EXCLUSIVE: Trinity CineAsia has secured UK, Ireland and Malta distribution rights to martial arts epic Blades Of The Guardians from Hong Kong’s Mandarin Motion Pictures.
Directed by veteran action director and martial arts choreographer Yuen Woo-ping, the film’s cast is led by Wu Jing of the Wolf Warrior films. He is joined by Jet Li, Wu Jing, Nicholas Tse, Leung Ka Fai Tony and Chen Lijun alongside K-pop stars Jun (Wen Junhui) of Seventeen and Winwin (Dong Sicheng) of NCT.
Trinity CineAsia plans to release the film across UK and Irish cinemas on April 17, followed by Malta on April 22.
The story is set during the Sui Dynasty under the rule of the oppressive Emperor Yang Guang. It follows a skilled mercenary as he treks across harsh deserts. Tasked with a seemingly simple escort mission, the warrior unknowingly becomes caught in a perilous and dangerous scheme.
Based on a comic by Xianzhe Xu, the script was written by Yu Baimei, Chao-pin Su, Chan Tai Lee and Larry Yang. It is produced by Peace Film.
Director Yeun is best known for his work on Kill Bill, The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
The Mandarin-language film has earned more than $200m at the worldwide box office to date and is the highest-grossing wuxia film of all time in China while ranking second among wuxia films worldwide, according to Trinity CineAsia.
Cedric Behrel, managing director of Trinity CineAsia, said: “Here, we have four generations of martial arts stars unite. We remain committed to championing new and cutting-edge East Asian cinema in the UK and beyond, and are thrilled to present this modern masterpiece to audiences.”
The London-based distributor’s recent UK theatrical releases include Bi Gan’s Cannes award-winner Resurrection; Zhang Yimou’s counter-espionage thriller Scare Out; Second World War epic Dongji Rescue; recent Hong Kong hit Night King, from the director of box office hit A Guilty Conscience; Back to the Past; Ne Zha 2; and Jackie Chan’s latest crime actioner The Shadow’s Edge.
Blades Of the Guardians was previously acquired for North America by Well Go USA, which released the film on February 17 – the same date as China, Hong Kong and several other Asia territories.
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