China is seeing the nationwide release of “Man Of Tai Chi,” the feature directing debut of Keanu Reeves. In addition to the film’s July 5 release in an initial 1,600 conventional digital theaters, “Man Of Tai Chi” has also been re-mastered to a large screen format with IMAX DMR technology.
IMAX insiders report that the picture has no edits or narrative differences from the conventional version, other than by now standard reworked image and sound enhancements. The film is one of the first Chinese-language movies (it is actually in Mandarin, Cantonese and English) to be made in China by a North American and is a genuine made-in-China co-venture involving China Film Group, Wanda Media, Village Roadshow Pictures Asia, and Universal Pictures.
The contemporary action-drama was shot in Beijing and Hong Kong and is described as “the spiritual journey of a young martial artist,” who is lured into the dark world of underground combat with promises of money, glamour and power. It has also been getting a lot of heat as the star has put in thousands of air miles touring the major cities of the Middle Kingdom and doing promo work at the recent Beijing, Shanghai and Cannes festivals.
