Sixteen years after martial arts film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" opened in theaters across the United States, a sequel will be released on Netflix as well as in select IMAX theaters.
A new trailer for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny" was released on Monday, and features some of the franchise's original cast and crew, notably Michelle Yeoh as Yu Shu Lien, and fight choreographer Yuen Woo-ping, who this time takes the director’s chair. Ang Lee, who directed the 2000 Academy Award-winning film, is not attached to the project.
The sequel's story loosely follows the "Crane Iron" series by Chinese wuxia writer Wang Dulu. Unlike the original 2000 film, which was filmed in Mandarin and shown with English subtitles for Western audiences, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny" will be in English, and an English-language companion novel will be released in January in conjunction with the film.
"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny" is the first feature film by Netflix, a company that has established itself as significant producers of television series-like content, with acclaimed titles such as "House of Cards" and "Orange is the New Black." This will be the first time a film will premiere on a streaming content provider while also playing in theaters.
In addition to an English-language production, Netflix has made additional updates for its primarily Western audience, including an upbeat, electronic score and former "Glee" star Harry Shum, Jr. The film also stars long-time action star Donnie Yen, martial artist Jason Scott Lee—who portrayed Bruce Lee in the 1993 film "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story"—and actress and athlete JuJu Chan, who's been dubbed the "female Bruce Lee."
Ang Lee's critically-aclaimed 2000 "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" won four Academy Awards
The film is scheduled to be released simultaneously on Netflix and in select IMAX theaters on Feb. 26, 2016.