Despite publicly stating that
Ip Man 3 was his last
Ip Man film, martial arts superstar Donnie Yen (
Ip Man 3, Kung Fu Jungle) never ruled out the idea of revisiting the Ip Man character for a fourth time.
During last Januaryβs round table discussion (read it
here) with our very own Zach Nix, hereβs what Donnie stated: βThereβs a potential for a fourthβ¦ I donβt know. So far, in Asia, we have broken a lot of records. Never say never.β
Then, a few months later at the Cannes Film Festival, a
promotional poster for
Ip Man 4 revealed that the 4th film was at early conceptual stages and βnot to the extent of the script and given actor,β which meant that Donnie was not officially attached β at least not yet.
Today, exciting news comes from Donnie himself (via
FB) that a
Ip Man 4 is definitely happening: βI want to share this very excited news with you all, my good friend Wilson Yip, who had directed all of my last three
Ip Man series, tonight, we have decided to reunite and continue to make our next project together,
Ip Man 4! Yes,
I-P-M-A-N part 4!β
For now, Donnie is currently shooting
Chasing the Dragon (aka
King of Drug Dealers), a film about real-life gangster Ng Sek-ho, with director Wong Jing (
Mercenaries from Hong Kong) and co-director/renowned cinematographer Jason Kwan (
As the Light Goes Out, Helios).
Itβs unclear whether or not
Ip Man 4 will be his next project in line, but given the popularity of the series, thereβs a strong possibility producers are making it a priority (keep into consideration that Yen/Yip are currently working on
Chasing the Dragon/
Fate). As it stands, thereβs a number of βin developmentβ titles circulating with Donnieβs involvement including
Wesley,
City of Darkness,
Dragon City and
Noodle Man, not to mention the sequel to
Iceman (should we even mention
The Master at this point?).
Donnie has even hinted a sequel to his 2007 hit,
Flash Point: βYes. I will be producing
Flash Point 2,β Yen told
MAAC. We assume that heβll be in front of the camera as well β at least we hope so.
On top of all of this, Max Zhang β the rising star of
The Grandmaster, S.P.L. II and
Ip Man 3 β will headline an unofficial
Ip Man 3 spin-off directed by Yuen Woo-ping (
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny). According to
AFS, Zhang will reprise his role as Cheung Tin Chi from
Ip Man 3. Thereβs even some speculation that Donnie may make a cameo appearance as Ip Man in the spin-off.
As always, weβll keep you posted on
Ip Man 4 and all these other projects as we hear more. For now, we can all look forward to Donnieβs appearance in the highly-anticipated
Star Wars: Rogue One, which hits theaters on December 16th; as well as
xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, on January 20, 2017.
For all you hardcore Donnie Yen fans, we leave you with the trailer to his 1995 TV series,
Fist of Fury:
http://cityonfire.com/donnie-yen-talks-ip-man-4-and-flash-point-2/