cityonfire.com | Movie News & Developments |
- The Green Hornet and Kato have hired a new ‘Accountant’
- Toshiro Mifune honoured with star in Hollywood’s Walk of Fame
- Hong Kong’s Chapman To is directing a ‘Karate’ flick
- Will Van Damme finally show us some ‘Full Love’ next year?
| The Green Hornet and Kato have hired a new ‘Accountant’ Posted: 15 Nov 2016 03:59 AM PST  “The Green Hornet” Japanese Poster The masked crime-fighting duo, known as The Green Hornet and Kato, are once again heading to the big screen in a new Green Hornet reboot that’s currently in development. Gavin O'Connor, the filmmaker behind the recent Ben Affleck actioner, The Accountant, is set to helm the project. According to Deadline, O'Connor looks to wipe the slate clean with the hope that a storied, branded IP can get a do-over, as happened with Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight films and JJ Abrams' Star Trek and Star Wars pictures. The Green Hornet franchise – created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker – originated as a radio show in the 1930s that centered around a newspaper publisher and his Asian valet/martial arts expert. Secretly, the two battled crime as the feared Green Hornet and Kato. When the heroes made their transition from radio to screen, The Green Hornet, aka Britt Reid, and Kato, were played by Warren Hull/Gordon Jones and Keye Luke in the 1940s; then by Britt Reid and Bruce Lee in 1960s; and finally, by Seth Rogen and Jay Chou in the 2011 film. It’ll be interesting to see who they cast as the two main leads. Scarlett Johansson as Kato? And who knows, maybe O'Connor’s affiliation with Affleck means his Britt Reid as been found? The possibilities are endless – stay tuned! |
| Toshiro Mifune honoured with star in Hollywood’s Walk of Fame Posted: 15 Nov 2016 01:18 AM PST  “Mifune: The Last Samurai” Theatrical Poster It has been a great month for fans of Asian cinema. In the wake of Jackie Chan receiving an honorary Oscar, another icon is also being recognized for his astonishing cinematic achievement. On Monday, the late Toshiro Mifune (Incident at Blood Pass) was given a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. The legendary actor rose to stardom through Akira Kurosawa's classics such as Rashomon, Seven Samurai, The Hidden Fortress and Yojimbo. Mifune’s commanding screen presence earned him a reputation as the world's leading actors of chambara cinema. Mifune is the subject of Steven Okazaki’s upcoming documentary Mifune: The Last Samurai, which hits theaters next month. Watch the trailer below: |
| Hong Kong’s Chapman To is directing a ‘Karate’ flick Posted: 15 Nov 2016 12:30 AM PST  “Let’s Go!” International Theatrical Poster Hong Kong actor Chapman To (Infernal Affairs, Men Suddenly in Black) is getting ready to helm Karate, an upcoming martial arts-themed film that will be led by singer turned actress, Stephy Tang (Let’s Go). Karate will also star Stephen Au Kam-tong (Z Storm, Trivisa), a black belt in full contact karate, who is also training Tang for her physically demanding role. No other casting details are available at this time. Considering the film is coming from the often comedic To, who made his directorial debut feature with Let’s Eat!, we expect Karate to be more light-hearted than anything (so don’t expect The Raid). Filming starts this month with a release date set for next year (via HKSAR). Stay tuned! |
| Will Van Damme finally show us some ‘Full Love’ next year? Posted: 15 Nov 2016 12:01 AM PST  “Full Love” Theatrical Poster If you’re a fan of Jean-Claude Van Damme, chances are you’ve heard of the completed, but unreleased The Eagle Path (aka Full Love or Soldiers). The action drama is Van Damme’s first directorial effort since 1996’s The Quest. The project was shot on a budget of about $5 million (much of it, financed by Van Damme himself) on location in Thailand and eventually screened out of competition at the Cannes in 2010. Audiences at the Cannes screening offered a mixed reaction (watch Van Damme’s intro). There were even some critics who compared the film’s more ‘out there’ sequences to 2001: A Space Odyssey or Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life. Fans had to wonder: had Van Damme gone arthouse? Van Damme was reportedly unhappy with his final cut. Rumors suggested he wouldn’t release the movie in the West, even on DVD, until he was able to do another edit. But then, in mid-2011, the The Eagle Path suddenly appeared on Amazon.com’s UK website with a Blu-ray and DVD pre-order date set for June 20, 2011 by Revolver Entertainment. I pre-ordered the film myself (received this confirmation), only to receive a notification that the Blu-ray/DVD was getting pushed back to August. Then again to October 3, 2011. Finally, on October 4, 2011, I receive this in my in-box. It’s at this point that I never hear from Amazon.com again. A year later, Impact reports that producer Moshe Diamont (Universal Soldier: Regeneration) has come onboard to help initiate reshoot for The Eagle Path. The reshoots were done to help clarify the story and beef up the action sequences, which were inspired by Garath Evans’ The Raid. Around this time, Van Damme took to Facebook to assure fans of the status of the film: “The Eagle Path took longer than what I have expected but that is because I did some recent re-shooting with more ACTION scenes! The movie is going to be re-titled to SOLDIERS. Thank you for your patience… soon, wait for its huge première!” 2 years later on June 20, 2014, the film, now back to its original title, Full Love (see photo), premieres at the Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF). Strangely enough, no reviews have surfaced regarding the film’s screening at the SIFF. In 2015, “official” release dates started to show up on Imdb.com. “January 8, 2016” was the first date listed. It was later changed to “January 16, 2016” on both Imdb.com and Wikipedia. Just recently, the latter now has the release date with a “TBA” (to be announced) next to it. Given Wikipedia’s “written collaboratively by the people who use it” set up, the individual updating it is either someone (producer, production or distribution company) officially connected to the film or simply a “Van Damme Fan” who wants to make sure the info is accurate. Whatever the case, “TBA” is most accurate word describing its release date. Amidst all of this confusion, loyal Van Damme fans are losing patience. A forum member who calls himself ‘lpstkd’ (via Vandammefan.net) had this to say: “Sorry to say, but at this point, Van Damme should give The Eagle Path Blu-ray to someone, and that someone [should] leak it on the internet. Enough is enough.” Still, we should remain optimistic for an official release date. The big questions is: Will it be worth the wait? More importantly, do most JCVD fans even care at this point? For now, we have the film’s original trailer and a few clips ( 1 | 2 | 3 ) to go by. Updates: According to Van Damme’s new official website, there’s a chance we may see Full Love in 2017. If anything, it’s a good excuse to check out his new site, JCVD World, which has some interesting content. |
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