The Man with the Iron Fist - Boom!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Man with the Iron Fists is an upcoming martial arts film directed by RZA and written by RZA and Eli Roth. The film stars Russell Crowe, Cung Le, Lucy Liu, Byron Mann, RZA, Rick Yune, David Bautista, and Jamie Chung. Set in 19th century China, the story follows The Blacksmith (RZA) who is forced to come to the defense of his fellow villagers. The film is scheduled for release on November 2, 2012.

Premise

In nineteenth century China, The Blacksmith (RZA) is forced to create elaborate weapons for a small village. When a traitor threatens to destroy the village, he is forced to join both warriors and assassins to protect their community.

Cast

• Russell Crowe as Jack Knife.

Crowe agreed to join the cast based on his working relationship with RZA on The Next Three Days.

• Cung Le as Bronze Lion.
• Lucy Liu as Madame Blossom.
• Byron Mann as Silver Lion.
• RZA as The Blacksmith:

He channels an ancient energy to turn himself into a living weapon.

• Rick Yune as X-Blade.
• David Bautista as Brass Body:

Bautista described the character as a "good guy" who "made a lot of bad choices in his life. he doesn’t really understand the difference between right and wrong."

• Jamie Chung
• Pam Grier
• Jin Au-Yeung as Chan.
• Daniel Wu
• Grace Huang

Production

Development

The film was first announced on July 4, 2008, but Eli Roth and RZA had been talking about the project since 2005. RZA had written the story, and the two collaborated on the screenplay. Roth came on board as producer in 2007, and brought the film to producers Eric Newman and Marc Abraham. Over the course of two years RZA and Roth worked on the screenplay together, talking through every aspect of the story, down to the detail of every weapon.

Filming

Principal photography began in China in December 2010 on an estimated $20 million budget, and had wrapped by March 2011. Filming locations included the city of Shanghaiand the world's largest film studio, Hengdian World Studios. Corey Yuen acted as the film's action choreographer.

The first cut of the film was 4 hours long and RZA suggested splitting it into two films, but Roth disagreed and it was ultimately cut down to approximately 90 minutes. RZA described the film as an homage to the martial art films of the Hong Kong based Shaw Brothers.

Music

The film features music from a variety of artists including The Black Keys, Kanye West, Wiz Khalifa, My Chemical Romance, John Frusciante and Chinese singer Sally Yeh. RZA also developed new tracks based on excerpts from Wu-Tang Clan master tracks provided by Sony Music, and songs from artists including William Bell, Isaac Hayes and Mable John provided by Stax Records. Composer Howard Drossin provides original musical cues for the film.

RZA had not initially set out to score the film. He inserted temporary tracks of songs he wanted to use. After watching the temporary-track cut of the film, it was decided that the music was not suitable, and it was instead suggested that RZA provided the music. RZA sought Tarantino's help with the score after having previously aided Tarantino in scoring Kill Bill, but Tarantino also suggested RZA provide the score. RZA, aided by Drossin, then developed the score.

Trailer