Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which brought the magic of wuxia to worldwide audiences 25 years ago, is coming to the small screen. A TV adaptation of the novels the film was based on is in the works at Prime Video. Deadline reports that Jason Ning (Lucifer) and Ronald D. Moore (For All Mankind) are both attached to the project.
The film was based on the Crane-Iron Series, a series of five interlinked books written by Chinese novelist Wang Dulu in the 1940s. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is the fourth book in the series. The project has been in the works for some time at Sony, which released Ang Lee‘s Oscar-winning film adaptation in 2000. Ning is on an overall deal with Sony and has been with the project since its inception; Battlestar Galactica creator Moore, who recently signed his own deal with Sony, came on board last year. It’s the second Sony project Moore has signed on to recently, as he’s also set to adapt the popular God of War series of video games. The project will be a co-production of Sony Pictures Television and Prime Video.
Set in Qing-dynasty China during the 19th century, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon follows two longtime friends and warriors, Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-fat) and Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh). Mu Bai plans to retire from his life as a swordsman, and intends to give his 400-year-old sword “Green Destiny” to his benefactor, Sir Te (Lang Sihung). While visiting Sir Te, they meet Jen (Zhang Ziyi), the daughter of a local official. Soon, Green Destiny is stolen by a masked thief who works for Mu Bai and Shu Lien’s longtime adversary, Jade Fox (Cheng Pei-pei); they’re both shocked to realize that the masked bandit is secretly Jen. Meanwhile, the outlaw bandit Dark Cloud (Chang Chen) has come to town to stop Jen’s impending nuptials, as he’s fallen in love with her. They’ll all come together in a clash of steel that will change their lives forever. The film, produced for $17 million USD, was a sensation with audiences and critics alike, and helped popularize the wire-suspended aerial acrobatics of the wuxia martial arts genre worldwide. It grossed $214 million at the box office, and was nominated for ten Academy Awards, a record at the time for a non-English-language film. The film won four Oscars, including Best Foreign Language Film.
The new TV adaptation isn’t the first attempt to recapture the magic of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. In 2016, Netflix released Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, a sequel to the original film. Yeoh was the only returning cast member, and Yuen Woo-ping, the action coordinator of the first film, stepped in to direct. Despite a strong cast that included action legend Donnie Yen, the film was a critical disappointment.
A new TV adaptation of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is in development at Prime Video; no casting or release date has yet been announced.
via Collider