Shaolin Temple was the 1982 debut of kung fu sensation Jet Li, and big surprise, it’s slated to be remade. Another big shocker, it’s going to be made in 3D, and Justin Lin, helmer behind several Fast and Furious movies, will make the reboot in China, in mandarin language no less.
As Deadline reports, Lin is looking for a top writer to take this on, and it will cost over $100 million. Lin’s producer promised Deadline the Shaolin remake will be a “blockbuster unlike ever seen for (the Chinese) market.” And as this report tells us, this movie could be out when China finally cements its power as the biggest movie market in the world. (The American film market desperately needs China’s box office to make more money on their movies.)
Lin will be directing the next Bourne film, then he’ll tackle Shaolin. As his producer continued, “The aim is to make an unprecedented Chinese-based tentpole with story, style and scope that will resonate with global audiences well.”
So could this be the next Crouching Tiger, which was released in its native language and was a big hit in the States? It would be great to see a great Asian movie come along and reinvent cinema like John Woo’s movies did back in the nineties. This remake is going to have to be more than just a 3D kung-fu film to do that, and we don’t get the impression this one could reinvent the wheel, but a true martial arts film in 3D could be enormous fun if it’s done in the right spirit.
