IP MAN 3 Will Use CGI Bruce Lee, Also Mike Tyson Joins Cast

The two previous Ip Man films are arguably Donnie Yen's best films. They really tread a line between fantastical wire work and a more grounded reality — either gets boring if it's tipped too much one way or the other. Ip Man 3 is starting up production and has cast Mike Tyson of all people.

THR reports on how this came to be:

"Two years ago Mike Tyson opened up a Weibo [the Chinese microblogging site] account and the first question he asked was, 'Who is the best fighter in China?'" Pegasus chairman and Ip Man 3 producer Raymond Wong told THR. "Someone answered him 'Donnie Yen,' and that gave me an idea. For the third installment in the Ip Man series, we want to have an explosive fight, and Mike Tyson versus Donnie Yen fits the bill."

Tyson said in a statement: "Who is the best boxer and kung fu master in China? Wait for me, I am coming. Thank you for introducing me to Chinese kung fu."

Tyson will play a property developer who is conveniently also a street fighter.

Ip Man popularized Wing Chun and had Bruce Lee as a pupil. We saw a very young Lee in the second film. Lee will be featured in the film at some point and reportedly, "the film's producers were unable to find an actor to portray Lee's intensity onscreen so have decided to use computer graphics to re-create the most authentic Lee in the film." This makes me wonder how old Lee and Man will be in this third film and if Lee will fight Tyson's character.

We posted a couple CGI Bruce Lee's in the past. The most impressive CGI rendering was directed by Joseph Kahn, who also directed the recent gritty Power Rangers fan film. I've attached both the commercial by Kahn and short film titled "A Warrior's Dream" that coincidentally has a CGI Lee and Yen fighting. The effects looking believable in Ip Man 3 is entirely up to the size of their budget and how and how much they use it.

This is my latest ad - for Johnnie Walker Blue Label in China. It stars Bruce Lee. You should watch it first then come back and read the rest. Seriously, watch it first. OK. The making of the ad: My good friend BBH Creative Executive Johnny Tan and I first talked about doing this concept a year ago. We shot it in Hong Kong, and then we worked with vfx company The Mill in London to create a completely CGI Bruce Lee over nine months. EVERY shot of his head and every detail in there is completely cgi. We got Shannon Lee, Bruce Lee's daughter, to come aboard and we really picked her brain to make sure that everything was accurate from look to soul. We wanted to be as respectful to the man and legend as we could. A big thank you to Johnny, Shannon, Mill, and everyone who tirelessly worked on this. CREDITS Client: Johnnie Walker Blue Label Director: Joseph Kahn Cinematographer: Christopher Probst Agency: BBH, Johnny Tan Creative Director Agency Producer: BBH, Krystie Koh Line Producer: Merrilyn Lim, Gravity Films Executive Producer HSI Productions: Kim Dellara Music: Brain & Melissa VFX: The Mill, London ADDITIONAL STATEMENT 7/10/13: This spot isn't about drinking, nor does Bruce Lee ever pitch, hold, talk about it. It's a short inspirational film sponsored by Johnnie Walker. Those making comparisons of "water" to "alcohol" are literalists & wrong. Last thing alcohol wants to be is water. It's a metaphor for life. It's his metaphor in his actual words. I spent a year living and breathing this man, thinking about him every day. For me, it's not an ad. It's an exploration & celebration of him. This is a sculpture in a different medium, paid for by a different church. I stand behind it.

A Warrior's Dream is a 3D animated short film with photorealistic visual style. The story is about a martial artist's combat with his imaginary opponent. The martial artist finally realized that the mightiest opponent is himself. The film ends with Bruce Lee's calligraphy "Walk On".

H/T to /Film for pointing out the CGI Bruce Lee detail