Donnie Yen praises Hong Kong’s return to China, “sleeping dog” – variety

Hong Kong “Mulan” star Donnie Yen This week he reiterated his political allegiance to the mainland while working on the upcoming theatrical adaptation of the popular video game “Sleeping Dog” and announcing a new China-backed crime thriller “Golden Empire” supporting mainland China.

His birthplace is currently reeling from the effects of a controversial new national security law imposed by Beijing that seized many of Hong Kong’s previous freedoms, effective July 19 – the anniversary of Britain’s handover of the territory to China. Ten people protesting its terms arrested a 15-year-old girl within 24 hours of the law being enforced.

On the same day, however, the “IP Man” star posted a celebratory message with champagne bottle emojis on his Chinese and Western social media accounts. He recalled below a video of himself tickling ivory and shaking hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping: “Remembering such a memorable night. [sic] Where I had the opportunity to perform in 2017 [sic] Including piano maestro [sic] Hundreds of guests who came to see the event and celebrated the night, including the Lang XI for Chairman XI and wife! ”

Comments on his Instagram version of the post have been “restricted” and show only positive feedback. But on her official Facebook account, the post received more teeth from fans who were surprised by her “celebration” which many thought was a “destructive event”.

“He probably has 100 million reasons. But actually seeing the tragedy [a] A talented person like Donnie fights for people on set but can’t do it in real life anymore, ”wrote one commenter.

Yen himself responded directly in English: “I am fighting for the Chinese people, which has really been going on for a long time, [have] Disrespectful and disrespectful, but the worst used. “

Yen is best known for his “Target One: A Star Wars Story” and “XXX: Return of Gender Cage” to the West, and Mulan’s Mentor Commander Tung has starred in Disney’s upcoming live-action version of “Mulan”.

But perhaps the most important is for the 56-year-old Yen, who is in Beijing’s best books, thanks to one of Asia’s most bankable stars for the Chinese market these days.

Last December’s “iPad Man 4” grossed 5 165 million in China, but only 3. 3.7 million in Hong Kong (and $ 4 million in Statesside) made Mainland the yen’s most lucrative fanbase.

He also recently starred in “Enter the Fat Dragon”, a comedy that was backed by China’s Bonner Film Group, which canceled its planned February. 1 16 was a coronavirus due to the dramatic release and went live streaming.

His next project is seen as “Sleeping Dog”, an action movie adaptation of the popular 2012 video game of the same name, developed by United Front Games and published by Square Enix.

Yen confirmed taking part in the film over the weekend and posted a video of himself for some of Jim’s warm steps and wrote that he “wants to make another groundbreaking movie.” He will play the main character Wei Shen, an inclusive police officer who infiltrated Hong Kong’s trilaterals. “I’m looking forward to starting preparing for the next challenge,” he said.

First announced in 2017, the project will be produced by Neil Moritz’s original film (“Fast and Furious”) and DJ2 Entertainment and is currently listed in pre-production, although no organization has responded. Of Variety Request to comment during press time.

Yen will star and co-produce a new crime thriller called “Golden Empire” with a drug lord who wanted authorities in both the United States and Mexico. It will be produced by Starlight CEO Peter Luo and supported by China’s Starlight Media and SA Inc.