[QUOTE=doug maverick;947105]actually romeo must die would have been a good movie if there was actually some chemistry between the two leads.[/QUOTE]
romeo must die i kinda enjoyed.
No big news here…
…RZA has a book dropping this month so he’s doing some promo interviews. I have one coming up about it soon - stay tuned. Unfortunately, he didn’t say much about this film project. I asked and got a little but we stayed on topic mostly. You’ll see soon…
RZA Back to the Movies
by JUSTIN STEWART October 5, 2009, 10:54am
The rap game may look like the ultimate life to those peeking in through the window, but the politics and yellow tape that surrounds it makes the business more than what it comes off to be.
Known for his ability to craft that Wu Tang sound, the RZA is also known for his work in films. Appearing in countless films, he has always had quite an interest in the Kung Fu industry. For those that didn’t know, Wu Tang, Shaolin…yea put it all together.
Immersing himself into the Afro Samurai series, the producer created a soundtrack for the show acquiring the musical talents of Big Daddy Kane, Talib Kweli and Q-Tip.
He is currently in the process of preparing a script for a new film titled The Man With the Iron Fist alongside actor/director Eli Roth. Roth is known for his directorial work on films such as Cabin Fever and the Hostel series.
Although no further details have been disclosed about the film, presumptions would assume that it has something to do with martial arts in some way, but it’s only an assumption. Roth gave his own take on the film and work of the RZA.
“This movie will have everything martial arts fans could want, combined with RZA's superb musical talent. The project has been his dream for years, and I'm thrilled to be a part of it. And fans should know that yes, there will be blood…This ain't no PG-13.”
Somewhat wet behind the ears, the producer has been in the driver’s seat before as a director. Although it ever came to the public eye, he once directed and starred in a film for his alter ego, Bobby Digital. Feeling that the flick did not match up to standards, it was never released, but he has stated that he still has it. In the past, the producer opened the doors to provide details on the work.
“I still got it. I made it. Actually, I did like two 45-minute episodes. The Bobby Digital character, he's a superhero at one point, right. But then he's also just this f*cking guy in the streets at another point. I did one episode based on like, '89. I did one episode that was supposed to be like 10 years later. I've still got a lot of faith in the character. I'm hoping to maybe get a comic-book deal or something.”
In related news, with the announcement fro Quentin Tarantino of the third installment in the Kill Bill series, there is a possibility that RZA will have his hand in the cookie jar. Although details have been scarce, RZA was a major part in the first two films as he produced, scored and orchestrated many scenes for the films.
It seems that rap money may stretch long, but that movie money has no bounds.
[QUOTE=Shaolinlueb;947104]really? romeo must die and that other one he did with dmx were good? i thought they were the sht. as in Sht coming out of my a**.[/QUOTE]
Agreed. Especially that second one, I can’t even remember the name of it.
IMO, though I really like Jet Li, he’s one of the last people who should play a ‘Romeo’ or romantic lead character (Jackie Chan is another). Jet acts very awkward and distant onscreen around female love-interest characters.
Though I’m not a Hip-Hop fan, I felt the best uses of it in MA films were in European films like near the end of Kiss of the Dragon, and maybe District B13(?).
an update
From the L.A. Times…
RZA’s new rap: filmmaker
After years of tutelage under Tarantino and other masters, the student is ready to direct his first movie.
By Chris Lee
January 3, 2010
Call the RZA hip-hop’s foremost alchemist. The self-professed former drug dealer-turned-Grammy-winning rapper-producer has defied all odds to spin not lead into gold, but démodé pop culture and arcane philosophical beliefs into platinum disc upon platinum disc.
And now, after spending years under the tutelage of several high-profile filmmakers, including Quentin Tarantino, he’s preparing to unleash his unique mash-up sensibility on the big screen, in a project that will be part chop-socky flick, part spaghetti western and all RZA.
As founding father of the hard-core Staten Island rap collective Wu-Tang Clan, RZA (pronounced “rizza,” given name: Robert Diggs) conflated the spiritual enlightenment found in '70s kung fu movies with racially incendiary teachings from the Five-Percent Nation of Islam, adding to the mix references to Taoism and comic books, numerology and snippets of mafia don movie dialogue, articulating a plaintive yet hard-bitten ghetto cri de coeur.
The upshot was an almost unparalleled string of hits that started with the Clan’s epochal 1993 debut LP, “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers),” and encompasses such releases as Method Man’s multiplatinum-selling “Tical,” Raekwon the Chef’s “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx . . .” (widely regarded as one of hip-hop’s greatest albums) and Ol’ Dirty *******'s gold-selling “Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version,” another ranking rap classic.
But after the Wu’s tightly knit fabric started to unravel around 2004, RZA began to focus more on film. In recent years, he has been scoring such movies as “Blade: Trinity” and making cameo appearances in Jim Jarmusch’s “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai” and other films. His encyclopedic knowledge of Hong Kong cinema notwithstanding, the producer didn’t have any particular ambition to set moviedom on fire. Until, that is, he got a fateful phone call from then-Miramax Co-Chairman Harvey Weinstein.
“Hey RZA, it’s Harvey,” the RZA recalled, lapsing into a raspy imitation of Weinstein’s cigarette-seasoned growl. “I want you to be in my movie. You got a new career now.”
Since that appearance with Clive Owen in 2005’s “Derailed,” RZA has built a respectable filmography with small roles in a number of high-profile, big-budget studio movies, among them Judd Apatow’s “Funny People” and Ridley Scott’s “American Gangster,” as well as a turn in “The Hangover” director Todd Phillips’ upcoming comedy, “Due Date,” and Paul Haggis’ “The Next Three Days” – a role that reunited him with “Gangster” co-star Russell Crowe.
“I’m working up in the movie business,” RZA said. “Maybe in the movie business, I’m working down. How long are you going to be a celebrity? I like the art. I like how it feels to act.”
So do such other rappers-turned-actors as LL Cool J, Common, Xzibit, Ludacris, DMX, Ice Cube and even Snoop Dogg. But befitting the producer’s magpie ability to glean and repackage cultural stimuli from across the high-low divide, RZA says his acting efforts are in the service of his next career act: a move behind the camera.
With no small amount of backup from a cadre of top-flight filmmakers – including independent cinema luminary Jarmusch and Hong Kong action movie ace John Woo, but most significantly, Tarantino – the RZA-rector, as he is sometimes known, is now in final preparations for his debut as a writer-director, “The Man With the Iron Fist.” And unlike the fates of some musicians’ directorial efforts (say, Madonna’s “Filth and Wisdom” or Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst’s “The Education of Charlie Banks”), RZA’s movie industry backers swear he has the right combination of creativity, chutzpah and discipline to achieve liftoff at the box office.
Planned as a genre-busting opening salvo to the industry, the movie is being produced by “torture porn” poster boy Eli Roth, the writer-director of such low-cost, high-yield horror films as “Hostel” and “Hostel: Part II.”
(For the time being, though, both filmmakers prefer to remain mum on specific plot points, although Roth allows that “Man With the Iron Fist” should appeal to "an audience that’s hungry for kung fu but not grindhouse. Something that’s modern, like ‘Blade.’ ")
“RZA is such a creative fountain. The script is great, he’s got characters, jokes. What he does with lyrics, he does with dialogue,” Roth said. “And he’s done such a great mix: spaghetti western, kung fu, modern fighting infused with hip-hop and multiculture. He has this whole comic book universe figured out. I know he’s going to make a brilliant film.”
Of course, none of it would be possible without Tarantino, who godfathered Roth’s “Hostel” into production as an executive producer and introduced the filmmaker to RZA. A longtime admirer of Wu-Tang Clan’s sonic mélange, with his own deeply felt appreciation for the Shaolin monk movie cannon, Tarantino first hired RZA to create the electro-ambient, quasi-hip-hop score for his two-volume kung fu drama " Kill Bill." But their working relationship didn’t end there. Tarantino has allowed the RZA to soak up production know-how on the set of every movie he’s done since 2003.
Tarantino said he identifies with the hip-hop producer’s skill in macromanaging the nine Clan members’ unwieldy energies into a cohesive form. “You have to understand that even though they’re very different, being a producer on a record is not too different from being a director of film – especially with something like Wu-Tang Clan,” Tarantino said. “All these guys have their different contributions. Everyone has a say. But ultimately, the album is RZA’s decision. That’s very similar to what a director does. It’s a lot like how I was influenced by Phil Spector.”
Still, RZA says he would not make the move into filmmaking without Tarantino’s explicit blessing.
“Tarantino is my teacher,” RZA said solemnly, echoing – whether intentionally or not – the kind of dialogue you’d hear in a martial-arts film. “I’ve watched hundreds of movies with him and spent hundreds of hours learning craft from him. I’m a disciple of Tarantino.”
He continued: "When Eli said, ‘I want to help you make your movie,’ we had to go to Quentin. The teacher. He said, ‘You and Eli are ready. You have my blessing.’ "
‘The Tao of Wu’
Spend an afternoon with the RZA and, as any of his moviemaking consigliere will attest, you’ll be hard-pressed not to be bowled over by the breadth of his polymathic learning. Conversation ricochets between electrical innovator Nikola Tesla and an extended recitation of what Five-Percent Nation of Islam followers call “the knowledge,” from the travails of Job to RZA’s sober recollection of fleeing New York’s meanest streets with a stolen gold necklace, a Koran and a gun – a story the producer elaborates on in his recently published memoir-spiritual enlightenment guide, “The Tao of Wu.”
There’s a 2nd page but I kept getting an error message when trying to get there.
Roth already talking franchise?
I couldn’t find the original WENN interview, but I only took the web search one page in…
8 January 2010 22:01
RZA - ROTH: ‘RZA’S KUNG FU FILM WILL BE THE FIRST OF MANY’
Rapper RZA’s new kung-fu film looks set to become a major movie franchise - if producer ELI ROTH has his way.
The filmmaker and Inglourious Basterds star has teamed up with the Wu-Tang Clan star, real name Robert Diggs, to make The Man With The Iron Fist - and Roth is convinced his pal will be able to turn the film into a series of cult hits.
He tells WENN, "RZA’s one of the smartest, most creative people I have ever met. He’s obsessed with movies the same way Quentin and I are, and his knowledge of the kung fu genre is nothing short of astounding. He knows everything, and everyone in it, and he’s on a mission to reinvent the genre he loves.
"We worked together on the script all summer, and we have watched and discussed many, many movies. He’s already got the soundtrack figured out. He understands every detail of the world.
“It’s going to be something spectacular, unique, and original that stays true both to the genre and to RZA’s fans. It’s a really fun script. We see this film as the first step in a franchise.”
It’s on!
RZA’s ‘Man With The Iron Fist’ Kung Fu Film Gets Picked Up!
May 7, 2010
Source: Deadline
by Alex Billington
If you’re a long-time reader, you’ll know that a project I’ve been following is Wu-Tang Clan member RZA’s kung fu project that he wrote with Eli Roth called The Man With The Iron Fist (although Deadline refers to it as Fists with the extra “s”). The good news is that Universal is making a deal to finance and distribute RZA’s project, which means it’ll finally start shooting later this year. The bad news is that it’s Universal, who will probably mess with the film and screw up the marketing. Oh well. RZA will also play the title character, a blacksmith who forges weapons for the inhabitants of a village in feudal China, and will also direct this.
Universal is giving them a budget of under $20 million which he’ll use to shoot this in September in Hong Kong. It’s described as a “stylized martial arts film” and RZA will produce the soundtrack as well as star in and direct this. Eli Roth explains how fully immersed RZA has been in this: “While I was away shooting Inglourious Basterds, RZA went to China to shoot test footage on his own, with all the choreography. It was very visual and I think he will bring to life a script that mixes kung fu with a spaghetti western mindset and a hip hop influence.” That just sounds awesome. “RZA has imagined every tribe, every fighting style, every costume,” Roth said. “He knows kung fu like I know horror.” And that’s why I can’t wait to see this!
The Man With the Iron Fist (or Fists, if that’s true) will be a “bloody R rated martial arts extravaganza” that RZA developed after studying Quentin Tarantino for a few years and working with Roth. He’s really putting everything into this, not only in the script, but for his feature directing debut. “I’m going to tell you that we put a lot of time into the script, a lot of energy into it, a lot of people were supporting me on it, and if the energy comes out right, it should be a classic film to have in your library.” I hope that’s the case! Stay tuned for more updates and potential casting coming down the road. Anyone else just as excited to see this?
I’d love to see that test footage.
from what i hear from friends of mine rza has tons of stuff he shoots up in wu mountain as he calls it and he keeps it all locked away if you asked him gene he probably would show it to you. whats important here is that this movie is happening and it has a realistic budget that could net universal a nice tidy profit, so sequels are not out of the question. if it works it could boost up ma movies in the states. also we finally know what the hell this movie is about.lol
BTW, I did talk to RZA about this last Sunday
RZA was in town with the Wu-Tang Clan on the Rock the Bells tour. He was kind enough to hook me up with a backstage. Rock the Bells is a big festival, so we didn’t really talk that much. There were throngs of reporters and fans trying to get to him. I just congratulated him on getting bank for this project and he just grinned back.
this is f ucking Giant news, RZA and crowe must have really become close, cause i couldnt imagine the pay cut crow had to take, but im pretty sure they bumped the budget up to at least 30mil to give crow ten, and then he’ll make the rest of his quote on the back end, plus some points.
Russell Crowe Unleashes Kung Fu Moves!
Today 5:00 PM PDT by Marc Malkin
russell crowe, RZA Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images; Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Russell Crowe is going to be kung fu fighting…with a hip-hop star!
Read on for my exclusive scoop about the Oscar-winner’s new movie gig…
Hip-hop artist and actor RZA tells me that Crowe has signed on to costar with him in The Man With the Iron Fist, a kung fu flick the Wu-Tang Clan founder is also directing.
RZA will play a weapons-making village blacksmith in feudal Chinaand as for Crowe, RZA doesn’t want to say too much.
“I won’t spoil it for you, but Russell’s gonna be the baddest man alive,” he told me yesterday at the VMAs. “That man is in fighting shape. That man will knock you out.”
The Man With the Iron Fist (no relation to the Marvel Comic superhero Iron Fist) starts shooting in Shanghai in December. “It’s nerve-wracking,” RZA said of directing Crowe. “He’s a master of the craft. I’m quite sure that I may learn something from him.”
Crowe and RZA worked together three years ago in Ridley Scott’s American Gangster. They even recorded a song together, but Gangster producers decided not to include it on the movie’s soundtrack. Both are also in the upcoming The Next Three Days from director Paul Haggis.
The Wu-Tang Clan founder began developing the project about five years ago with the help of Quentin Tarantino and director/actor Eli Roth, the latter now a cowriter and coproducer of the flick.
Universal reportedly green lighted Iron Fist in May with a $20 million budget
gene man im telling you need to make sure you guys have a man with the iron fist exclusive issue, with crowe and rza on the cover…sure to boost sales. since rza is playing a weapon blacksmith it could be a weapons special issue.
P.S. i scooped gene…doug FTW…lol
[QUOTE=doug maverick;1038730]this is f ucking Giant news, RZA and crowe must have really become close, cause i couldnt imagine the pay cut crow had to take, but im pretty sure they bumped the budget up to at least 30mil to give crow ten, and then he’ll make the rest of his quote on the back end, plus some points.
gene man im telling you need to make sure you guys have a man with the iron fist exclusive issue, with crowe and rza on the cover…sure to boost sales. since rza is playing a weapon blacksmith it could be a weapons special issue.
P.S. i scooped gene…doug FTW…lol[/QUOTE]
Sounds like an interesting movie, but I’m confused to how a black man is a village blacksmith in feudal China. I guess it could be an Afro Samurai sort of situation where time and race doesn’t matter.
I concede that one, Doug.
China has had trade with Africa since the 1st century CE via the Silk Road so it’s possible for a black blacksmith to have existed in feudal China. But it’s a kung fu movie. Since when does kung fu movies worry that much about historical accuracy? :rolleyes:
[QUOTE=GeneChing;1038811]China has had trade with Africa since the 1st century CE via the Silk Road so it’s possible for a black blacksmith to have existed in feudal China. But it’s a kung fu movie. Since when does kung fu movies worry that much about historical accuracy? :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]
agreed…this movie seems to be in the same fantasy world as kill bill…crowes addition definitely brings weight to the project, and means that it will get a nice wide release. now that he has his obligatory white guy, lol. i cant wait to see who he cast in the rest of the roles hopefully we get alot of cool kung fu legend up in there.
[QUOTE=GeneChing;1038811]China has had trade with Africa since the 1st century CE via the Silk Road so it’s possible for a black blacksmith to have existed in feudal China. But it’s a kung fu movie. Since when does kung fu movies worry that much about historical accuracy? :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]
The African trade was was presided over by middlemen. I have never read anything about black merchants from this time traveling to China. As far as I know, China’s first direct contact with Africa was via the journey of the eunuch Zheng He during the Ming. The descriptions of Africa and its people from Chinese records prior to this were derived from hearsay from foreign merchants.
African slaves were first brought to China during the Tang Dynasty by Arab slave traders. Only the rich had direct contact with them, so the common folk developed fanciful tales about them being supernatural beings with inhuman strength and magical abilities (there is even a small literary genre dedicated to them). During the Song Dynasty, however, commoners had more contact with the slaves and saw them for what they were: scared people in a foreign land. They were known as Kunlun () and “devil slaves.” (I actually sent the RZA an email about this material and the journal paper I found it in several years ago on Myspace. Whether he read the email is unclear to me. He probably has an assistant who screens his emails. They may not have been a history buff, so they might have just assumed I pulled the info out of my ass and deleted the email. Either way, I like to think–in my own deranged view of the world–that I influenced this movie in some small way.)
My knowledge on the subject seems to contradict my questioning of a black man in Feudal China. But the reason I questioned his position as a village blacksmith is because African slaves were traditionally treated as work mules. It seems like a blacksmith would be an important social position (then again, I might just be thinking about their counterparts in the American frontier). I think an African slave serving in such a position is a stretch considering their social status in ancient China. However, I realize this is a movie and doesn’t have to be accurate. Like I stated above, Afro Samurai is set in a land where race doesn’t matter.
We all know that Crowe is capable of kicking someone’s ass, so I doubt this movie will be a stretch for him. I look forward to watching it.
i think youll have to suspend your disbelief for this film…ya dig?
[QUOTE=doug maverick;1038934]i think youll have to suspend your disbelief for this film…ya dig?[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=ghostexorcist;1038839] However, I realize this is a movie and doesn’t have to be accurate. Like I stated above, Afro Samurai is set in a land where race doesn’t matter.[/QUOTE]
I’m hip daddio.
Great interview
Topel gets some great answers out of RZA on this.
Exclusive: RZA on ‘The Man with the Iron Fist’
The Wu-Tang producer and director on his new film, ‘The Man with the Iron Fist’.
by Fred Topel
Sep 30, 2010
The RZA presented Yuen Woo-Ping with a lifetime achievement award at Fantastic Fest for his legendary career directing and choreographing martial arts movies. On stage, Master Woo-Ping asked RZA to come to the set of his next film. True Legend is the latest Woo-Ping film to enter RZA’s martial arts vocabulary. While it was screening, he sat with us to talk about his upcoming martial arts film The Man with the Iron Fist starring Russell Crowe.
Crave Online: What are your favorite Yuen Woo Ping movies?
RZA: Man, there’s too many to say my favorite but I love a lot of them. You’ve got Dance of the Drunken Mantis. Of course Drunken Master and Dance of the Drunken Mantis. You’ve got to check out films like The Buddist Fist. That’s a great one. Of course, Legend of a Fighter. That film right there, the fights in that film, I’ll watch that film like over 20 times. My whole family loves that film. We’ve got so many classics that we watch. Then when you start moving up to the ‘90s with Jet Li movies with the Once Upon A Time in China, then he kept going on and came out here and did The Matrix and Kill Bill for us and a few other great ones. He hasn’t stopped rocking the world with his style.
Crave Online: Will you ask him to choreograph The Man with the Iron Fist?
RZA: Man, if I could get something like that to happen, I’m going to ask. I know he’s a very busy man. He’s in high demand and this movie here, True Legend, I’ve got it on DVD of course. You know New Yorkers, they bootleg everything. I wish I could see it in 3D because you know it was in 3D in Asia. Anyway, this film is another great, great, great add on his collection. It’s the first film he directed in 13 years. Actually watching that film gave me more knowledge of what to do nowadays because his style has changed and progressed over the years. I just hope I do a good job. If I get him to help me, man, I’m already hitting a home run if I get him to help me.
Crave Online: Will you accept Master Woo-Ping’s offer to come work with him?
RZA: Yeah, yeah. If I can just drop in and watch him work and pick up some knowledge, if my time permits, I’m there.
Crave Online: The writer Vern has observed that we have less martial artists making movies now and more actors training just for the choreography of a given film. Do you think we’re losing the authentic trained martial artists in film?
RZA: I guess in some ways you could say that because it’s an act. Even myself, when you see me do martial arts in a film, I’m acting. One thing I think is whether you’re acting or not, when you even go through the training, you learn a discipline, you learn something. I watched Uma when she was doing Kill Bill. She picked up some knowledge whether she wanted to or not. She whipped herself into shape because she did it right after she had a baby. Whether you call her a black belt or a brown belt or whatever you want to call her, she had to pick up some knowledge to make the film look authentic. Now what I’m doing for my film, if I can talk about myself, what I am doing is I’m hiring real martial artists along with actors. So I think it should always be a blend. You should definitely always mix a few real guys in with some of the acting guys so that you can give the appreciation back to the real martial art world, but you’re also making a movie.
Crave Online: Russell Crowe is known for his extensive training. How into martial arts is he getting?
RZA: Well, we’re going to see. He’s a very intensive guy. He’s a unique individual, very smart dude. I don’t like talking about him too much because he shared a lot of personal things with me and we spent a lot of personal time together. I spent some weeks with him out on his farm in Australia, right? Some mornings he’ll wake me up, “Hey Bobby, come on, let’s go do some yoga.” I don’t know what to say about that but we sit there, we do it and we get a good workout, we get a good sweat. He did some moves I was like, “****, Russell,” he had to show me how to do this ****. So he’s a serious man. He’s a master of his craft and he gets really involved with what he does so I’m sure he’s going to get really involved in this and he’s going to deliver something to us that’s going to please us.
Crave Online: Will you still have an opportunity to do fantasy wirework?
RZA: You’ve got to include that of course but you look at Crouching Tiger sometimes, one thing about wirework, my opinion, is that years later it looks like wirework. On the first few watches it’s like yeah, cool, cool but five years later, it starts looking like Peter Pan and sh*t. So how can you do it and make it last the test of time. I haven’t figured that out yet but I’m looking to try to figure that out as well as a director.
Crave Online: Are you thinking period or modern day?
RZA: I think mine is based in a unique time period and unique place. My movie is fiction. I will just say that. It is fiction so I got a chance to play around.
Crave Online: Would it incorporate the theme of avenging a master and training?
RZA: Well, we always see those in the kung fu flicks but I think one edge I have, one additive I’ve got I think is the quest for freedom. What about that quest of man? Sometimes you watch a movie like 36th Chamber which is one of my favorite kung fu films, you’ll see that his quest for revenge, he actually found himself on a quest of enlightenment. He didn’t plan on the enlightenment. He planned on learning how to fight for revenge and the enlightenment was a blessing that actually helped him change the rest of the world. His lust for revenge caused us to be enlightened. That’s more unique than just fighting somebody, killing him and he’s dead. Somebody’s going to come kill you next, right?
Crave Online: You must have thought of a 37th and 38th chamber though.
RZA: I’ve got a couple of ideas. There is actually a training sequence in my film. Being it’s fiction, I get to play with it and I think I’ll play with it in a way that we appreciate. When we go and see The Matrix and the idea is he put a chip in his mind and he went to this virtual world and in one day he knew kung fu. But we believed it. We believed that if you put a chip in your head, a computer chip, connected to your neurosystem, you’ll be able to learn something instantly like a computer does. A computer makes music for us and it doesn’t f***ing have fingers. There’s something about Chi energy that I have a theory about Chi energy that all martial artists say. They say Chi energy should be able to extend from your body to your weapon. And if you are a master, that means this weapon is more like an extension of your arm. That particular theory I’m working on. It has to become an extension of your own body and how you do that mentally. How does Bruce Lee deliver 700 or 1000 lbs. or force in a one inch punch? What is he really hitting you with? Is he hitting you with his fist or something else? That’s the myth about martial arts anyway, when you see these guys breaking rocks or you see young kids laying on nails. What’s really protecting them? I tap into that in my film.
Crave Online: Will you do the score?
RZA: I don’t know. I don’t think so. I’ll say this, I’d rather say this now. I’ve asked, I’ve tried to hire somebody to handle the music for me and his name is Quentin Tarantino. So he said if his time permits, he’d handle the music. I did the music for him, and I was like, “Yo, do the music for me. You have to help me out with the music so I at least know that it’s in good hands.”
Crave Online: What’s your perspective on the Tony Jaa situation?
RZA: Tony’s amazing, man. I had a chance to meet him personally, hang out with him. I hear a lot of rumors about his situation and things like that. All I know is that he’s a pure talent, a unique talent for the world. One day, I told Tony, I met him about five years ago, I said, “Between five and 10 years, we’re going to do something together” and I’m still pushing for that.
Crave Online: You did on the American release of The Protector.
RZA: I mean, I think we’re going to get on the screen together. When they did The Protector, I was supposed to have gone over and done a cameo appearance. I was so busy and Thailand is such a long flight and I didn’t do it and I regretted it.
Crave Online: But do you think he’ll come back?
RZA: Yeah, I think Tony’ll come back. I think Tony loves what he does. He might not love who he does it for.
Greetings,
It has already been proven via dna testing that there was a sudden appearance of Africans in China around 12 thousand years ago.
RZA tends to drop knowledge in very strange ways. He is always on point.
mickey
Latest buzz
According to IMDB, Cung Le and Dave Batista are now attached to this project.
The Next Three Days
Didn’t know the RZA had a cameo in this…
The RZA, now in auteur flavor
November 23, 2010 | 7:00 am
Rza
His movie may not have exactly attracted a huge audience this weekend. But the RZA, the Wu-Tang pioneer who co-stars with Russell Crowe in “The Next Three Days,” took another step toward crossover fame with his turn as a violence-embracing drug dealer in the Paul Haggis film.
It’s a bit of a different turn than the hip-hop star’s other roles – say, as a member of the police force in another Russell Crowe movie, “American Gangster.”
“It was a cool thing to do, a chance to bring out some toughness and a chance to be the aggressor,” the RZA says of his new part.
The Staten Island, N.Y., Grammy winner says that the movie, set in a tough part of Pittsburgh not far from where he spent a part of his childhood, hit a little close to home. “Some of the scenes we shot were in a place called the Hill, and as we’re walking through, we’re seeing a lot of people living in poverty. And I thought, ‘I lived in that kind of poverty.’ I ran into a guy I knew who did time in jail.”
The music star is now putting himself on a different kind of hot seat – that of director – as he prepares to shoot “The Man With the Iron Fist,” a martial-arts film he wrote with Eli Roth that will be set and shot in China, and that Crowe will star in. “It’s 10 times the focus, 10 times the pressure of putting out an album,” the RZA says. "Also 10 times the blame.’
The singer-turned-director says that it’s the attention to detail that’s been keeping him up nights. “There are so many meticulous things you have to pay attention to. I’m loving it. But I see why some directors do it every two or three years. It’s not for the meek.”
But those hoping to see a return to the screen for the hip-hop artist may be in for a disappointment:; RZA says that, at the moment, he doesn’t plan on starring in the kung-fu film. “I’m Captain Kirk,” he said. “If I can find Mr. Spock, I can beam down. But for now I gotta stay in the bridge.”
– Steven Zeitchik
figured it was more then a cameo, since they use his name in the trailer, right after russel and banks.