamie Chung,  "After being recruited by a group of unconventional thieves, renowned criminal Richard Pace finds himself caught up in an elaborate gold heist that promises to have far-reaching implications on his life and the lives of countless others."

[DrNgor]

I just reviewed Legend of the Ancient Sword, which, surprisingly enough, I didn't hate:

 

[DrNgor]

On 6/20/2018 at 9:29 PM, NoKUNGFUforYU said:

He was awful in English and Dutch, and now he can be awful in Chinese.

Renny Harlin is Finnish, not Dutch. And you can't really accuse him of being awful in his native language, since his entire career (save a few early shorts) has been in English.

And I would never use the word "awful" to describe the whole of the career of the man who did the 90s action classics Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger, plus The Long Kiss Goodnight, which is practically a Hollywood action classic.

On 6/20/2018 at 9:29 PM, NoKUNGFUforYU said:

The industry has flipped. People like to root for the underdog, but now the films focus on pompous heroes who are better than everybody, etc. Just not the same.

Well, the characters in this film, especially Wang Leehom's character, is something of the underdog. That goes double once they have to throw down with the main antagonists.

 

On 6/20/2018 at 9:29 PM, NoKUNGFUforYU said:

Meanwhile, real kung fu in China is all but dead. The most popular martial arts are Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Wu Shu (which is dancing) MMA and old people doing Tai Chi. Very little real martial arts left. I have a theory that the brave badass guys, the heroes of their time, were probably killed off while the guys that "studied" (learned forms and little more) ran off to HK, Taiwan and the "west". It's a shame, and dreck from this guy certainly isn't going to help anything.

You seem to repeat this fact in every other post. Is there an actual point to it, especially in a conversation about a wuxia movie, which isn't even about real kung fu in the first place?

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

I don't think I'm alone on Harlin, but he was nominated for a lot of awards!

Razzie Awards

2015	Nominee Razzie Award	Worst Director The Legend of Hercules (2014)
2005	Nominee Razzie Award	Worst Director Exorcist: The Beginning (2004) Shared with: Paul Schrader   Renny Harlin and/or Paul Schrader.
2002	Nominee Razzie Award	Worst Director Driven (2001)
1996	Nominee Razzie Award	Worst Director Cutthroat Island (1995)
1994	Nominee Razzie Award	Worst Picture Cliffhanger (1993) Shared with: Alan Marshall
1991	Nominee Razzie Award	Worst Director The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990)