The Man With The Iron Fist

[biblebullet]

#9 on the box office list in its 2nd week, i think they should more than break even just from the US box office. Very happy for the RZA....Go see the movie

[Art Vandelay]

Originally Posted by biblebullet

#9 on the box office list in its 2nd week, i think they should more than break even just from the US box office. Very happy for the RZA....Go see the movie

no, it was #7 with almost 2.6 million more.

it's 10 day total is $12,821,030

[beautifulrock]

Where it lacks in plot and narration, it makes up for in tempo, style, and scene sequencing. There is never a dull moment after the lull proceeding the initial fight sequence. I thought the score was fine, but the CGI blood could sometimes be very hokey (In the case of Bronze Body's neck ripping scene), and sometimes surprisingly good (In the case of Jack Knife's encounter with hippo.)

All in all, I give it two stars, which is very good for the genre of movie. RZA has room to improve both as a director and actor, but for his first time behind the chair, and fronting the action, this is a promising start.

[CuzinBilly]

Success Wise Its Gonna Be Aight, Like Homeboy said 13 Mill and its only dropped in the us and canada. Def Gonna Add to the numbers once it drops international.

[MosHigh]

Originally Posted by IronSheik

We can't think of anyone living a cooler life than Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, aka RZA. As founding member and leader of seminal hip-hop collective Wu-Tang Clan, RZA established his production cred and incredible genre-hopping sensibilities in the early '90s. After becoming a Grammy-winning producer, he took his first step into the film world by composing the score to Jim Jarmusch's 1999 Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai. When Quentin Tarantino approached RZA about orchestrating the soundtrack to Kill Bill: Vol. 1, RZA's fate was sealed. He embarked on a samurai journey with Tarantino, observing and learning everything he could from the director. After seven years in the making, RZA is finally presenting to the world The Man With the Iron Fists. Co-written with Eli Roth and directed by RZA, the film is a love letter to the various influences that have inspired him since he was an eight-year-old kid growing up in Brooklyn—namely, hip-hop and 42nd Street grindhouse kung-fu flicks.

Starring Russell Crowe and Lucy Liu, and featuring a hilarious breakout performance by Byron Mann as the head villain Silver Lion, the film contains all the gonzo violence, animal-themed clans, and scantily-clad women you would expect from a RZA movie. It's also a ton of fun. Interview caught up with RZA to discuss his tutelage under Tarantino, the evolution of Iron Fists, and what would be on his perfect triple-feature movie bill.


DREW FORTUNE: What was your first love, the music or the movies? I assume both were great escapes?

RZA: Music came first. I actually heard hip-hop before I saw a movie in a movie theater. I heard hip-hop first, at the tender age of seven, so that came first. I didn't see a movie until I was eight.

FORTUNE: Did you make an automatic connection between the two, in the sense that you could see how both fit in the other's world?

RZA: No, I didn't see that. I didn't discover how music and film could work together until Jim Jarmusch had me do Ghost Dog. When I think of my album, I was trying to make an audio movie. I didn't know that these two things had such a poetic wavelength that went together until Ghost Dog.

FORTUNE: When did you first put pen to paper on The Man With the Iron Fists? Do you remember when the first spark of an idea hit?

RZA: I first put pen to paper in the year 2005. I probably came up with about 90 pages by myself, trying to write a screenplay. I didn't know all the nuances of a screenplay, but I had a story that I saw clearly in my head. I was able to tell that story to my buddy Eli Roth, and he saw it clear in his head. He said if he ever had the chance to help, he would. When the chance came for him to help, he reached out and said "Hey Bobby, you still got that thing? Do you want to get it done?" He came on, and we sat down for about a year and half and wrote it out to a proper screenplay.

FORTUNE: Did you feel pressure throughout the process of adding to this kung-fu legacy that you love so much? Or was the motto, "Let's just have fun?"

RZA: The pressure came when I had so many people and so many A-listers in my hands. I had to deliver them safely to a location that I promised. So I was basically super-focused, and that was the pressure. I had a passion to write and make the film. It was something I wanted to do. Even writing the first 30 pages, spending the whole year with Eli toning it up into a proper screenplay; that was all done with no money. We weren't being paid to do it. It was being done as passion. Most things that come out good, in the beginning they have to have a strong passion. Wu-Tang Clan's first album, 36 Chambers, there wasn't a lot of money given to make that album. There was a lot of passion to make that album, and this is the same thing.

FORTUNE: You took a samurai/sensei journey with Tarantino. Like any good sensei, did he make you prove your commitment to the project?

RZA: I don't know, exactly. I never really questioned him about it. All I know is that I asked him, he said yes, and I showed up, yo. I took it serious, and he took it serious. I was never in his way. I was a fly on the wall. He never saw me breathing down his throat. When he wanted to show me something, he'd say "Hey Bobby, come take a look at this," and we'd both look through the lens. It was a really good energy, and we were kindred spirits.

FORTUNE: In terms of directing and choreography for Iron Fists, did you feel confident going in? There's a lot of action going on.

RZA: Before we started filming Iron Fists, I had already spent my own money and brought in some other great Asian actors. I brought in Robert Tai, who was the fight choreographer on Five Deadly Venoms. I brought him in for a couple weeks and filmed some stuff with my own money. I showed Eli and my producers what I could do and what I know. The action was no problem for me. I saw a lot of it in my head, though. My action director didn't want to do some of it! He thought it wasn't logical. I'm like, "No. It's logical."

FORTUNE: Did you have to physically draw out the stuff you saw in your head?

RZA: I had two storyboards, with over 150 pages storyboarded. If you see the storyboards, it's like 20 comics. We had to cut out a lot of the storyboard scenes, because the budget would never allow some of the stuff that I wanted to do.

FORTUNE: Did the MPAA come down on you at all? Did you have to be reeled in a lot?

RZA: No, I was conscious of it, because Quentin told me a lot about the MPAA. Eli told me the problems he had with them. So I was conscious of it. The best thing I had on this project, and I'm very grateful, is having Eli and Quentin there as a co-pilots. So, when I got to landmines, I had somebody there who had already stepped on one. "No Bobby, that's a landmine right there. You gotta jump over this one. You gotta be calm and just go through it."

FORTUNE: What's the hardest part of directing? As a natural collaborator, I assume working with the actors came pretty easily.

RZA: [laughs] The hardest part is lunch. You don't ever get your lunch, man. There's no sitting down as a director. Your brain does not turn off, even when you want it to. People told me about it, and I didn't believe it until it happened to me. You work 12-13 hours a day, go home to your hotel room, and guess what? You're fucking up five more hours, thinking about what you're gonna do the next day.

FORTUNE: Am I crazy, or was Bryon Mann's performance as Silver Lion inspired by Prince?

RZA: Well, Byron Mann did a screen test that was so cool. He didn't originally try out for Silver Lion. He tried out for Poison Dagger. But his screen test was so fucking cool that I wanted him to be Silver Lion. He blew me away. The odd thing was to have him evolve into this weird type of guy. With his hair, I can see the Prince in him, I can see the Rod Stewart, and I can see the motherfucking Tina Turner in him. Quentin told me that he thinks I found his star. When I saw him, we had already cast somebody else as Silver Lion. It was a guy who played a lot of roles in kung-fu movies. He already had the part, but would you believe that at the last minute, this guy came back and tried to double his money. He tried to fucking extort me. We already had a deal. I had already seen Byron's screen test, so I was like, "If this guy wants to break the deal, let him break it. Byron is incredible, and I'd love to have this guy." I remember pulling Eli aside and saying, "Fuck it. I already got my Christoph [Waltz]. I got a guy that's gonna break out like Christoph." Even my wife, who saw the movie for the first time at the premiere, was like, "Yo. Fucking Silver Lion. I love that guy!"

FORTUNE: In the movie, the Pink Blossom brothel is a 24/7 party. Did any of the onscreen debauchery translate to an offscreen party?

RZA: The set was concentrated and super focused. But we did have two parties, one in the middle and one at the end, and my Asian brothers know how to party. We got so drunk and had a good time. We had a party with about 700, 800 people. That's how big my crew was. It was really a beautiful thing, man. I'm so happy to be inspired by the Asian culture and these movies and then be able to go back and give back by bringing a movie to them, and have people on my payroll and bringing actors from their culture to the silver screen in America. It's been a blessing for me.

FORTUNE: If you were to plan your perfect triple feature, what would be on the bill?

RZA: I'd put Five Deadly Venoms on the bill. I'd put Kill Bill on there as well. I'd top it off with The Man With the Iron Fists, as of now. These are the ones where I'd be like "Yo, you gotta see these. These are a great collaboration of kung-fu and samurai movies." Five Deadly Venoms will set you up into the world and take you back to the classics. If I could do a fourth one, I'd do 36 Chambers, of course. Kill Bill shows you the animation, as well. I wrote a big animation scene for Iron Fists, but we couldn't afford all that. Kill Bill captures the anime, Japanese, and kung fu. Iron Fists captures the kung fu, the sci-fi, the Star Wars, the comic books, and the hip hop. So, that's the way I would do it for this year. Next year, who knows?

great two posts!

[pmack215]

what is sin talking about at the beginning of "the archer" when he says:

"...to rza....my physical power cypher."

??
physical power cypher? PPO? physical PO?
????

[Cilvaringz]

Physical = slang for 'brother'

power Cipher is OLI 'POWER CIPHER' GRANT

So he's saying hi to his brother Power, an executive producer of the Wu-Tang Clan

(y)

[Hollow Dartz]

Originally Posted by pmack215

what is sin talking about at the beginning of "the archer" when he says:

"...to rza....my physical power cypher."

??
physical power cypher? PPO? physical PO?
????

LOL How long have you've been listening to Wu-Tang NOT to know what that means by now...

[IronSheik]

interesting: he wasn't planning on playing the Blacksmith....wonder who he had in mind

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v...xGI3U&vq=hd720

[Art Vandelay]

box office totals through sunday are $14.6 million. so the studio should recoup all of it's 15 million by the end of it's theatrical run. making dvd sales all profit.

does Universal Studios consider this a success?

[beautifulrock]

probably not

[duotone]

are the fees for the actors in that 15 mio budget included or not?
and promotion?
dvd production?
...
???

i think that u can double that 15$ for the final total...

[beautifulrock]

Originally Posted by duotone

are the fees for the actors in that 15 mio budget included or not?

Yes
and promotion?

also included in budget

dvd production?

dvd producers get paid a % of the DVD's sold, that cut gets taken out of the Dvd sales/profit
...
???

i think that u can double that 15$ for the final total...

I'd say it was probably closer to $20M all told, after international sales (which I'm betting will triple that of domestic), and DVD sales, gross profit will probably exceed triple the final budget $55-$60M, for a net of $35-$40M

[tekunique]

Originally Posted by Art Vandelay

box office totals through sunday are $14.6 million. so the studio should recoup all of it's 15 million by the end of it's theatrical run. making dvd sales all profit.

does Universal Studios consider this a success?

it wont be consider a box office smash or nothing but by the end of its run it will def. make back the budget and a bit more.. then theres the worldwide release they can bank on.. finally ppv & dvd release money will more than enough to label RZA's debut film a success which will secure more projects for RFD....

heres my review i originally posted on box office hideout..

***SPOILER ALERT***



Ok, Heres the TEK-REVIEW...


So yesterday i caught the $7 tues special at the cinema by the job after work.. shit was on point ! story was off the hook, action sequences were solid and the characters were cool. although the CGI was decent, i felt RZA should have went with the natural effects instead of relying on CG... im sure it had to do with the budget cuz if they didnt fuck with CGI the effects would have took them days to get it right and that just equals mad $$$

Also, i wish RZA releases the directors cut when the DVD/Bluray comes out.. the original version he had in mind for the film was 4hrs long and wanted to release the film in 2 parts but Eli Roth scratched that idea..lol im sure those that seen the flick felt the flow of the movie werent too smooth, felt choppy at times and because there were many storylines, it comes off rushed, like how it exactly was ; trying to cut a 4hr intended story compressed into 90mins.

one of the HIGHLIGHTS of the flick for me has to be Russell Crowe LOL ! dude damn near stole the show !! thats saying alot from me cuz i cant stand Russell Crowe, i respect him as an actor but ive never been a fan of the guy yet i didnt mind him one bit in this film... Jamie Chung looked fucking stunning in this moreso than any other shit ive seen her in.. Lucy Liu did her thing as well, pretty much reprising her Oren Ishii role from Kill Bill.. it was sick that she beat niggaz in the head playing the brothel Madame but little did we know of her intent to take over the Jungle Village..

Dope cameos or should i say minor roles from Pam Grier & Gordon Liu, props to RZA for getting them on board, tho their parts were small, it made a huge difference for me as they were the perfect fit for the characters they played. the young afro RZA had me dyin..LOL reminded me of him during the early Wu/Gravediggaz era..

oh, cant forget the intro credits of the movie with the revised Shame on a Nigga as the backdrop song and how the credits end and the flick starts right after Dirty's line "The Wu is comin thru at a theatre near you and get funk like a shoe ! WHAT !" plus the way RZA used "Unpredictable" during one of the fight sequences was fucking sick too..

like someone said earlier, def. not for the general audience.. im just amazed that RZA kept it fucking real as possible delivering a modern day KUNG FU flick to the cinemas world wide and aint water it down one bit.. besides Batista/Crowe/Grier and few others, everyone else in the film were all orientals !! LOL.. i found it funny that all them spoke perfect english and worried thats the direction the film was taking but nah.. RZA knew whats up as plenty of it were in Chinese with english subs.

all in all props to the RZA on his accomplishments, i cant imagine how he must be feeling these days now that the idea he had in his head for years is finally in the theatres across the country and soon to be released world wide.

TEK-RATING : 3.5 ninja stars out of 5.

P.S. LOL @ Tarantino introducing Iron Fists and plugging his own joint prior to the trailer.

peace.

[Surreptitious]

Rza definitely should have had someone else play the blacksmith