‘Crouching Tiger’ Producer’s ‘The Furious’ Lands at Lionsgate

Lionsgate has closed a deal for worldwide rights to “The Furious,” the martial arts thriller that became the breakout hit of this year’s Toronto Film Festival’s Midnight Madness section. The film subsequently played at the Busan International Film Festival.

The studio is targeting a 2026 theatrical bow for the film. The pact excludes Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, and Macao.

Bill Kong, whose producing credits include “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Hero,” and “House of Flying Daggers,” is behind the project. Kong teamed with XYZ Films early in development – the company that produced “The Raid” franchise – with the goal of crafting the definitive martial arts action pic of the past decade.

The film harks back to Hong Kong action cinema’s golden age, spotlighting authentic martial arts and hand-to-hand combat performed by an international roster of elite fighters. The story centers on Wang Wei, a humble tradesman forced into a violent…