The legend goes that when Wong Kar-Wai brought "2046" to the Cannes Film Festival, the print was still dripping as he worked until the very last minute to finish it. And to say that his latest, the martial arts biopic "The Grandmaster," has had a few road bumps and delays would be an understatement. The film has been in production on and off for the past couple of years, and had things gone according to plan, it would be in theaters in China now, opening this week. But of course, WKW had to continue tinkering, and the release date was pushed to January 8, 2013. But it seems the end is nigh, god willing, and "The Grandmaster" has set an international bow.
Already slated to serve as the jury president, WKW will be opening the Berlin Film Festival with "The Grandmaster." The press release is using the "nearly three years of film production and almost a decade of preparation" to sell the picture that finds Tony Leung in the lead role of Ip Man, the master of Wing Chun who mentored Bruce Lee. So, it looks like finally — finally — the movie is done, or will be. But as for when it lands stateside? Well, Annapurna has the rights but hasn't yet signed a deal with a distributor, so we'll have to keep waiting.
Meanwhile, a handful of other titles have been announced for the fest, most notably: Gus Van Sant's "Promised Land," Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut "Don Jon's Addiction." DreamWorks' animated "The Croods," porn star biopic "Lovelace," and Noah Baumbach's "Frances Ha." Other titles include:
Panorama selection: Barbara Sarasola-Day's "Deshora" (Belated); Maria Florencia Alvarez's "Habi, the Foreigner"; Carlos Machado Quintela's "La Piscina" (The Swimming Pool); Ana Guevara Pose's "Tanta Agua" (So Much Water); Hee-il LeeSong's "White Night"; E J-Yong's "Behind the Camera"; Don-ku Lee's "Fatal"; Anais Barbeau-Lavalette's "Inch´Allah"; Yariv Horowitz's "Rock the Casbah" and Lars Kraume's "My Sisters"; Zaza Rusadze's "A Fold in My Blanket" and Felix van Groeningen's "The Broken Circle Breakdown."
Panorama Documentary showcase: Lian Lunson's "Sing Me the Songs That Say I Love You — A Concert for Kate McGarrigle," featuring Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, Emmylou Harris and Norah Jones; Dan Setton's "State 194"; Joshua Oppenheimer's "The Act of Killing"; Sandra Prechtel's "Roland Klick — The Heart Is a Hungry Hunter"; Mahdi Fleifel's "A World Not Ours"; Su Friedrich's "Gut Renovation" and Angela Christlieb's "Naked Opera."
The Berlinal Film Festival runs from Feb. 7-17, 2013. [Deadline/Variety]