After a hiatus-ending turn in Sylvester Stallone’s testosterone-filled “The Expendables,” Jet Li is set to reteam with his “Once Upon A Time In China” director Tsui Hark in a 3D remake of classic martial arts film “Dragon Inn” (aka “Dragon Gate Inn”).
Li will play Ming Dynasty General Chow Wai-On who takes on a power-hungry eunuch Tsao Siu-Yan, with the two ultimately show-downing at a deserted inn called Dragon Gate. No actor has yet been cast in the role of Li’s nemesis, though actress Zhou Xun has been cast as the inn’s seductive owner and, presumed Li love interest, Jade.
The original film, King Hu’s 1967 “Dragon Inn,” is noted as being one the most influential works of wuxia, the genre of fiction that concerns martial artists in Ancient China, and has already been remade once with reasonable success in a 1992 film by Raymond Lee starring Tony Leung, Brigitte Lin, Maggie Cheung and Donnie Yen.
Hark was, in fact, a producer and writer on that particular project with production company Polybona now reported to have paid through the roof to reunite him with Li in what will be their first collaboration for 18 years. On paper, the movie looks like a sure bet with the reunion and the prospect of Li’s martial arts in 3D likely to spark a flurry of interest. Whether Li’s name means anything at the box office now remains to be seen after a less-than-successful venture in the United States that produced the likes of “War,” “The Forbidden Kingdom” and “The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor.”
Lensing on “New Dragon Gate Inn” begin this September.