In 2000 director Ang Lee, known for ”Sense and Sensibility”, ”The Ice Storm” and ”Ride with the Devil”, brought the martial arts film ”Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” to cinemas. The result was the only martial arts film to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture and an ethereal QING China adventure.
Now, 15 years later, the sequel is set to hit Netflix and theatres simultaneously. ”Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny” (Also known as ”Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend”). Directed by martial arts film connoisseur Woo-Ping Yeun (”True Legend”, ”Heroes Among Heroes”, ”Iron Monkey”) this film focuses again on the legendary sword that is the basis of the original film and one last opportunity at redemption.
The sequel stars martial artist Donnie Yen, known for starring in ”Ip Man”, ”Ip Man 2” and ”Blade 2”. Michelle Yeoh returns, having also starred in the original film as well as ”Memoirs of a Geisha”, ”Sunshine” and ”Babylon A.D.”. The sequel also stars ”Step Up 2” star Harry Shum Jr, known recently for his role on ”Glee”.
The screenplay is penned by John Fusco and based on the book by Du Lu Wang. Fusco is known for screenplays such as ”Young Guns”, ”Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron”, ”Hidalgo” and TV series ”Marco Polo”. David Thwaites is on board as producer, having previously produced films such as ”Miss Potter” and ”Black Swan”. He is joined by producer Harvey Weinstein who has an extensive back catalogue, including films such as ”Southpaw”, ”Paddington”, ”Django Unchained” and ”Silver Linings Playbook”.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny marks the first film to be released on Netflix at the same time as it is released in theatres. This is also only the second Ang Lee film to have a sequel, with neither sequel being directed by Lee himself.
The film is set to be released on the 28th February 2016.
