Discussions are reportedly underway to shoot “Ip Man 3″ with singer Jay Chou and Donnie Yen, according to Mandarin Films Distribution spokesperson.
“The company would love to shoot ‘Ip Man 3′ with the original cast and crew. However, we will have to discuss the collaborative details with producer Raymond Wong to understand the situation, and if Jay Chou and Donnie Yen’s names come up during our discussions, it would be the perfect team,” said the spokesperson.
Wilson Yip, who directed the first two films, revealed back in March that if he could shoot the third film, it would (like the films before it) be about the life of kung fu grandmaster Ip Man, but focus more on his relationship with his famous student, martial arts legend Bruce Lee.
According to Yip, “Ip Man 3″ would feature an older Ip Man, so Yen might be made to look much older and appear in fewer action sequences than the previous films.
Mandarin Films and director Yip may be supportive of the project, but producer Raymond Wong, as well as Yen, the star of the franchise, were less enthusiastic.
“Ideally, I do not want to start shooting ['Ip Man 3'] this year or the next. There are so many ‘Ip Man’-related films on the market; we should wait till the audience digest it all!” said Wong on Tuesday.
His reluctance was shared by Yen, who had repeatedly said that the first two “Ip Man” films were good enough and did not wish to make a third.
“A lot of people want to see me do ‘Ip Man 3′ but I don’t want to do it in the near future. I will see how the script turns out before deciding,” said Yen on Tuesday.
“If Jay Chou is chosen to play Bruce Lee, I think he should train with me for six months before shooting starts, so he can look convincing during kung fu action sequences.”
Apart from the “Ip Man” series, another movie is in production about the kung fu master. Wong Kar Wai‘s “The Grand Master”, which stars Tony Leung, has been plagued by mishaps and delays and is set to hit screens in 2011.
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