“The Furious” – Interview with producer Bill Kong

Hong Kong producer Bill Kong knows what it takes to make a martial arts action masterpiece, as the world discovered with 2000’s “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon,” for which Kong was producer. This Bill Kong The Furious Interview explores how, despite the changes over the past quarter century, the global appetite for the immaculate action, stunts, and fight choreography that the Hong Kong industry is legendary for remains stronger than ever. That was certainly not lost on Bill Kong and Edko Films in putting together “The Furious,” helmed by Kenji Tanigaki with Kensuke Sonomura as action director, and rounding up a Pan-Asian martial arts ensemble that includes Xie Miao, Joe Taslim, Jeeja Yanin, Brian Le, Yayan Ruhian, and Joey Iwanaga.

In “The Furious”, mute handyman Wang Wei (Xie Miao) becomes a man on a mission to rescue his daughter Rainy (Yang Enyu) after she is abducted by a human trafficking ring. Wang inexplicably finds an ally in Navin (Joe Taslim), a journalist investigating the same operation after his wife Matia (Jeeja Yanin) disappeared in her earlier attempt to bring the gang to justice. Together, Wang Wei ad Navin join forces, heading into a whirlwind of a showdown with the trafficking ring that delivers one of the best martial arts action movies of the decade!

Today, KFK sits down with Bill Kong to discuss the making of “The Furious”, bringing together the movie’s ensemble cast, working with Lionsgate as the movie’s international distributor, and crafting the project as the ultimate 21st century Hong Kong action movie!

Hello Mr. Kong, thank you so much for your time today! Let’s go ahead and dive right into the making of “The Furious”! What can you share about how “The Furious” came about?

Well, I’ve worked with Kenji Tanigaki for a long time, and “The Furious” started to become real when someone mentioned to me that they had seen many good action movies from our part of the world for a long time. That triggered me to think about that and then I talked to Kenji and asked “Is there anything that we can do where we can show the action world that there are still good Hong Kong martial arts being made in Asia?” That was how the idea of “The Furious” really started.

We set out to make “The Furious” a very international movie, meaning that we developed the script where it’s catered for the whole world, not just the local market in China and Hong Kong. So, that was how it really got started about three years ago.

“The Furious” also has quite the ensemble, including Xie Miao, Joe Taslim, Yayan Ruhian, Brian Le, Joey Iwanaga, and Jeeja Yanin. What can you share about how the cast of “The Furious” was brought together?

Well, for “The Furious”, we always wanted not just action people, but action actors, meaning that they can act and also do the action well. Xie Miao is someone who can act well, and also jump down two stories without being scared! It’s the same with Joe Taslim, he’s a former Judo champion and he’s not afraid to take falls. Also, Kenji said from the beginning that we wanted to do something real with “The Furious, no doubles, long takes, and they also have to speak English, so that made it so that we had to go around Asia to find the best people available, and we even went to Los Angeles to find Brian Le.

Lionsgate is also handling distribution for “The Furious” outside of China, Hong Kong, and Macau. How did Lionsgate come aboard as the international distributor for “The Furious”?

Well, Lionsgate has distributed other movies I’ve done before, so we trusted that Lionsgate has the best knowledge to handle action movies because they have a great track record of doing very successful mainstream action movies. So, that’s why we entrusted the film to Lionsgate.

So, what would you say was the biggest challenge in realizing “The Furious” from your perspective as producer?

I would have to say that film was an easy one to make, because once everyone knew that Kenji was going to direct “The Furious”, everybody from the action world volunteered to come on board. And they might not have known each other or shot a movie together before, but once they came together, they were like best friends the very next minute. Everybody was all themselves die-hard fans of action movies, and everyone is aware of what the other guy has done before and what the other guy is good at. It was a great opportunity for everyone to work together and especially with Kenji, so during the shoot, it was really joyful and it was the happiest set I’ve ever been on. We had not one accident, nobody was injured, everything was on time and schedule, and the Thai crew was fantastic, so that made it not a difficult shoot at all, but a very easy one.

There has also been some talk already of “The Furious 2” an even a web-series tie-in. IS there anything you can share about the possibility for “The Furious 2”?

Well, because we all had such a great time together making “The Furious”, we’re going to continue making action movies for the international market. Whether we get to do “The Furious 2” all depends on the reception of what we have done. But we are very committed to do more action films for the international market, so I would expect you to interview me more down the road!

“The Furious” is now playing in theaters in China, Hong Kong, Macau, and the U.S. on June 12th, and will hit theaters in the U.K. on June 26th! Have you seen “The Furious”? What are your thoughts on the movie’s the out-of-this-world martial arts action and incredible ensemble of “The Furious” at last? Are you excited for the possibility of “The Furious 2”? Let us know in the comments below; Like, share and join in the conversation on Facebook and follow us on Twitter & Instagram. (Don’t forget to also check out KFK’s FURIOUS FU-niversity of movie reviews and exclusive, in-depth interviews, including our interviews with director Kenji Tanigaki and Brian Le on the making of “The Furious”, grab your exclusive KFK gear and subscribe for more amazing martial arts action on YouTube, as well!)