Donnie Yen may play ‘Chen Zhen’ again

By Mark Pollard | Published April 5, 2009

Donnie Yen

Director Gordon Chan is planning a new kung fu movie about Chen Zhen, the character famously portrayed by Bruce Lee in FIST OF FURY and later by Jet Li in FIST OF LEGEND, and he wants Donnie Yen in the lead. So far, Yen has informally agreed to take on the role, which would actually be the second time around after starring in the hit ATV series FIST OF FURY (1995).

Chen Zhen and his fight against Japanese oppression in Republican-era China was actually a fictional creation of writer-director Lo Wei who based the character on an obscure real-life student of martial arts master Huo Yuan-jia, the same master portrayed by Jet Li in FEARLESS.

“We all know that Huo Yuan-jia has a disciple, his name and status,” said Chan. “But no one knows exactly what kind of person he is.”

It will be interesting to see if Chan chooses a more historical approach that tries to reveal the real person behind this character or if he intends to reinvent the character for modern audiences. Either way, if Yen ends up in the role, it will definitely be worth watching.

Source: Wu-Jing.org

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  • Milkyway
    Donnie is doing this already, and Andrew Lau will direct while Gordon Chan writes and produces. I say good.
  • Darrin Kemp
    It's likely that there are few fans who are into Donnie like I am and can still make the case that they are resonably lucid and sane.:) Having said that, however this thing has an air of been there and done that. I love ya Don but seriously move the hell on. Plenty of other heroes for you to be. Come back to America and show the wannabes how it's done.
  • DamnIt
    First Sammo vs. Donnie in IM2, now this? I think I'm going to faint. Mark, this is too much news for one day.
  • BruisedLo
    the fighting was fine in the tv series in my opinion, its just the lame bruce lee imitations that he over did, and the 2x speeding of the fights. one scene i still really like from the fist of fury tv series, is when donnie takes on the muay thai fighter. great scene, the only thing i hated about it, was the speeding. it would had been better because i want to see them go at it with their real natural martial arts abilities... i think thats what we all want to see, not a cheap camera speed of the fight.
  • Yi-Long
    It's always nice to see HK doing more martial arts movies, especially with the latest trend of actually using talented martial artsis again instead of teenage popstars, and also nice that they aren't going back to the wire-fu hype form the early 90's.

    That said, I watched the Fist of Fury series, and I Just hope Donnie doesn't plan on repeating that performance again (acting-wise). Also, I feel Donnie might be too old to be playing the role of the angry young Chen Zhen. Maybe I'd prefer Tse Miu to have a go at it.

    Anyway, good news that we're having a bit of a kung fu boom again :)
  • Billeh
    A chance for more Yen vs nameless Japanese soliders combat scenes. Cool.
  • Milkyway
    I doubt Donnie'd do the ridiculous impersonations again, now that he's taking acting seriously. The biggest worry however (for me) is Gordon Chan directing. While certainly being capable of making good films he can also fail as much, as shown in last year's Painted Skin.
  • BruisedLo
    no april fools joke this time? lol. i dunno why gordon chan hasn't dropped the chen character yet. maybe lots of people still find interest in fist of legend, so he's using the character as a money maker haha.

    if dreams really do come true... donnie is gonna fill-in bruce lee's shoes... again... i don't know if i should be excited or be like ''oh hell no, not again!'' lol. oh i just can't wait to see his some what annoying bruce lee impressions again. xD
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