TV King, Kevin Cheng is putting his music aspirations on hold in order to start in the new Ip Man TV Series. Kevin will earn $7 million RMB for the coveted role! This announcement came as a surprise, as Vincent Zhao was expected to be cast as the male lead.
It is understood that the script will develop Ip Man’s character with more depth and emotional development, instead of simply focusing on his martial arts abilities. Kevin was selected due to his immense popularity in China and his appeal to a wider range of audience. Ip Man will perhaps be Kevin’s most challenging role to-date. He expressed his excitement and a keen interest after reading the script.
Tony Leung’s upcoming film, The Grandmasters is scheduled to release in December 2012. The producers of the IP Man TV drama also have plans to air the TV drama in December as well, in order to capitalize upon the current popularity and audience demand for Wing Chun martial arts productions.
The Ip Man TV drama will trace the origins of Wing Chun and how it evolved into a respected martial arts practice. Mainland actress, Cecilia Han will portray Ip Man’s wife, Cheung Wing Sing. Also the drama will have a strong production crew, whereby, Chinese famous Director Fan Xiaotian’s and Taiwanese prominent producer, Yang Peipei will add their filming expertise. Ip Man’s sons, Ip Chun and Ip Ching will also serve as the martial arts consultants. Even Ip man movie director, Wilson Yip will lend his power to the TV drama as a filming consultant!
I only hope it will be a worldwide oriented product, not just another Chinese TV series based on popular topic.
source: jaynestars.com
