With Donnie Yen: Action cult remake of ‘John Wick’ creator finally becomes reality after years

The casting coup isn’t quite over yet, but it appears to be just a formality – so we expect to get an official confirmation soon, which then confirms: Donnie Yen stars in David Leitch’s “Kung Fu“!

Again – and therefore one of the best-connected magazines in Hollywood – is now reportedly about to finally take a decisive step forward with the project. This means that the realization of the new film, after many, many years, is closer than ever before.

“Kung Fu”: What takes a long time…

In 2014 – ten years ago now – we reported that (again!) a cinema remake of the series “Kung Fu” was being planned. There had already been attempts to revive the TV cult with “Kill Bill” star David Carradine in feature film format. But without success. And as we have known for a long time, all attempts at a cinema adaptation (as opposed to the TV remake with a female lead character) that would follow also failed. Until now.

But now it’s finally starting again. And martial arts fans are starting to have a little reason to hope – even if they’re keeping a low profile these days when it comes to anticipation. After all, it happens time and time again that even completed films end up in the trash and are never released, as was recently the case with “The Mothership” with Halle Berry.

…will things finally work out?

However, if the cameras actually start rolling on ‘Kung Fu’ soon, there’s a pretty good chance that something good will come of it. The team behind the film at Leitch and Yen is led by an extremely top team, both in front of and behind the camera.

David Leitch can take action and has decades of experience as a stuntman and as such worked on films such as ‘Troy’, ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith”, “Tron: Legacy” and the “Matrix” films – not coincidentally together with his later directorial partner Chad Stahelski, with whom he eventually directed “John Wick”. While Stahelski is still regularly in the director’s chair for the hitmen with Keanu Reeves However, Leitch has long been doing his own thing — directing “Atomic Blonde,” “Deadpool 2,” “Bullet Train” and the “Fast & Furious” spinoff “Hobbs & Shaw.”

Donnie yen on the other hand, he has been considered one of martial arts cinema’s biggest stars for decades, already impressed people in the 1990s in films such as ‘Wing Chun’ and ‘Iron Monkey’, and is now also a sought-after action actor in the dream factory. Years after his first Hollywood roles in ‘Blade II’ and ‘Shanghai Knights’, the ‘Ip Man’ star is now increasingly being seen on the big screen – most recently as the blind assassin Caine in ‘John Wick 4’.

“Donnie Yen is both an incredibly talented actor and an action movie legend,” said the “Kung Fu” director, who called it a “privilege” to work with such a martial arts master. Action and stunt icon Leitch can hardly wait to reinterpret the legendary classic starring him.

The 1970s series tells the story of Kwai Chang Caine, played by David Carradine, who travels through the American West as a Shaolin monk.