Ip Man (film series)
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Duration Language Cantonese | Director Wilson Yip Country Hong Kong | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Release date 2008 – 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ip Man is a series of Hong Kong biographical martial arts films starting with Ip Man in 2008 and followed by two sequels – Ip Man 2 (2010) and Ip Man 3 (2015). All three films are directed by Wilson Yip, written by Edmond Wong, produced by Raymond Wong and star Donnie Yen. Mandarin Films released the first two films in Hong Kong, which earned more than $37 million with a budget of around $24.6 million. The films are based on the life events of the Wing Chun master of the same name. Donnie Yen has mentioned each film has a unique theme, that the first Ip Man film was about "Survival", Ip Man 2 focuses on "Making a Living and Adaptation", while Ip Man 3 focuses on "Life" itself.
Contents
Exploring the ip man trilogy
Ip Man (2008)
Ip Man was directed by Wilson Yip and written by Edmond Wong. It was Raymond Wong's idea to develop a biographical film about Wing Chun master Yip Man. Principal photography began in Shanghai in March 2008 and ended in August. The film was released in Hong Kong on 18 December 2008 by Mandarin Films, and earned around US$21.8 million against the US$11.7 million budget. Donnie Yen portrayed the role of Ip Man in the film, set in the 1930s, focuses on events in Ip's life in the city of Foshan during the Sino-Japanese War.
Ip Man 2 (2010)
The sequel is set in the 1950s, when Ip Man moved to Hong Kong and attempts to promote Wing Chun in the region. It was intended to focus on the relationship between Ip Man and his most famed disciple Bruce Lee. The film was directed by Yip and written by Edmond Wong, while Raymond Wong produced the film and was released in Hong Kong on 29 April 2010 by Mandarin Films. The film grossed more than $15 million against the budget of $12.9 million.
Ip Man 3 (2015)
Principal photography began in Shanghai on 25 March 2015, which Yip is again directing the film based on the script by Wong. Donnie Yen is again portraying the role of Yip Man, along with him Mike Tyson is also playing a role of a street fighter. Bruce Lee's character was initially supposed to be featured in CGI, because the producers was unable to find an actor who could portray Lee convincingly, but Danny Chan was eventually cast in the role.
Principal photography for Ip Man 3 began on 25 March 2015, and the film was released in Hong Kong on 24 December 2015.
Ip Man 4
On 30 September 2016, Yen announced via Facebook that he and Wilson Yip would continue the franchise with Ip Man 4. Filming is scheduled to begin in 2018, although a release date has not been set.
Home media
Ip Man Trilogy, a Blu-ray compilation that features the first three films in the series, was released by Well Go USA in November 2016. The Blu-ray also includes special features such as deleted scenes, "behind-the-scenes" featurette and interviews with Donnie Yen and Mike Tyson.