The Kung Fu Film Heritage Challenge: 100 Classics AI Revitalisation Challenge was lately unveiled on the Shanghai Worldwide Movie Competition, promising to digitally restore and improve iconic martial arts motion pictures that includes legends like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and extra.
In accordance with presenters, this cutting-edge initiative goals to breathe new life into China’s storied kung fu cinema utilizing superior AI know-how.
Chinese language movie studios are planning to remake and remaster martial arts classics utilizing AI
• 100 movies — together with ones starring Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, and Jet Li — will probably be remastered
• John Woo’s ‘Higher Tomorrow’ is being became ‘the world’s first AI-produced animated… pic.twitter.com/3tmYQLZUgt
— Tradition Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) June 19, 2025
Fueled by a considerable 100 million yuan (round $13.9 million) finances, the challenge plans to ship high-definition upgrades to traditional kung fu favorites resembling Fist of Fury, Drunken Grasp, and As soon as Upon a Time in China, aiming to interact new audiences worldwide.
Taking innovation additional, the initiative may also pioneer AI-generated remakes. Notably, John Woo’s A Higher Tomorrow is being reimagined as A Higher Tomorrow: Cyber Frontier, a cyberpunk-themed animated function created fully by generative AI. This bold movie is touted because the world’s first full-length animated film produced completely with AI know-how.
The reimagined movie is designed to showcase the know-how’s artistic potential, streamlining manufacturing processes that when required massive crews and years of labor.
This dual-pronged technique underscores China’s dedication to preserving its cinematic historical past whereas pushing the boundaries of what’s doable in the way forward for filmmaking.
Zhang Pimin, chairman of the China Movie Basis, said, “It’s not solely movie heritage, but in addition a courageous exploration of the progressive improvement of movie artwork.“
Tian Ming, chairman of challenge companions Shanghai Canxing Tradition and Media, additionally shared sentiments, stating, “We sincerely invite the world’s prime AI animation corporations to collectively begin a movie revolution that subverts custom.“
Zhai Xuelian, secretary basic of the China Science Fiction Business Funding Alliance, additionally offered a press release. “[It] has proven us the infinite potentialities of the combination of conventional tradition and future know-how, and in addition the longer term improvement course of conventional traditional movie and tv, which is to make use of the brand new era of science and know-how as a fulcrum to permit the world to raised expertise the normal appeal and vitality of Chinese language tradition.“
If China’s groundbreaking challenge succeeds, count on Hollywood studios to leap on the AI remake bandwagon sooner relatively than later.
Which main U.S. studio do you assume would be the first to harness AI know-how to reboot one in every of its traditional movies?
