"The Grandmaster 3D" Theatrical Poster
Wong Kar-Wai’s epic martial arts feature, The Grandmaster (read our review), will be re-released in China with a new 3D conversion. Despite a shorter runtime of 111 minutes (the original international cut was 11 minutes longer), the re-release features a “new structure and more streamlined storytelling,” according to The Playlist (via FCS).
The Grandmaster – starring Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Zhang Ziyi – is inspired by the life and times of the legendary kung fu master, Ip Man, who mentored Bruce Lee.
The Grandmaster 3D opens in China on January 8th. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for a North American release. Until then, here’s three new promos/trailers ( 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 ) for the re-release.
You know, I’m a big fan of Wong Kar-Wai and Tony Leung but this teaser did nothing to bolster my confidence in the film. The movie is going to have to present a significantly different take on the Ip Man character in order to stand out against Donnie Yen’s film – perhaps a more realistic, historically-based depiction of the man. This teaser, though, plays as full blown superhero fantasy and looks almost identical to all the ‘fighting in the rain’ that Yuen Woo-Ping choreographed for “The Matrix Revolutions”!
I agree with you to some extent, HKFanatic, that both teasers not going to get many excited for the film. Again, doing a story about Ip Man when the Donnie Yen films are so well liked is a difficult task and differentiating “The Grandmasters” from those in the eyes of audiences might be another hurtle. I, for one, am looking forward to this film. We haven’t seen a Wong Kar-Wai film since “My Blueberry Nights” in 2007, and while I enjoyed that film (probably one of the few), it certainly left a lot to be desired.
The sign of a true Wong Kar-Wai film might be one that enjoys “My Blueberry Nights.” I admit, I’ve only given the film one screening but I just couldn’t take it. The acting made my teeth grind. Jude Law was charismatic but Norah Jones just had no presence and Natalie Portman seemed to be channeling Britney Spears during her ‘shaved head, shotgun wedding’ phase. I was aghast at how poorly that movie turned out, though it may have been the result of Wong Kar-Wai working outside of his native language.
“My Blueberry Nights” and, to a lesser extent, “2046” have somewhat shaken my faith in Wong Kar-Wai. That said, he’s still directed at least three of my favorite films of all time (“Fallen Angels,” “In the Mood For Love,” “Happy Together”). I’m still pulling for him to turn in a great film. But considering that Donnie Yen has already portrayed the definitive Ip Man in a lot of people’s minds, this is perhaps the first Wong Kar-Wai project that foreign movie fans *aren’t* feverishly anticipating.
Checking something.
No shocker, there. Some of us still remember how long WKW took with 2046. Hopefully, this will turn out just as awesome.
Australian release date !!!!! when ???
The Weinstein Company has distribution rights for “The Grandmasters” in UK and Australia…but they haven’t announced a release date yet. We’ll keep you posted!
Annapurna’s handling the U.S. release of Grandmasters.
Yup. Thank God.
Why a another film on ip man? In the story of chinese kung fu there are a lot of tales waiting to be told.
WKW’s gotta get paid.
This movie was also in development long before Donnie Yen’s Ip Man even hit the screens.
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I just love the atmosphere Wong Kar-Wai creates. Also, he always gets the best out of Tony Leung, and Zhang Ziyi was phenomenal in “2046,” a movie I really adore. I agree with comments on the trailers being a little weak, but I have enough faith in the filmmaker and actor to be really, really excited about this.
Obviously, the Donnie Yen/Wilson Yip films aren’t going away, so we’ll always have those to go back to, but I can’t imagine Wong Kar-Wai’s take on the story could be so bereft of merit as to make its existence moot.
That poster would almost be awesome if that shitty tagline wasn’t there.
Also, Bruce Lee’s “master”? Can’t they say teacher? =p
Ok, I’ll admit that the second trailer is actually pretty good, for the most part. So I guess they put some effort into it, this time.
Reminds me of one of the Punch-Drunk Love posters.
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