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Friday, September 11, 2009

"BODYGUARD: A NEW BEGINNING" -- British Hong Kong Action Film Set For North American Release 9/15

After the successful release of director Chee Keong Cheung’s UK/ Hong Kong action-thriller ‘Bodyguard: A New Beginning’ through the label Action Extreme in the UK, Intense Productions are proud to announce the forthcoming North American DVD release by Lionsgate on Sept 15th 2009.

This announcement comes hot on the heels of the films recent success at The Yellow Fever Independent Film Festival (http://www.theyfiff.ning.com/), where it received the Audience Choice Award for Best Film. This ambitious and energetic modestly budgeted British independent has been impressing audiences worldwide with its unique East meets West story combined with impressive action sequences that blend East & West styles of fight and stunt choreography.

The film was Produced by Intense Productions in association with Radius Pictures and ScreenOps as a UK/HK co-production. 'Bodyguard: A New Beginning' tells the story of Leung, a man of unrivalled loyalty who has given his life to protecting Wong (Richard Ng)a powerful leader of an elite Chinese underground society. Leung is asked to travel overseas to protect a young British woman whose identity is known only to Wong. Even Wong’s own delinquent son Yuen is kept in the dark. This shadowy secret leads to Yuen’s betrayal of his father and he along with a rogue Yakuza boss Kai (Cary Tagawa) tries to overthrow his reign. Now the fate of Wong’s dynasty has landed in the hands of Leung his trusted bodyguard.


The film’s cast includes well known Asian actors Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (whose credits include everything from ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ to ‘MortalKombat’ and the upcoming live action film ‘Tekken’ based on the hugely successful computer game) and Hong Kong legend Richard Ng (‘My Lucky Stars’‘Winners and Sinners’)in a rare purely dramatic role. The film also includes exciting new talents Vincent Sze (‘Dragon Tiger Gate’, Johnnie To’s ‘Vengeance’) Carl Ng (‘Boarding Gate’, ‘Colour of theTruth) British actress Stephanie Langton (‘Holby Blue’) and British martial arts stars Mark Strange (‘Underground’‘The Medallion’ withJackie Chan) and three times World Kickboxing Champion Nathan Lewis (‘Batman Begins’‘Underground’). ‘Bodyguard: A New Beginning’ also features the late great Hong Kong actor Shing Fui On (John Woo’s 'A Better Tomorrow' and 'The Killer') in one of his final movie roles.

‘Bodyguard: A New Beginning’ is the highly anticipated second feature film from British-Chinese writerdirector and producer Chee Keong Cheung, after his impressive directorial debut the acclaimed and award winning British martial arts/ action tournament film ‘Underground’ acclaimed for its cast of real life martial arts champions & high impact fight sequences.

Producing the film is Hong Kong based Producer/Casting Director Mike Leeder whose credits include everything from Jet Li's 'Fearless', 'TheMummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor', Baz Luhrman's 'Australia' and most recently Yuen Woo-ping's highly anticipated 'True Legend', along with Ean Tang ('The White Wall', 'Fearless') of Screen Ops, and from the UK Mark Strange ('Displaced') and Oliver Morran, as well as Jim Howell & Simon Barnes of Park Entertainment & Chris Atkins & Luke Montagu of Met Film.

The films action sequences were staged by Anthony Carpio, who brings over 20 years experience as a member of the illustrious Jackie Chan Stunt Man Team (working on almost every Jackie Chan movie since 'Police Story 2' through to 'Rob-B-Hood'), along with Chan Man-ching, another member of the Jackie Chan team whose credits include everything from 'Angel 2' to 'Hellboy 2'.

Worldwide sales on ‘Bodyguard: A New Beginning’ are handled by London based sales agent Park Entertainment.


'Bodyguard: A New Beginning' has screened to much acclaim impressing audiences at a number of national and international film festivals including the recent ‘Yellow Fever Independent Film Festival’NorthernIreland Notting Hill Film Festival at The Kensington Odeon Cinema, the cult ‘Phantasmagoria Festival’ the ‘Bi-National Independent Film Festival’ held in Mexico and Texas where the film picked up an Honourable Mention and the ‘15th Oldenburg International Film Festival’ in Germany who hailed the film as “A magnificent martial arts movie... Pushes the tempo in the stunning action scenes...Intense, innovative and daring!”

‘Bodyguard: A New Beginning’ is currently available in the UK through HMV and online via Play.comAmazon.co.UK and Lovefilm. Also available is the soundtrack for ‘Bodyguard: A New Beginning’ courtesy of Moviescore Mediawith the epic score composed by Stuart Hancock. For more information visit http://www.moviescoremedia.com/

“Bodyguard: A New Beginning is one of the most remarkable Chinese thrillers of recent yearsa test of strength for the mind and a genre highlight for even non-HK fans. Not to be missed.” – (Video World)“With Brutal Action Scenes… Action fans will not be disappointed at theresult.” 4/5 - (Albert ValentinKung Fu Cinema)“The UK’s independent action movie making scene has grown from strength to strength in recent years… Bodyguard: A New Beginning has raised the bar even further… A dramatic thriller and solid entertainment.” – (Ricky Morris Impact Magazine) “Capturing a dark unsettling tone of drama and a fast paced brutal and stylish flair for the action sequences the film treads new ground and blends multi-genre conventions.” (HK Cinemagic)“Sharp tight and delivered with brutal impact.” - (Andrew SkeatesFar East Films)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmSgb9ArEWg

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