By | Published March 24, 2009

Donnie Yen

Start-up production house Cinema Popular has announced their debut feature, a $23 million historical epic with an all-star cast led by Donnie Yen. BODYGUARDS AND ASSASSINS, previously known as DARK OCTOBER, has been in development for ten years by director Teddy Chan and is now ready to begin shooting in April with a powerhouse line-up of actors.

The story is a fictional account of an assassination attempt on revered Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-sen and the efforts of kung fu masters who protected him before the Chinese Revolution overthrew the Qing Dynasty in 1911.

Sun Yat-sen is popularly referred to as the Father of Modern China who played a critical role in the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and the subsequent establishment of a short-lived republic. He is one of few political figures in 20th-century China who is admired by otherwise opposed politicians on the mainland and in Taiwan.

The role of Sun Yat-sen was originally offered to Chow Yun-fat who opted instead to play Chinese philosopher Confucius in an upcoming biopic. Final casting for the role has not yet been announced.

Yen will portray “Gambler,” a character who is shaping up to be somewhat antiheroic in that he is described as not being patriotic or righteous and is uncertain of his place in the revolution.

Other leading cast members include Leon Lai as “Beggar,” Wang Xueqi as “Scion,” Nicholas Tse as “Rickshaw Puller,” Tony Leung Kar-fai as “Revolutionary,” Hu Jun as “Assassin,” Eric Tsang as “Police Commissioner,” Simon Yam as “General in Exile,” Fan Bing-bing as “Mistress,” Wang Po-chieh, and Zhou Yun.

It is reported that Cinema Popular, a joint venture between producer-director Peter Chan, producer Huang Jin-xin’s We Pictures and China’s Polybona International , is set to become China’s first major studio. They have set up a revolving $73.2 million fund for a slate of 15 films over the next three years.

A video of the press announcement with the lead cast, director and producers can be found at Baidu.

This is a fascinating project that looks to give kung fu action more historical relevance, even if it is fictional. My only concern is Teddy Chan, director of THE ACCIDENTAL SPY. He hasn’t done anything of consequence since that disappointing Jackie Chan movie and it’s unclear if he’s up to the task of heading a project of this magnitude, even with 10 years of preparation. However, producer Peter Chan does have a good track record with films like THE EYE, THREE… EXTREMES, PROTEGE, and THE WARLORDS. When added to such a great cast, this film should at least do well commercially.

It’s certainly keeping Donnie busy. He’s also scheduled to star in two sequels to IP MAN.

Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, Screen Daily, Sina via Wu-Jing.org

Discuss this topic in the comments section below or in our related forum thread.

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  • Monk Sante

    Not holding my breath on this one, Donnie’s work has been disappointing as of late.

  • Billeh

    “Donnie’s work has been disappointing as of late”? I’m sorry but have you been watching his recent films with your eyes closed? Ip Man was argueably the best kung fu film in years, it was richer and more enjoyable then Fearless, while Flash Point kicked ass.
    Yen’s at the top of his class right now.

  • Solid Ronin

    I liked the Accidentaly Spy! But I can see where people who have their doubts. and I agree with the exception of Flash Point Donnie Yen is doing pretty great …

    and if only he’d get to work on Dragon Tiger Gate II. As long as hes the action director and they put either better or much less drama, it could be the best movie of all time.

  • Monk Sante

    “Ip Man was argueably the best kung fu film in years, it was richer and more enjoyable then Fearless”…..I disagree 100%. Fearless had story, good fight scenes throughout the film (not just the ending thanks to YWP), and good production values. Donnie has been in the game for a long time but other than his work with Yuen Woo Ping, the rest of his films lack the term “Classic”.

  • Milkyway

    “Donnie has been in the game for a long time but other than his work with Yuen Woo Ping, the rest of his films lack the term “Classic”.”

    I beg to differ. Donnie Yen’s choreography elevated HK MA movies from being typical 80s modern day fare and now everyone copies what he’s done. Woo Ping? He barely does anything interesting anymore.

    “Donnie’s work has been disappointing as of late.”

    80s is over. Move on.

  • tie

    I would have to agree with Monk, Donnie Yen cant be the only action act that hong honk can offer!?
    Y not Wu Jing or some new actor. Even bck in the good day u had either Jackie, Biao , Sammo or Jet

    Hong Kong needs some new blood

  • Milkyway

    Getting new blood, whether they are martial artists or actors, isn’t easy because experienced directors are looking for specifics in people, not only the talent they restrict to, thus takes time för the talents to develop and improve. Wu Jing is so far the only other martial artist that’s been given a chance (more than once) but he still needs better exploitation and more demands because his recent movies after SPL were very poor in story and acting.

    Donnie has all the reasons to be casted in the movie and be considered the action star movie industry people should turn to right now because he, beside proving his strong physical abilities, has proved that he can take acting seriously and carry a whole movie on his own.

  • nicaraguan23

    Yen has not been dissapointing as of late. DTG was fun to watch, so was IP man SPL was also great. You guys need to get out of your depression.

  • Manny77

    For some reason every time a news about Donnie Yen gets posted on this site it seen to get more comments then any other, wheater you like his movies or not you still go to see them because if the story or the plot suck you still get great martial arts fights and that’s what we the MA fans love, no taking anything away from Jackie, Sammo or Biao but Donnie’s movies appeal more to this new age of martial arts fans. Wu Jing is a great martial artist but he can seen to carry a movie on his own, I hope he can replace Donnie one day, he does have more charisma then Donnie, but for now Donnie is the man, aside from Dragon Tiger Gate (not a bad movie on my oppinion) all his movies has been equal or better then any other martial arts movie that has come out on the past 8 years at least.

  • tie

    The reason we talk about him all the time and watch his movies, is because we no that he could be a great actor. He used to make some reaslly good movies when he was with Yuen Woo Ping, but i dnt want to live in the past. Now aday i find myself turning to other countries for good martial art movies.

  • Milkyway

    “For some reason every time a news about Donnie Yen gets posted on this site it seen to get more comments then any other”

    It’s just the hype, nothing more.

  • Anonymous

    No I disagree, hype is The Dark Knight or some other shite.

  • Monk Sante

    What the industry needs to do is go back to the basics. Look back in the 70′s for example, the genre was packed with real martial artist turn actors………..need I say more?
    I don’t hate Donnie, he is a good martial artist but what I mean in my previous posts is that his films don’t have that quality these films used to have. SPL is probably his best film in recent memory and Ip Man was far from a bio-pic on the real Martial arts masters life, I wanted Ip man not Wong Fei Hung!? Good fight scenes on the 2 films mentioned, Thanks SAMMO!

  • Milkyway

    Ip Man was far from a bio-pic on the real Martial arts masters life, I wanted Ip man not Wong Fei Hung!?

    I don’t get why people complain about Ip Man not being a truthful biopic on a kung fu master, It’s not like any other biopic (Fearless falls in that category as well despite it’s richer and better developed story and characters… remember the lawsuit filled against the cast and crew around the same time it was released?) made before it portrayed the kung fu masters the way they intended to be like. When a director says “We’re going to make an action version of Yip Man’s life” about a biopic, it clearly indicates what it will be like. Besides, had the movie been focused on solely on Yip Man’s life, we would’nt have gotten these fantastic fights in the movie since it’s known that Yip Man fought very little in real life. The audience doesn’t want that, they want to see them do their thing.

    Wong Fei Hung? You’re wrong. What you see is in the portrayal is HOW Yip Man was in real life.

  • angel Hidalgo

    come on now!!! i have followed donnie career since his yuen woo ping days. donnie has come along way. you should ask your self why do you keep watching his movies. i will tell you why cause he gets better and better at what he does and thats entertain us with his MA. his acting skills are on point. donnie is finally getting the recognition he deserves i must say his name alone carries a movie the man is entertaining, his fight scene are becoming more and more realistic as for jet le who went hollywood on us has fallen off and needs to go back to his roots… so yes DONNIE YEN is the man and i cant wait for his future projects… how can you not like him his MA skills are off the hook…DONNIE YEN for pres…lol True Story!!!

  • http://www.nostalgiafamilyvideo.com Athertton

    The seventies style is probably never gonna coming back. I think you should be thankful we’re getting Donnie Yen, Wu Jing and not Charlie’s Angels or Street Fighter Legend of Chun Li all the time. It’s been said before are needs as hardcore fans are in the minority.

  • GrandMaster T

    Were the fight scenes in Ip Man that good? Certainly superior to 90% of the dreadful shit that is passed as action these days, but when compared to some of Yen’s prior work and Jet Li’s early 90′s material- hmmm- me not think so. The one on one scenes certainly weren’t comparable to the quality of Flashpoint or SPL, and the one vs many fights suffered from a stilted, ‘I’ll wait for each of mates to be beaten up in turn before I give it a go’ vibe. It’s the same problem I had with Tony Jaa’s Tom Yun Goon, particularly the ‘bone-breaking scene, in that the one on many fights could be more realistically appraised as a series of very short one on one fights. One hapless underling attacks and is wasted. Next underling swings a punch, misses and finds his elbow summarily shattered. Next underling, having watched his two friends get destroyed in record time, thinks he could do a better job- and well- it turn out he can’t. Rinse, repeat, until all evil henchmen are dead or otherwise disposed of. Now I realise that in any movie watching situation one has to indulge in a certain level of ‘suspension of disbelief’, but if you compare Ip Man’s Dojo scene or the aforementioned Tom Yun Goon battle to say Jet Li’s wicked cool Dojo battle in Fist of Legend- well at least the poor Japanese look like they’re trying to fight as some sort of collaborative unit. Doesn’t help, obviously, but they still try. Donnie Yen’s still a bad-ass, don’t get me wrong, but I thought Ip Man was overrated.

  • tie

    Hong Kong MA cinmea is going thro a bad time!

  • Darrin Kemp

    To Milkyway: Dude, there is never going to be a realistic bio pic of any martial arts master. Why? Because the truth is that real martial arts are when properly and realistically depicted are violent and ugly. Trust me. I am an actual kung fu stylist born, raised,and still living in the South Bronx. I have been unfortunately forced to use my kung fu for self defense. In most cases my attacker(s) went to the hospital and I went to central booking.SPL comes preeety close with the even when you win you lose ending, and the bloody out come of the end fight in Flashpoint was good as well. How ever the whole Wong Fei Hung forgiveness and forbearance thing when you learn the real histories of some of the most reveared kung fu Sifu is complete total and utter bullshit. Seriously. But it’s cool Milky I like you anyway :)

  • Darrin Kemp

    Hey is anyone old enough to remember Shanghai 13. The exact same plot.

  • Milkyway

    Don’t worry Darren. That’s exactly what I was stating in my post, only that I forgot to quote Monk Sante’s piece of text on the top.

  • Jack

    Whats with this “Donnie yen’s work has been disappointing?” In my opinion his old movies were not very exciting to watch, but now his movies SPL, Flash Point, and Ip Man are one of the best fighting movies. I hope he makes more movies. I like his style and how he acts. He can truly bring out the character he is acting. I’ve used to like Jet Li and Jackie Chan’s martial art movies but now, they barely make any and moved on to Hollywood. Their recent film, “The Forbidden Kingdom,” wasn’t all that good. But now, I favor Donnie Yen movies. Donnie Yen is one of my favorite actors in HK now. He worked hard to get where he is today. I wish him the best of luck and hope that he will be acknowledge to everyone around the world.

  • SenseofTouch

    People criticizing the Ip Man vs 10 Black Belts fight scene have the logic of a kindergartner, so shallow. How is it unrealistic? What is realism? You’ve been in the situation of one man versus multiple attackers? You’ve studied well in the psychology of such situations? The closest thing you’ll be able to show me is the video on Youtube called “Boxer vs 4″ and that is not a whole lot different than the Ip Man fight scene.

    In a single fight exists countless situations, each lasting probably a split second. For example, if I was one of the Black Belts that was fighting Ip Man, I wouldn’t move in to Ip Man’s range of attack unless I feel at least a bit comfortable.

    “Oh, one guy fails at landing a punch and gets dropped and Ip Man isn’t watching. I think I should go in now and kick him”

    *Kicks”

    “Oh fuck he turned around”

    *Gets dropped*

    And this is only one example

  • Milkyway

    Cung Le has joined the cast and will play what looks like a henchman to Hu Jun’s villainous character. This should mean a clash between him and Donnie!!!

  • Donnie Yen is the best Martial Artist

    Donnie Yen is the best Martial Artist of today “Know One Can Touch Him” this guy takes my breath away he started training in Wushu @ the age of two this guy is very skillful and knows many,many techniques. Love the all star cast Donnie Yen doesn’t get much props in the USA because he’s not a sell out like Jet Li don’t get me wrong Jet is good but Donnie Yen is more skillful, and stronger..

    Donnie Yen is the reason I train in several martial arts styles today Ta Kwon Do, Kungfu/Wushu,

  • Dream Movie

    Bodyguards & Assassins will screening in Australia too same day & date release as the rest of the world at the following cinemas that screen regular asian blockbuster releases:
    HOYTS ASIAN CINEMAS (http://www.hoyts.com.au)
    NSW Broadway & Chatswood Mandarin
    VIC Melbourne Central & Chadstone
    WA Carousel
    AMC CINEMAS (http://www.a-m-c.com.au)
    QLD Sunnybank 8

    3 MORE DAYS TO GO!

  • Dream Movie

    Bodyguards & Assassins will screening in Australia too same day & date release as the rest of the world at the following cinemas that screen regular asian blockbuster releases:
    HOYTS ASIAN CINEMAS (http://www.hoyts.com.au)
    NSW Broadway & Chatswood Mandarin
    VIC Melbourne Central & Chadstone
    WA Carousel
    AMC CINEMAS (http://www.a-m-c.com.au)
    QLD Sunnybank 8

    3 MORE DAYS TO GO!