Back in July 2015, the Inquisitr published a report based on a rumor that Chinese action star Donnie Yen would be in Star Wars Episode 8 .
We now know, however, that his role will only be for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and as of this writing, the Internet Movie Database ( IMDB ) does not show him cast for anything past 2017.
Details on the new Star Wars: Rogue One were given on the entertainment site Slash Film where a source verified that footage of the movie had been shown at a meeting with Disney shareholders, which also featured clips from other soon-to-be-released blockbusters for the year.
Donnie Yen was interviewedby IGNabout the new Star Warsmovie while marketing his other currently released fictionalized martial arts biopic Ip Man3, where the interviewer could not help but ask him about his role in the space fantasy blockbuster.
“I’m very excited to be the first Chinese actor to ever be in the biggest movie franchise in the world, Star Wars . My children love Star Wars and I saw Star Wars as a kid.”
In the article, he talks about the Asian film industry — which the Inquisitr covered in an article about Star Wars in India and China — which he boasts will eventually take the cinema pedestal of industry away from Hollywood.
But he also provides very little detail about his part, even stating that he couldn’t say anything when he was asked for something as simple as whether the contact lenses his character is seen wearing in the promotional poster bothered him.
But Donnie Yen has already been in the film industry for some time, which featured him in another blockbuster franchise over a decade ago with Blade II: Bloodhunt where he played a vampire killer named Snowman. To play the character, he had to wear frosty bright contact lenses.
During that time around 2002, contact lens make-up artist Cristina Patterson was working on the film and represented Professional Visioncare Associates (PVA).
She has since left the company to start her own but is still very much involved with the industry’s latest blockbusters, even being credited with working on the current award-winning Mad Max: Fury Road which the Inquisitr also covered.
In short, there’s a very good chance the contact lenses in the upcoming Star Wars movie might not have been a big deal for the longtime professional star especially in the hands of a make-up artist who has much to do with advancing the quality of such lenses — even doing them by hand — for the film industry. So there is a good chance that the veteran actor had little to no problem with them.
Donnie Yen BrIefly Discusses His ‘Rogue One’ Role https://t.co/qhTT1YBaPU #StarWars pic.twitter.com/F4zCTL0xkj
— Best Sellers Amzn (@bestSellersAmzn) January 22, 2016
Though he is perhaps known to have leaked out some small details on the helmets, Yen has certainly done well to keep quiet and not give anything away for the new, highly anticipated Star Wars movie; which is confirmed to be the story of the group who stole the plans for the Death Star, a plot device from the original trilogy.
Disney isn’t giving too much away if hardly anything at all at this point. Perhaps the reason the news of The Force Awakens release dates for home viewing was so unusually large was to provide a single consistent distraction before focusing on Rogue One , which is due out this December.
The report on the clips seen says that of the three characters shown, Donnie Yen’s was one of them and so it’s likely his role might be bigger than it’s usually been in American films.
Whether he will have dialogue is unknown. For his part in the Guillermo del Toro-directed Blade sequel, his character was mute. He does have a slight accent but speaks English well enough for some lines.
What is most certain is that Donnie Yen’s contribution to A Star Wars Story would have to be with fight scenes since his billing guarantees it will lure in some hardcore martial arts fans, ensuring that the movie will have high-caliber action sequences to go with the space drama.
[Featured image by Vincent Yu | AP photo]
