As something of a Wong Kar-wai obsessive I have been following any news surrounding his latest, a biopic of sorts of Yip Man, very closely but beyond the few morsels of information that have leaked out there has been little that could be deemed too newsworthy. Thanks mostly due to the American Film Market in Los Angeles though there has been a mini explosion of news this week.

Thanks to the AFM website we now have a synopsis for the film, which you can read below, and via The Grandmasters Facebook page a selection of promotional stills for the film, embedded at the bottom of the post. The stills offer us our first look at Tony Leung as Yip Man and also Ziyi Zhang.

Also, thanks to a tweet by mixed martial artist Cung Le we also now know that he is involved in the film in some capacity. It’s also worth noting that there appears to have been a title change from The Grand Master to The Grandmasters (although the online AFM catalogue still lists the former). This could perhaps signify a move away from a story that centres entirely on Yip Man and towards a slightly wider story, although with WKW nothing is ever certain until the film is released.

The Grandmasters is still in production and paparazzi have been busily snapping away as WKW sits down with his actors and actresses but there has been little news about an end date to the production or a possible release date. It seems likely though that he might be pushed to try and get the film finished in time for Cannes which could result in me going bankrupt in an attempt to attend.

Official Synopsis:

With martial arts getting more popular in the Thirties, more people seek to learn them via the professionals at Foshan in Southern China. Some of the experienced masters like to challenge their counterparts and undergoing battles. To have their whole concentration, it is their practice to lock up the venues and no one is allowed to leave during battles. No food and no rest before reaching any results.

Ip Man is a young rich man extremely talented in martial arts, but he chooses to keep a low profile. Yet this doesn’t keep him out of these troubles ahead. One day he is trapped in this battleground so he has to use every means in order to get out of there. The masters are amazed by his abilities. Master Kung and his daughter Kung Yi are amongst, and the latter is attracted to this newcomer.

A high warlord is assassinated by his own guard Yi Xian Tian. All masters in Foshan vow to take Tian down no matter what…