When the Crouching Tiger** sequel was formally confirmed back in January, we lamented the fact that Ang Lee wouldn’t be coming back to direct. Now, however, there are two chunks of good news to report. Legendary action director and choreographer Yuen Wo Ping is on to make what is now called Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon II – The Green Destiny, and Michelle Yeoh is back to star.
Yeoh, who was a big part of the 2000 original, will return as Shu Lien, with Donnie Yen signing on as Silent Wolf.
Green Destiny is adapted from Silver Vase, Iron Knight, the fifth book in Wang Du Lu’s Crane-Iron Pentalogy (the first **Crouching Tiger **film was taken from the fourth). John Fusco's adaptation focuses even more on Shu Lien.
“This introduces a new generation of star-crossed lovers, and a new series of antagonists in a battle of good and evil,” Fusco said when the sequel was first announced. "It has a Knights Errant quality. There is an alternate universe in the books, a martial forest that exists alongside the real world, full of wandering sword fighters, medicine men, defrocked priests, poets, sorcerers and Shaolin renegades. It’s so vast and rich, and I found characters from the second and third books in the series to create a most interesting stew while being as true to the source material as I could be.”
Shooting will start in March next year, with producer Harvey Weinstein confident it can be good. “I loved Ang Lee's film,” he says. “I thought it was a master class in directing, but I know we are in fantastic hands with Yuen Wo Ping directing the second instalment. He is a first-class director and choreographer, and I am thrilled to be teaming up with him once more." Given that Yuen worked on the first film, we also have faith in him…