At a Wushu event ceremony, a preview containing a fair amount of actual & behind the scenes footage for the upcoming wuxia film True Legend was shown and its now online at the official site. The fact its Yuen Woo Ping's first solo directing gig in over a decade is cause for celebration and with directorial Kung Fu classics including Iron Monkey and Drunken Master under his belt, we can only expect the action choreography to be top notch. The film features the legendary martial arts folk hero Su Qi-er, also better known as Begger Su and a character frequently portrayed by Ping's late father Simon Yuen Siu Tin in a few films. Revisiting this character is Wushu maestro Zhao Wen Zhuo (aka Vincent Chiu, Chiu Man Chuk), a role that marks his return to films after his nine year stint on several martial arts-related TV series in China. Also in the cast is Michelle Yeoh, Jay Chou, Zhou Xun, Gordon Liu, Andy On, Cung Le, Conan Stevens and the late David Carradine.
Su is a wealthy man living during the Qing Dynasty who loses his fortune and reputation as a result of a conspiracy against him. After being forced onto the streets, Su dedicates his life to martial arts and reemerges as a patriotic hero known as the 'King of Beggars'.
No release date has been set but its expected to arrive by the end of this year. You'll find the preview below after the jump.
Hot damn! The master's back!
Yuen Woo Ping would make me look good in a fight!
Gonna be awesome :D
Yeun Wo Ping is back to show em' how its done! I expect a ridiculous first trailer.
I'm trying to think of something clever to say, but the only thing I can come up with is...nice.
Do want.
This is awesome news. Vincent Zhao aka Zhao Wen Zhuo is my current favorite Martial Artist. Really glad they chose him for this, as he will do the role proud.
This particular subject has been done over and over as far as Beggar Su goes, but this sounds like a fresh take on the old legend so I am very much looking forward to it.
Bring it on!
I am one of those to whom Yuen Woo Ping's choreography can do no wrong. I have high hopes for this. Hopefully the few ugly costumes I saw does not take up much of the film.
Yuen Woo Ping ! Enough said. I'm glad to see Vincent Zhao get the break he deserves. He's right up there with Donnie, Sammo and Jacky Wu in terms of talent.
It's a shame Zhao Wen Zhou had never get his breaktrough back in the mid 90ies, instead he stuck somewhere in tv shows. It will be great to see him on the big screen.
And hopefully the Art Direction is better, then what we see in this pomo reel.
WOW!!! Yuen Wo Ping, returns with this cool looking HK marital arts...Extravaganza! It is good to see Michelle Yeoh, after being in some of her weaker US films,like The Mummy 3 and Babalon A.D.
From what I was told Vincent never got that earlier break because he could not speak English well enough, now that has been remedied you can probably expect to see a lot more of him in future in US films.
Itto, you are right. Yuen went to massive lengths to make us look good in filming, in fact in the scene I am in the whole set was designed to have almost perfect lighting to make myself and the other wrestlers look muscular with the light highlighting our muscles, add in a few choice muscle closeups and some cool moves and he made us look better than we have ever been made to look before.
I seriously expect my small part in this (I fortunately had the chance to work with David Carradine) to add a lot of value to my showreel and launch me into the US film market - not as big a launch as Vincent is going to get but enough to make me happy.
Also I have to say that for the best in the world Yuen Woo Ping and his stunt team are some of the best people I have ever worked with, since I have worked with his team twice now.
And no I am not just kissing butt, I do mean these comments, I would eagerly work with them again.
Oh and release I was told was aiming for a Northern summer release which is July or August I believe, if everything goes to schedule.
Oh and there was something else special about this release that has not been done before but I cannot say as I have been sworn to secrecy, well a verbal non disclosure agreement and my word is my bond sorry.
PS - this looks top notch.