HBO Asia and China Movie Channel to Produce New Kung Fu Films

"Master of the White Crane Fist: Wong Yan-Lam"
"Master of the White Crane Fist: Wong Yan-Lam" (photo: China Movie Channel and HBO Asia)
By Mei ManuelDecember 29th, 2018

On Monday, the China Movie Channel and HBO Asia announced that they will be releasing their co-produced martial arts films - "Master of the White Crain Fist: Wong Yan-Lam" and "Master of the Nine Dragon Fist: Wong Ching-Ho" - next year in both platorms.

The two new films are the latest installments to China Movie Channel's martial-arts movie series in partnership with HBO Asia. They previously released "Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So and "Master of the Shadow-less Kick: Wong Kei-Ying." Both films received good ratings and reviews when they debuted in 2016 for Christmas Day. 

This was also the first time Chinese and foreign TV networks had made simultaneous broadcasts, covering 20 countries and regions. This repeated during the 2017 Spring Festival as they rebroadcast the two films at the same time.

Both films were later shown in Cinemax and in European variants of HBO in the same year. Apple also released it as part of its on-demand video service. It was later available on DVD and Blu-ray.

According to Zhang Ling, one of the top heads of China Movie Channel, during the press conference in Beijing on Monday, the success of the first two films paved the way for continuous collaboration between the two firms. It also paves the way to introduce the Chinese culture to the rest of the world and create a new TV model for foreign networks to follow.

Meanwhile, Guo Jianyong is the director for "Master of the White Crane First: Wong Yan-Lam", which focuses on how kung fu master Wong inflitrated an opium-trafficking gang and broke it. The "Master of the Nine Dragon First: Wong Ching-Ho" is directed by Si Xiaodong and focuses on the story of how the kung fu master turned his enemies to friends and led the local martial arts heroes of Guangzhou to fight illegal British opium dealers.

The producers said that the movies will introduce Chinese culture and martial arts morals and spirit.

The two films will be released on both China Movie Channel and HBO Asia on February 20 and 21, 2019.

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