By | Published March 24, 2010

Mandarin Films has sold North American distribution rights for kung fu movies IP MAN and IP MAN 2 to Well Go USA. In a written statement, a spokesman for Well Go USA confirmed the news to Kung Fu Cinema.

IP MAN and its sequel IP MAN 2 both star Donnie Yen as Wing Chun Master Yip Man, best known as Bruce Lee’s martial arts instructor. In both films, Yip comes into conflict with foreigners and rival martial artists while gradually becoming the first master of Wing Chun to openly teach the martial art.

IP MAN was originally released in 2008 while the sequel is scheduled to premiere in Asia on April 29, 2010. IP MAN 2 will feature a highly anticipated screen re-match between Yen and co-star Sammo Hung. Their last screen battle was in the 2005 hit crime actioner SPL (aka KILL ZONE). All three films have been directed by Wilson Yip.

This acquisition is a substantial step forward for Well Go USA, a well-established North American distributor that first emerged as an Asian action importer with the acquisition and release of a selection of Shaw Brothers martial arts classics beginning in 2008. They have since broadened their scope to include Japanese action films such as GEISHA ASSASSIN, HARD REVENGE MILLY and NEGATIVE HAPPY CHAINSAW EDGE.

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  • Rhythm-X

    Holy crap! How did Well Go manage to get this? Now if they'd just be so kind as to not fuck it up, that would be really awesome, because I'd like to be able support this release.

    Is there a theatrical release in the works or just DVD and hopefully Blu-ray?

  • http://www.MostRoyal.com/ Jeff

    Finally! I'd like to see a decent Blu-Ray transfer of this movie. The Hong Kong imports look really poor, grainy, and have a lot of compression artifacts.

  • http://twitter.com/nectarsis Byron Brauner

    PLEASE let this be handled properly.

  • iman

    The only hope is that who ever the get it from has done it properly. From what I've seen Well Go just repackages what ever they get the rights to.

  • Rhythm-X

    True, thus far. However this would seem to be something of a game changer for the company just by virtue of its newness and high profile. If they can afford IP MAN and the unreleased IP MAN 2, then I can't assume anything about anything RE: Well Go. Uncharted waters and all that.

  • Zack Howe

    I am so excited that Ip Man and Ip Man 2 are finally coming to the United States, thanks to Well Go USA! I have been wanting to see Ip Man ever since I read so many great reviews for the film.

    Let's just hope that Well Go USA allows us to watch both of the movies in their entirety, and not severly edited.

  • parpypants

    if general release, then lucky US cinemagoers. why cant we have that in the UK? oh i forgot. boring and crap country. oh well, theres always youtube

  • http://www.shaolinchamber36.com/ Raymond

    This is very good news. I will be supporting Well Go and purchase both films when released. Supporting these companies releasing anything Fu related is a must, whether I have a job or not. :)

  • http://film-book.com/ Film-Book

    Ip Man 2 MOVIE TRAILER has been released:
    http://film-book.com/ip-man-2-2010-movie-trailer/