Everybody's kungfu fighting

By Qiu Yijiao and Liu Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-26 10:33

Jackie Chan, Andy Lau and Nicolas Tse will join more than 1,000 kungfu monks from the legendary Shaolin Temple to make a 200 million yuan ($29 million) blockbuster.

Set in early 20th century China, Shaolin Temple tells the story of a young hero who battles warlords with the help of kungfu masters from the Shaolin Temple, which was founded in the 5th century and is acclaimed as a sacred place for martial arts studies.

Director Benny Chan says the film wouldn't be a remake of, or sequel to, Jet Li's big screen debut by the same name that premiered 27 years ago. Instead, the two films' storylines are very different.

Li's film was set in the 7th century and was about a young monk's personal growth and cultivation of martial arts skills.

Andy Lao in Shaolin Temple talking about the new blockbuster.

The flick made him a household name overnight and set the stage for his rise as an international kungfu star. It was so popular that many young people from around Asia went to the temple in Henan province to learn martial arts. It raked in more than 100 million yuan, during a time when a film ticket cost only 10 fen (less than 2 cents) in China.

Han Sanping, chairman of China Film Group, one of the film's investors, told a press conference on Thursday that he believes the new Shaolin film will generate more box office revenue than Li's.

Also behind the project is Hong Kong-based Emperor Motion Pictures and Songshan Shaolin Temple Culture Communication Center, a company backed by the temple. Huayi Brothers and Beijing Silver Moon Productions Ltd are also on board.

"We felt that it was important not to rush into a film," Shaolin Abbot Shi Yongxin says.

"It has taken us a long time to find the right partners who had all of the right elements for something as monumental as this."

Tse will lead the cast. Joining him are Chan, Lau, mainland actress Fan Bingbing and more than 1,000 Shaolin disciples.

Chan will play a chef monk and kungfu master.

Lau, who plays a warlord, says he was among the millions impressed by Li's film years ago and won't compare it with the new project. He is thrilled to participate in such a film to promote traditional Chinese kungfu.

Corey Yuen, who choreographed such hits as Red Cliff (Chi Bi) and The X-Men, will take charge of the kungfu scenes, some of which will be shot inside the temple.

Filming will start later this year and the film will be released at the end of 2010.