Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon Prequel In The Works

Hey now!  It’s been about 14 years (God I’m old) since the martial arts masterpiece Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, based on the book of the same name by Chinese novelist Du Lu Wang, was released in theaters.  Though geeks like myself had enjoyed “wire-fu” flicks coming out of Hong Kong for many a moon by the time CTHD came out in the year 2000, for much of the American movie-going public, this was their first real exposure to the incredible martial arts work to come out of modern Asian cinema.

The fact that it had an all Asian cast and also was filmed in the Mandarin language, yet was still able to gross over $100 million at the US box office as well as holding the record for the most Oscar nominations ever for a foreign language film (not to mention being the only martial arts film to ever be nominated for a “best picture” Oscar) is a testament to how amazing this movie was.  Crouching Tiger is one of those rare films that blends emotion, deep characterization, amazing action, sweeping epic scope, and beautiful visuals into a true piece of classic cinema.

And now, they’re making a sequel!

Er… a prequel.  Well, ANOTHER movie!  (It’s unclear if it’s a prequel or sequel yet.)

According to Variety, it’s called “The Green Destiny,” and is being directed by Yuen Woo-ping.  Though Ang Lee, the director of Crouching Tiger, isn’t returning, Yuen Woo-ping was the original martial arts choreographer on the first movie (and the Matrix movies), and is experienced in filming second unit fight sequences for the movies he works on.  So I think he’ll probably do a good job, at least with the action element of the movie.  It could be argued that this might be a cash-grab by the Weinsteins, who are producing the film, since they’re going with an “unknown” director who’s more known for his action chops than deep characterization, but hey, there’s nothing wrong with amazing action, am I right?

Despite the  fairly self-contained nature of the original film, it was based on the fourth of a five-book series – commonly known as the “Crane Iron Pentalogy” which were originally published between 1938 and 1942. The fifth book, titled Iron Knight, Silver Vase, will form the basis of the sequel (prequel?), and was originally the film’s title, according to previous reports. The plot concerns the son of one of the characters of the original (the Iron Knight) and how he is switched as a child with a baby girl (the Silver Vase) and his attempt as an adult to find his true identity. Expect the film’s plot to take great liberties with the book’s story.

The movie’s title “The Green Destiny” is a nod to the name of the sword which was the Maguffin in the first movie, so chances are it will play a prominent role in this one.  (Maybe has something to do with the Iron Knight’s heritage?)  Michelle Yeoh is set to return to reprise her role from the first film, and the talented Donnie Yen (of Kung Fu Hustle fame) has been cast as what I can only assume is the Iron Knight.

Details of the plot are being kept under wraps, but here’s hoping the movie ends up being good!  It’s been a while since any decent martial arts movie has made its way into theaters.