Kung Fu Goes Digital: Chinese Studios Apparently Plan to Use AI to Remake 100 Martial Arts Classics

Big plans are unfolding in China’s movie world. At the 27th Shanghai International Film Festival, some of the country’s top studios announced they’re using artificial intelligence to bring new life to classic kung fu films.

This project, backed by the Chinese government, is called the “Kung Fu Movie Heritage Project 100 Classics AI Revitalization Project.”

The idea is to use AI to remake about 100 old martial arts movies. These include famous titles like Fist of Fury starring Bruce Lee from 1972, Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master from 1978, and Jet Li’s breakout film Once Upon a Time in China from 1991.

Another film, John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow (1986), is being turned into a futuristic animated version, where the character played by Chow Yun-fat is now a cyberpunk figure. This version is being promoted as “the world’s first full-process, AI-produced animated feature film.”

Zhang Pimin, the chairman of the China Film Foundation, was one of the leaders at the event. He said these old movies are “aesthetic historical treasures” and that using AI will help make them more appealing to modern viewers. “It is not only film heritage, but also a brave exploration of the innovative development of film art,” he said.

Tian Ming, the head of Shanghai Canxing Culture and Media, which is part of the project, added that the updated versions would still respect the originals. He said they’ll improve the sound, visuals, and production, but the core of the stories and their style will stay the same. “We sincerely invite the world’s top AI animation companies to jointly start a film revolution that subverts tradition,” Tian said. He also announced that 100 million yuan, which is about 13.9 million US dollars, will be used to fund the work.

Other groups involved in the project are the China Film Foundation’s Film and Urban Development Special Fund and the animation studio Quantum Animation, which is working on the cyberpunk version of A Better Tomorrow.

AI was a big topic throughout the festival. During the opening night, the audience watched a montage that mixed scenes from classic films like Roman Holiday with AI-generated images. This signaled how much China is embracing new tech in the film world.

China’s leaders have shown strong support for AI development. In July 2023, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, along with other departments, introduced rules to manage AI tools. Then in March 2024, they added new guidelines on how to label AI-created content. They said the goal is to “promote the healthy and orderly development of artificial intelligence.”

Zhai Xuelian, who represents the China Science Fiction Industry Investment Alliance, also spoke at the event. She said this project is an exciting mix of old culture and new tech. “It has shown us the infinite possibilities of the integration of traditional culture and future technology,” she said. She also added that this is the path forward for classic Chinese film and TV: using technology to keep their stories alive and share them with the world in new ways.

So while Hollywood continues to debate how to handle AI in entertainment, China is charging ahead, remaking some of its most beloved kung fu movies using cutting-edge tech.

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