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Times
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Beijing plans to remake classic Kung-Fu films, but will Gen Z bite?
If the real Bruce Lee fought an AI version of Bruce Lee, who would win? The world may soon be able to at least guess an answer to that knotty question. China, the world's most enthusiastic proponent of artificial intelligence, is to use the technology to recreate Hong Kong's favourite action movies, among them the Bruce Lee kung-fu classic Fist of Fury. The film's popularity around the world in the Seventies made Lee a pioneer for a whole series of fly-kicking Chinese action men, such as Jackie Chan and Jet Li, as they dispatched cruel Japanese foes and then triads, American racists and arrogant Europeans. The China Film Foundation has announced it is to work on the project with an AI studio and the company that has acquired the rights to Fist of Fury and other classics, such as A Better Tomorrow, by the director John Woo, and the Li film Once Upon a Time in China. The foundation said it hoped the films would be commercially successful with Generation Z, who grew up in a post-Lee world, partly as a result of being refashioned to a 'modern aesthetic' and powered by AI. There is also a political element. Produced at a time of cultural and ideological upheaval in China, Hong Kong and the West, many of the early films — particularly Fist of Fury — bore a powerful message of Chinese strength and virtue, directly challenging ethnic stereotypes. Although created in British Hong Kong rather than Cultural Revolutionary China, the films and their stars have been taken up since by the Communist Party as icons of a rising national power. Zhang Pimin, the foundation's chairman, told June's Shanghai Film Festival: 'Today, with the power of technology, the 'AI revival of 100 classics' project will allow these classics to transcend time and space, breathing new life into the spirit of chivalry and national pride in the digital age.' The growth of AI has sent shivers through western cultural industries; concerns range from plagiarism of journalism to the creation of fake versions of stars for advertising or even pornography. Writers and artists alike are resistant to the idea that computer algorithms can create art that could be as truly creative as human endeavour. The Directors Guild of America, which is sponsoring a bill in the US to protect the film industry's intellectual property from exploitation by generative learning models, has expressed concern at the Chinese proposals. It said it 'strongly opposes the use of AI or any other technology to mutilate a film and to alter a director's vision without their consent and participation'. 'The Guild has a longstanding history of opposing such alterations on issues like colourisation or sanitisation of films to eliminate so-called 'objectionable content', or other changes that fundamentally alter a film's original style, meaning, and substance,' a statement said. 'AI is a creative tool that should be used properly to enhance the creative storytelling process.' In China, President Xi is actively promoting AI on all fronts and tech companies are competing with each other to produce ever cheaper models to take on the Silicon Valley giants. Critics have said that tight government censorship and limits on showing western movies have also created a culture in which film 'piracy' in all its forms is more widely accepted. Zhang's project taps into fears among aficionados that the martial arts and other action genres that Hong Kong created have become a victim of their own success. Lee, like Li, started out as a martial arts champion. He regularly got into trouble at school for fighting before he became a boxing and kung-fu star and set up martial arts studios in California, later going into films. Chan also trained in martial arts, starting off in films as a stuntman. Their celluloid exploits were as real as anything in film, and in some cases they had trained their cinematic opponents in the same skills. Chuck Norris, who starred alongside Lee in The Way of the Dragon, had been his pupil. • Jimmy Page: AI is putting the magic of human artistry at stake As the use of martial arts in film went mainstream, real-life action was replaced by computer-generated imagery, particularly in superhero franchises. By comparison, classics from the era of Fist of Fury, in which Lee plays a put-upon Chinese martial artist who fights back against bullying Japanese soldiers in wartime Shanghai, can seem dated for more than just their Seventies dress sense and hairstyles. The question, as Shanghai's leading state-run newspaper put it, is whether 'artificial intelligence technology can breathe new life into the hard-hitting, physically intense action of classic kung-fu films'. The film festival released a clip of A Better Tomorrow: Cyber Border, which the creators said was intended to align the original's visual effects and narrative pacing more closely to modern tastes. Woo's A Better Tomorrow, a 1980s gangster movie, is widely regarded as one of the greatest Chinese films ever made. The project is being backed by Ringo Yu, a less famous contemporary and co-star of Chan, but the extent of the involvement of the directors and stars of the original films is unclear. The family of Lee, who died at the age of 32 from a cerebral oedema, and Woo himself, now 78, issued statements to the Los Angeles Times saying they had been unaware of the project and were trying to find out more. However, Woo added: 'I'm very curious about the outcome and the effect it might have on my original film.'
Times
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Can Beijing's AI revival of kung-fu classics inspire patriots?
I f the real Bruce Lee fought an AI version of Bruce Lee, who would win? The world may soon be able to at least guess an answer to that knotty question. China, the world's most enthusiastic proponent of artificial intelligence, is to use the technology to recreate Hong Kong's favourite action movies, among them the Bruce Lee kung-fu classic Fist of Fury. The film's popularity around the world in the Seventies made Lee a pioneer for a whole series of fly-kicking Chinese action men, such as Jackie Chan and Jet Li, as they first dispatched cruel Japanese foes and then triads, American racists and arrogant Europeans. The China Film Foundation has announced it is to work on the project with an AI studio and the company that has acquired the rights to Fist of Fury and other classics, such as A Better Tomorrow, by the director John Woo, and the Li film Once Upon a Time in China.
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
AI is controversial in Hollywood. For China's film business, it's no holds barred
Hollywood's relationship with artificial intelligence is fraught, as studios balance the need to cut costs with growing concerns from actors, directors and crew members. But in China, efforts to use AI in entertainment are taking a more no-holds-barred approach. The China Film Foundation, a nonprofit fund under the Chinese government, plans to use AI to revitalize 100 kung fu classics including "Police Story," "Once Upon a Time in China" and "Fist of Fury," featuring Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Bruce Lee, respectively. The foundation said it will partner with businesses including Shanghai Canxing Culture & Media Co., which will license 100 Hong Kong films to AI companies to reintroduce those movies to younger audiences globally. The foundation said there are opportunities to use AI to tell those stories through animation, for example. There are plans to release an animated version of director John Woo's 1986 film "A Better Tomorrow" that uses AI to "reinterpret" Woo's "signature visual language," according to an English transcript of the announcement. "By empowering cultural storytelling with technology, we can breathe new life into the classics and tell China's stories farther and louder," said Zhang Pimin, chairman of the China Film Foundation, at the Shanghai International Film Festival earlier this month. Read more: Inside Google's plan to have Hollywood make AI look less doomsday The project raised eyebrows among U.S. artists, many of whom are deeply wary of the use of AI in creative pursuits. The Directors Guild of America said AI is a creative tool that should only be used to enhance the creative storytelling process and "it should never be used retroactively to distort or destroy a filmmaker's artistic work." 'The DGA strongly opposes the use of AI or any other technology to mutilate a film or to alter a director's vision," the DGA said in a statement. "The Guild has a longstanding history of opposing such alterations on issues like colorization or sanitization of films to eliminate so-called 'objectionable content', or other changes that fundamentally alter a film's original style, meaning, and substance." The project highlights widely divergent views on AI's potential to reshape entertainment as the two countries compete for dominance in the highly competitive AI space. In the U.S., much of the traditional entertainment industry has taken a tepid view of generative AI, due to concerns over protecting intellectual property and labor relations. While some Hollywood studios such as Lionsgate and Blumhouse have collaborated with AI companies, others have been reluctant to announce partnerships at the risk of offending talent that have voiced concerns over how AI could be used to alter their digital likeness without adequate compensation. But other countries like China have fewer guardrails, which has led to more experimentation of the technology by entertainment companies. Many people in China embrace AI, with 83% feeling confident that AI systems are designed to act in the best interest of society, much higher than the U.S. where it's 37%, according to a survey from the United Nations Development Program. The foundation's announcement came as a surprise to Bruce Lee Enterprises, which oversees legal usage of Lee's likeness in creative works. Bruce Lee's family was "previously unaware of this development and is currently gathering information," a spokesperson said. Woo, in a written statement, said he hadn't heard from the foundation about the AI remake, noting that the rights to "A Better Tomorrow" have changed hands several times. 'I wasn't really involved in the project because I'm not very familiar with AI technology," Woo said in a statement to The Times. "However, I'm very curious about the outcome and the effect it might have on my original film." David Chi, who represents the China Film Foundation's Special Fund for Film and Urban Development, said in an interview that Chan is aware of the project and he has plans to talk with Chan's team. A representative of Chan's did not respond to a request for comment. "We do need to talk ... very specifically how we're using animated or AI existing technology, and how that would combine with his image rights and business rights," Chi said. Chi did not have an immediate response to the DGA, Bruce Lee Enterprises and Woo's statements. AI is already used in China for script development, content moderation and recommendations and translation. In postproduction, AI has reduced the time to complete visual effects work from days to hours, said He Tao, an official with the National Radio and Television Administration's research center, during remarks at the festival. "Across government agencies, content platforms, and production institutions, the enthusiasm to adopt and integrate AI has never been stronger," He said. Read more: Hollywood writers say AI is ripping off their work. They want studios to sue During the project's announcement, supporters touted the opportunity AI will bring to China to further its cultural message globally and generate new work for creatives. At the same time, they touted AI's disruption of the filmmaking process, saying the "A Better Tomorrow" remake was completed with just 30 people, significantly fewer than a typical animated project. China is a "more brutal society in that sense," said Eric Harwit, professor of Asian studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. "If somebody loses their job because artificial intelligence is taking over, well, that's just the cost of China's moving forward. They don't have that kind of regret about people losing jobs and there are less opportunities for organized protest against the Chinese government." Hollywood guilds such as SAG-AFTRA have been outspoken about the harm AI could have on jobs and have fought for protections against AI in contracts in TV shows, films and video games. The unions have also pushed state and federal legislators to create laws that would give people more protections against deep fakes, or videos manipulated to show a person endorsing an idea or product that they don't actually support. There is no equivalent of that in China. "You don't have those freestanding labor organizations, so they don't have that kind of clout to protest against the Chinese using artificial intelligence in a way that might reduce their job opportunities or lead to layoffs in the sector," Harwit added. U.S. studios are also going to court to challenge the ways AI companies train their models on copyrighted materials. Earlier this month, Walt Disney Co. and Universal Pictures sued AI startup Midjourney, alleging it uses technology to generate images that copy the studios' famous characters, including Yoda and Shrek. Read more: Jamie Lee Curtis just wanted an AI ad removed, not to become the 'poster child of internet fakery' In China, officials involved in the project to remaster kung fu films said they were eager to work with AI companies. They said that AI will be used to add "stunning realism" to the movies. They are planning to build "immersive viewing experiences" such as walking into a bamboo forest duel and "feeling the philosophy of movement and stillness." In areas such as animation, new environments could be created with AI, Chi said. "We are offering full access to our IP, platform, and adaptation rights to partners worldwide — with the goal of delivering richer, more diverse, and high-quality AI enhanced film works to global audiences," said Tian Ming, chairman of Shanghai Canxing Culture & Media Co. in his remarks earlier this month. Tian said there is no revenue-sharing cap and it is allocating about $14 million to co-invest in selected projects and share in the returns. The kung fu revitalization efforts will extend into other areas, including the creation of a martial arts video game. Read more: Two-minute TV shows have taken over China. Can they take over the world? Industry observers said China is wise to go back to its well of popular martial arts classics out of Hong Kong, which have inspired U.S. action movies for decades. There's also not as much risk involved for China, said Simon Pulman, a partner at law firm Pryor Cashman. "They've got very little to lose by doing this," Pulman said. "If it can potentially enhance the value of those movies, there's very little downside for them." China's film industry has grown significantly compared to decades ago, boosted by the proliferation of movie theaters, including Imax screens, in the country. In the past, China's box office relied heavily on U.S. productions like movies from the "Fast & Furious" and Marvel franchises, but now local movies dominate the market. The Chinese animated movie "Ne Zha 2" grossed $2.2 billion at the box office globally. But those Chinese productions generally don't draw large U.S. audiences when they're released in the States. The classic martial arts movies, however, have a global following and enduring legacy. "People love martial arts movies, because action travels," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. "It doesn't matter what language it's in, if you have a great action sequence and great fighting sequences." Sign up for our Wide Shot newsletter to get the latest entertainment business news, analysis and insights. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Straits Times
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
AI ‘upgrades' to gongfu classics deserve zero stars
The Kung Fu Film Heritage Project plans to use AI to upgrade the audio, visuals and overall production of 100 classic gongfu movies, including titles by such legendary performers as Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li. PHOTOS: STAR CHINESE MOVIES, ARCHIVE When it comes to artificial intelligence (AI), most folks seem to fall into two diametrically opposed camps, according to several polls. There are those who believe it to be nothing less than a technological revolution that will significantly change every aspect of how we live, and others who dismiss it as the emperor's new clothes, an ecologically irresponsible, not-ready-for-prime-time pipe dream that produces error-ridden prose and eye-sore attempts at illustration. China Film Foundation and its partners' recent announcement of the Kung Fu Film Heritage Project reminded me why I'm in the latter group. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Los Angeles Times
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
AI is controversial in Hollywood. For China's film business, it's no holds barred
Hollywood's relationship with artificial intelligence is fraught, as studios balance the need to cut costs with growing concerns from actors, directors and crew members. But in China, efforts to use AI in entertainment are taking a more no-holds-barred approach. The China Film Foundation, a nonprofit fund under the Chinese government, plans to use AI to revitalize 100 kung fu classics including 'Police Story,' 'Once Upon a Time in China' and 'Fist of Fury,' featuring Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Bruce Lee, respectively. The foundation said it will partner with businesses including Shanghai Canxing Culture & Media Co., which will license 100 Hong Kong films to AI companies to reintroduce those movies to younger audiences globally. The foundation said there are opportunities to use AI to tell those stories through animation, for example. There are plans to release an animated version of director John Woo's 1986 film 'A Better Tomorrow' that uses AI to 'reinterpret' Woo's 'signature visual language,' according to an English transcript of the announcement. 'By empowering cultural storytelling with technology, we can breathe new life into the classics and tell China's stories farther and louder,' said Zhang Pimin, chairman of the China Film Foundation, at the Shanghai International Film Festival earlier this month. The project raised eyebrows among U.S. artists, many of whom are deeply wary of the use of AI in creative pursuits. The Directors Guild of America said AI is a creative tool that should only be used to enhance the creative storytelling process and 'it should never be used retroactively to distort or destroy a filmmaker's artistic work.' 'The DGA strongly opposes the use of AI or any other technology to mutilate a film or to alter a director's vision,' the DGA said in a statement. 'The Guild has a longstanding history of opposing such alterations on issues like colorization or sanitization of films to eliminate so-called 'objectionable content', or other changes that fundamentally alter a film's original style, meaning, and substance.' The project highlights widely divergent views on AI's potential to reshape entertainment as the two countries compete for dominance in the highly competitive AI space. In the U.S., much of the traditional entertainment industry has taken a tepid view of generative AI, due to concerns over protecting intellectual property and labor relations. While some Hollywood studios such as Lionsgate and Blumhouse have collaborated with AI companies, others have been reluctant to announce partnerships at the risk of offending talent that have voiced concerns over how AI could be used to alter their digital likeness without adequate compensation. But other countries like China have fewer guardrails, which has led to more experimentation of the technology by entertainment companies. Many people in China embrace AI, with 83% feeling confident that AI systems are designed to act in the best interest of society, much higher than the U.S. where it's 37%, according to a survey from the United Nations Development Program. The foundation's announcement came as a surprise to Bruce Lee Enterprises, which oversees legal usage of Lee's likeness in creative works. Bruce Lee's family was 'previously unaware of this development and is currently gathering information,' a spokesperson said. Woo, in a written statement, said he hadn't heard from the foundation about the AI remake, noting that the rights to 'A Better Tomorrow' have changed hands several times. 'I wasn't really involved in the project because I'm not very familiar with AI technology,' Woo said in a statement to The Times. 'However, I'm very curious about the outcome and the effect it might have on my original film.' David Chi, who represents the China Film Foundation's Special Fund for Film and Urban Development, said in an interview that Chan is aware of the project and he has plans to talk with Chan's team. A representative of Chan's did not respond to a request for comment. 'We do need to talk ... very specifically how we're using animated or AI existing technology, and how that would combine with his image rights and business rights,' Chi said. Chi did not have an immediate response to the DGA, Bruce Lee Enterprises and Woo's statements. AI is already used in China for script development, content moderation and recommendations and translation. In postproduction, AI has reduced the time to complete visual effects work from days to hours, said He Tao, an official with the National Radio and Television Administration's research center, during remarks at the festival. 'Across government agencies, content platforms, and production institutions, the enthusiasm to adopt and integrate AI has never been stronger,' He said. During the project's announcement, supporters touted the opportunity AI will bring to China to further its cultural message globally and generate new work for creatives. At the same time, they touted AI's disruption of the filmmaking process, saying the 'A Better Tomorrow' remake was completed with just 30 people, significantly fewer than a typical animated project. China is a 'more brutal society in that sense,' said Eric Harwit, professor of Asian studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. 'If somebody loses their job because artificial intelligence is taking over, well, that's just the cost of China's moving forward. They don't have that kind of regret about people losing jobs and there are less opportunities for organized protest against the Chinese government.' Hollywood guilds such as SAG-AFTRA have been outspoken about the harm AI could have on jobs and have fought for protections against AI in contracts in TV shows, films and video games. The unions have also pushed state and federal legislators to create laws that would give people more protections against deep fakes, or videos manipulated to show a person endorsing an idea or product that they don't actually support. There is no equivalent of that in China. 'You don't have those freestanding labor organizations, so they don't have that kind of clout to protest against the Chinese using artificial intelligence in a way that might reduce their job opportunities or lead to layoffs in the sector,' Harwit added. U.S. studios are also going to court to challenge the ways AI companies train their models on copyrighted materials. Earlier this month, Walt Disney Co. and Universal Pictures sued AI startup Midjourney, alleging it uses technology to generate images that copy the studios' famous characters, including Yoda and Shrek. In China, officials involved in the project to remaster kung fu films said they were eager to work with AI companies. They said that AI will be used to add 'stunning realism' to the movies. They are planning to build 'immersive viewing experiences' such as walking into a bamboo forest duel and 'feeling the philosophy of movement and stillness.' In areas such as animation, new environments could be created with AI, Chi said. 'We are offering full access to our IP, platform, and adaptation rights to partners worldwide — with the goal of delivering richer, more diverse, and high-quality AI enhanced film works to global audiences,' said Tian Ming, chairman of Shanghai Canxing Culture & Media Co. in his remarks earlier this month. Tian said there is no revenue-sharing cap and it is allocating about $14 million to co-invest in selected projects and share in the returns. The kung fu revitalization efforts will extend into other areas, including the creation of a martial arts video game. Industry observers said China is wise to go back to its well of popular martial arts classics out of Hong Kong, which have inspired U.S. action movies for decades. There's also not as much risk involved for China, said Simon Pulman, a partner at law firm Pryor Cashman. 'They've got very little to lose by doing this,' Pulman said. 'If it can potentially enhance the value of those movies, there's very little downside for them.' China's film industry has grown significantly compared to decades ago, boosted by the proliferation of movie theaters, including Imax screens, in the country. In the past, China's box office relied heavily on U.S. productions like movies from the 'Fast & Furious' and Marvel franchises, but now local movies dominate the market. The Chinese animated movie 'Ne Zha 2' grossed $2.2 billion at the box office globally. But those Chinese productions generally don't draw large U.S. audiences when they're released in the States. The classic martial arts movies, however, have a global following and enduring legacy. 'People love martial arts movies, because action travels,' said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. 'It doesn't matter what language it's in, if you have a great action sequence and great fighting sequences.'
