More Martial Arts News

The Internet Movie Database reports Ang Lee’s martial-arts film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon won the top People’s Choice award at the 25th annual Toronto International Film Festival on Monday. The elegant film from the director of Sense and Sensibility, which was praised by critics and filmgoers alike at the festival, has been approached warily by distributors, mainly because the film’s spoken dialogue is in Chinese. Nevertheless, festival director Piers Handling commented that audiences were taken with the “pure magic of movement” displayed in the film. The film is currently scheduled for release by Sony Pictures Classics on December 22nd.

Ain’t It Cool News reports that Jet Li will co-star with Bridget Fonda in the tentatively titled Kiss of the Dragon. The 25 million dollar film will be written and produced by Luc Besson, director of The Fifth Element and Leon (The Professional), and will be directed by a team of Jet Li (who has previously directed only one film- his own Born to Defense), Yuen Biao, and a currently un-named French director. Yuen Biao, perhaps best known for his partnerships with Jackie Chan and Samo Hung is films such as Dragons Forever and Wheels on Meals, will provide the fight choreography.