The turbulent career of Jimmy Wang is about to open a new chapter.
Once one of the biggest stars in all of Asia - and certainly the biggest action star in Hong Kong prior to the arrival of Bruce Lee - Jimmy Wang starred in a number of hit films for the Shaw Brothers, notably The One Armed Swordsman, before breaking his contract with the Shaws in 1970 and being black listed from working in Hong Kong.
Wang had dreams of international stardom but gained a reputation for being difficult on films such as The Man From Hong Kong and ended up working dominantly in Taiwan, where he was charged with murder in 1981 - the charges dropped due to lack of evidence - after which his career petered out. Wang would appear in only six films in the 1980s before experiencing a brief resurgence with another six between 1990 and 1993. But for the last seventeen years, nothing.
But now, in a nice piece of turn around, Peter Chan has cast Wang in an unspecified role in his Donnie Yen / Takeshi Kaneshiro film Wu Xia. Why is this so appropriate? This would be Chan's remake of Wang's biggest hit The One Armed Swordsman. The film is showing an extended reel of footage now at the American Film Market so expect word on that soon.
Once one of the biggest stars in all of Asia - and certainly the biggest action star in Hong Kong prior to the arrival of Bruce Lee - Jimmy Wang starred in a number of hit films for the Shaw Brothers, notably The One Armed Swordsman, before breaking his contract with the Shaws in 1970 and being black listed from working in Hong Kong.
Wang had dreams of international stardom but gained a reputation for being difficult on films such as The Man From Hong Kong and ended up working dominantly in Taiwan, where he was charged with murder in 1981 - the charges dropped due to lack of evidence - after which his career petered out. Wang would appear in only six films in the 1980s before experiencing a brief resurgence with another six between 1990 and 1993. But for the last seventeen years, nothing.
But now, in a nice piece of turn around, Peter Chan has cast Wang in an unspecified role in his Donnie Yen / Takeshi Kaneshiro film Wu Xia. Why is this so appropriate? This would be Chan's remake of Wang's biggest hit The One Armed Swordsman. The film is showing an extended reel of footage now at the American Film Market so expect word on that soon.
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