"King Boxer" Chinese Theatrical Poster
Director Brett Ratner (Rush Hour franchise) is planning to remake the 1972 Shaw Brothers classic, King Boxer, a martial arts film that’s better known by its U.S. title, Five Fingers of Death.
According to TB.com: Ratner and partner James Packer (The Revenant) will produce the project, which is set up under their RatPac Entertainment banner. They’ll be working alongside Celestial Pictures, the Hong Kong-based company which owns the rights to the Shaw Brothers film library. No other details are available at the moment.
The original Chinese film was directed by Korean filmmaker Jeong Chang Hwa (The Association) and starred the late Lo Lieh (City War). The movie is noted for being the first kung fu title released in America.
King Boxer is not the first time Ratner toyed with a martial arts classic. Early last year, the director expressed interest in remaking Bruce Lee’s 1973 staple, Enter the Dragon. He stated that it would be a ‘reimagining of Robert Clouse’s iconic showcase for Lee’s talents’.
The overall idea of Hollywood studios wanting to remake Shaw films has been going on for a few years. At one point, The Weinstein Company had a deal with Celestial to remake 1966’s Come Drink With Me and 1978’s Avenging Eagle. More recently, Tencent Pictures paired up with Celestial to develop a remake of 1976’s The Magic Blade.
Hong Kong filmmaker Derek Yee (Shinjuku Incident) is currently in post-production for his Chinese-produced remake Death Duel, a 1977 Shaw film that Yee starred in during the height of his acting career.
With the exception of Yee’s Death Duel remake, the aforementioned films have been stuck in development hell. We honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Ratner’s King Boxer remake meets the same fate. Whatever the case, we’ll keep you in the loop.
Lol, I wonder if this would just be another rip off remake with racial remarks everywhere. Rush Hour was like that. I think remakes shouldnt really be made at all. Its like Man of Steel with Christopher Reeve’s Superman. Nobody really cared to see it.
You lost me there. I could of swore Man of Steel was the highest-grossing Superman film of all time. I didn’t care for it.
I want to know how Ratner continues to get these directing jobs. He must work for pennies or super cheap. I thought X3 would have ended him but he keeps popping back up.
The same reason why filmmakers like John Moore (A Good Day to Die Hard) keep getting gigs… and trust me, Moore makes Ratner look like Stanley Kubrick. I don’t think Ratner is a bad filmmaker… I just don’t think a remake of a martial arts classic is within his capability. He needs to stick with dramas starring Nicolas Cage.
Hollywood doesn’t care of you’re a below average director – all they care about is if you can produce something/anything that will make them a profit.
Can you get the job done without going over budget?
Will the mass pee-on’s come and see your movie?
Have you proved yourself worthy of making a profitable movie (despite bad reviews)?
Are you willing to bow down to the creative controlling of the studios?
People like Moore have answered YES to all the above questions.
I would love to have the creative freedom a director like Quentin Tarantino has. Not only do his movies make money, but he pretty much calls the shots. The guy could potentially release a blank screen and producers will call him a genius. And I like QT… my point is he’s a rare case where art comes first. His art just so happens to bring in the $$$$.
Brett Ratner has been accused by various women of sexual harassment or misconduct.
Could be worse. Someone could think a new Crippled Avengers is a good idea.
Honestly, that would make more sense than King Boxer. I find it strange that he picked this movie. Mind you, I haven’t seen it in years… but the fact that he’s remaking this – and not just making his own MA flick or something else – is beyond me. Maybe I have to watch it again. I remember it being forgettable. There’s definitely a reason why Bruce took the world by storm a little later on…
He’s a strange one Brett Ratner. He popped up on a few Dragon Dynasty dvd releases doing audio commentary with Bey Logan (in which Logan patiently and politely corrects the dozens of errors Ratner keeps making). He’s also interviewed on some of them, giving his opinions on some films and Kung Fu stars. Generally saying things like “Jet Li is really good at Martial Arts.” and “Michelle Yeoh is really good at martial arts……and she’s a woman.” and “Chewie Hark (that’s how he pronounced it) is really good at making martial arts films.” Thanks for the insight Brett.
He seems like a really nice guy and it’s great seeing someone enthusiastically talk about the Kung Fu classics we all love, but for a film director he seems to have little to no clue what elements make the best Hong Kong film makers effective. If he can’t spot these, he’s the wrong man to remake a great one like King Boxer.
Here’s a better idea, don’t remake King Boxer.