Though details are scarce it appears clear that The Man With The Iron Fist - the twenty million dollar martial arts film directed, written, and produced by the RZA who also stars in the lead - is now in active production in China.
Co-producer Eli Roth, who helped develop the concept with RZA, tweeted on December 22nd that he had arrived in Shanghai, saying that "the Chinese film crew are so fast and efficient I feel like I'm watching an episode of Benny Hill."
The fact that Roth is on hand and taking an active role is, I think, a good thing and the only real chance that this film has of success. And I feel that way for a very simple reason. Strip away the RZA's celebrity value and what you're left with is a man with very limited acting experience whose only previous directing experience is with self financed, self produced projects that even he doesn't consider good enough to show to anyone. And putting someone like that into such a multi-hyphenate position where he is responsible for so much on the practical end risks completely overwhelming him without a firm hand to support and guide. And that's before you even get into the pressure being placed on him to carry the film as the lead actor - a position he has never been in before. Don't get me wrong, I'd really like the film to succeed, but placing this much money and this much responsibility on a man who has never filled any of these roles in any significant way before is a simply massive gamble.
[Updated with word from those close to the production that Tarantino is NOT in China after all.]
Co-producer Eli Roth, who helped develop the concept with RZA, tweeted on December 22nd that he had arrived in Shanghai, saying that "the Chinese film crew are so fast and efficient I feel like I'm watching an episode of Benny Hill."
The fact that Roth is on hand and taking an active role is, I think, a good thing and the only real chance that this film has of success. And I feel that way for a very simple reason. Strip away the RZA's celebrity value and what you're left with is a man with very limited acting experience whose only previous directing experience is with self financed, self produced projects that even he doesn't consider good enough to show to anyone. And putting someone like that into such a multi-hyphenate position where he is responsible for so much on the practical end risks completely overwhelming him without a firm hand to support and guide. And that's before you even get into the pressure being placed on him to carry the film as the lead actor - a position he has never been in before. Don't get me wrong, I'd really like the film to succeed, but placing this much money and this much responsibility on a man who has never filled any of these roles in any significant way before is a simply massive gamble.
[Updated with word from those close to the production that Tarantino is NOT in China after all.]
I feel better now. Really high hopes for this project, nothing wrong with calling in some help. Don't want RZA to end up like Tony Jaa.
The addition of Russell Crowe got me excited, but I'm really curious about what the tone of the film will be. I know that RZA loves his Shaw Brothers, but I wonder if this will move a bit closer to KILL BILL territory...
"This much money"...? Isn't 20 million dollars almost a low budget film by today's film-making standards? It's not as if the RZA has been greenlighted to do a Gone With The Wind or Wizard of Oz remake. I, for one, am excited about watching this when it is released. I can only hope I can see it at 3AM on a Saturday night in a Times Square movie theater, like I used to watch Shaolin Master Killer (known properly as 36th Chamber of Shaolin) and Master of Disaster (still looking/hoping/waiting for the Blu-ray of that one). This is a passion project; given the consistent level of passion that the RZA has demonstrated towards the subject matter for his entire career, I'm confident that he will do just fine.
Just curious, but does anyone know if RZA has any martial arts background?
"The fact that Roth is on hand and taking an active role is, I think, a good thing and the only real chance that this film has of success."
Or perhaps RZA, directing his third feature, learned something from his previous two unreleased, ultra-low-budget efforts. Eli Roth's involvement certainly helps the film's odds - he'd previously been involved with post-production on the unreleased RZA-directed WU-TANG VS THE GOLDEN PHOENIX - but it's by no means the ONLY real chance it has of success.
Since when did having Eli Roth around makes for a bonafied hit?Tarantion yes, but Eli?come on Todd! Stop the hatin!!You trying your best to knock this movie for whatever reason, maybe RZA didn't give you an autograph after a concert or something, but I do understand you gettin around the fact that a studio gave a black artist money for one of his passion projects.Obviously they saw something you didn't Todd! Get over it already!!
Before Tarantino made Reservoir Dogs he was "a man with very limited acting experience whose only previous directing experience is with self financed, self produced projects that even he doesn't consider good enough to show to anyone." ...oh my bad we were talking about the RZA.
Come on, all these first time directors come out of nowhere. And it ain't the Rza's problem or fualt if Gilliam or Aronofsky don't get the money they deserve.
How much do you wanna bet this film turns out to be a Juaquin Pheonix-esc documentary about a film gone wrong (or even Red Trousers)?
Nothing against Todd, by this point it's pretty obvious you don't hesitate to push your bias regarding directors and projects. You will pimp something like Merantau, a very lousy movie with mediocre fights, then go and flame something like Ong Bak 2, guess that one was lacking your name in the credits. You pimp torture-porn garbage like A Serbian film, but somehow I Saw the Devil is a film without "soul". You criticize Michelle Yeoh for not being in crap like the Matrix sequels, but being in crap like the Mummy 3 seems to be ok with you. Your review of Avatar pretty much smelled of James Cameron's cologne all the way to here, the list goes on and on.
Again, you have your preferences, we all have them, just be a bit more honest about why your prefer some stuff over other.
He never wished RZA ill, nor did he ever claim that the man is incapable of making a good film.
To be fair he did say "The fact that Roth is on hand and taking an active role is, I think, a good thing and the only real chance that this film has of success." That's not exactly saying that RZA's incapable of making a good film, but it's pretty close. But you're right to say that there's no rooting for RZA to fail here. Failure is merely the expected outcome.
What I do know is alot of actors have desires to one day become directors, and some of these actors are able to make smooth transitions into directing, by not taking courses, but paying attention to everything, technical wise around them..now with that being said, how come the same can't be done by a rap star or singer?Todd do you realize how many videos and other films the RZA has been in and been apart of? Countless! And he's always said he would pay attention to the technical aspect of those productions, so he was just soaking up all of this knowledge like a sponge until the right time came...and now it's here and he has to deliver!!
And if the film is 20 mill is that in American $ or yuan?If it's 20 million american, than this would be like 5 times the value since it's shooting in China, with all chinese crews! It should at least look epic in it's scale, wardrobes and sets too. I expect this will be different from the what we've seen lately, don't know if it's a good thing or bad thing, but as long as they cut down on the wire work and give me some straight up bloody, fight to the death kungfu kills that I'm down for it!
We'll don't think they don't have bilingual assistant directors over there to help with all of this either! To make this transition go more smooth. Tarantino did it during Kill Bill, and I'm sure RZA is using some of the same crew members. And those writing duties will also be Eli's responsibilities too, since he co-wrote the screenplay. They rehearse the fight choreography mainly in the early mornings, then they shoot those scenes.
Frankly, if that 20 Million USD is a fact and not just a rumor, I'd be very surprised if Roth is the only famous helping hand behind the scenes.
What wouldn't surprise me is if this turns out to be a very slick production and we've all been bamboozled into spreading the legend of the "suddenly astonishingly talented RZA".
Crazy conspiracy theory which I hope to be true:
This film is going to be like an anonymous Beatles record, with RZA playing the role of Ringo Starr. Eli is Paul McCartney. George and John haven't revealed themselves yet but I have a hunch or two who they might be. And it's being publicized as a Ringo Starr record, because it gets more tongues wagging at this point.
"you all just retreat into "He's a fan! He's got passion!"
I can't seem to find where I said that, so please don't "you all" me in with people who ARE saying it unless you're privy to a link I can't locate. Thanks.
My lack of fatalism is not based on OMG WU TANG WU TANG or his history as a passionate fan (though that certainly doesn't hurt, loving the genre you're aiming to participate in) - it's based things like him being not completely inexperienced, having both directed little DIY-ish projects and worked with full-scale professional crews as an actor. If he'd just done one or the other, it would be one thing. But having done both, in addition to appearing in countless music videos, he's in a better position to know how to properly interact with his crew, what different people ought to be doing, and how to best control the chaos. He's demonstrated a knack for planning in the past, which seems to have been further confirmed by your sources within the production who're telling you that he's actually directing, he's showing up well prepared to work, and is generally doing it well. Finally, he's got the sense to keep someone more experienced than himself on hand for advice though I maintain that's not the film's ONLY chance for success. "Only" is a strong word which harbors no exceptions. Nothing's certain here... good OR bad. I'm optimistic but not blind.
As a martial-arts fan I find this production absolutely ridiculous. The amount of money for a first-time director, first time leading man, first time as an unproven martial-arts star, first-time producer, first writer is an realistically insane. Who on earth is going to pay good money to watch this film?
I completely agree with Todd its far too much for someone without any experience beyond making the music sound track.
Having seen a clip of one of his films I was unimpressed and can't believe he managed to get such a budget. My thinking is that if he doesn't have faith enough in his own work to release it. How does he go from low-budget to 20 million?
I don't care if he's a fan or should I say so-called fan. He has shown his disdain for the genre with downright awful releases under the iron flag collection/Wu Tang Clan presents dvds.
I suppose even though the movie will probably be absolute (insert expletive). The money man must have figured his musical fan base will go blindly into this and make a healthy return.
If only "the Stunt People" were given a few million to make a movie! Contour cost what a few thousand dollars and was top notch on the action front. They need backing not some pop star, yes I called him a pop star for his obviously popular music, but a Martial arts star he aint.