Though he was criminally underused in the final cut of Judd Apatow's Funny People, the DVD extras demonstrated RZA's abilities in front of a camera. Now his abilities behind the camera will be tested, as the Wu-Tang producer/rapper has announced his first foray into directing.
The L.A. Times recently wrote a lengthy article about RZA's directorial debut, The Man With the Iron Fist. The film is being produced by Hostel director Eli Roth, but don't expect another torture-porn flick. Instead, Roth says that it will work for "an audience that's hungry for kung fu but not grindhouse."
Roth remains confident that RZA's strengths as a director will translate into an epic motion picture. "RZA is such a creative fountain," he says. "The script is great, he's got characters, jokes. What he does with lyrics, he does with dialogue. 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."
RZA says his strengths as a director come from studying Quentin Tarantino's work. "Tarantino is my teacher," the rapper said. "I've watched hundreds of movies with him and spent hundreds of hours learning craft from him. I'm a disciple of Tarantino... 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.'"
Besides his directorial debut, RZA also has acting appearances lined up in Paul Haggis's The Next Three Days and Todd Phillips's Hangover follow-up Due Date.
According to IMDB, RZA's The Man With the Iron Fist is due out sometime this year.
The L.A. Times recently wrote a lengthy article about RZA's directorial debut, The Man With the Iron Fist. The film is being produced by Hostel director Eli Roth, but don't expect another torture-porn flick. Instead, Roth says that it will work for "an audience that's hungry for kung fu but not grindhouse."
Roth remains confident that RZA's strengths as a director will translate into an epic motion picture. "RZA is such a creative fountain," he says. "The script is great, he's got characters, jokes. What he does with lyrics, he does with dialogue. 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."
RZA says his strengths as a director come from studying Quentin Tarantino's work. "Tarantino is my teacher," the rapper said. "I've watched hundreds of movies with him and spent hundreds of hours learning craft from him. I'm a disciple of Tarantino... 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.'"
Besides his directorial debut, RZA also has acting appearances lined up in Paul Haggis's The Next Three Days and Todd Phillips's Hangover follow-up Due Date.
According to IMDB, RZA's The Man With the Iron Fist is due out sometime this year.