Rza talks Iron Fist

Last Updated on July 26, 2021

Happy New Years y’all! All of us here at AITH honestly wish you nothing but the best in 2010.

I know we normally reserve columns for all things horror and science fiction, but on a slower than molasses news day, the last day of the year at that, I’m throwing some love to one of my personal musical heroes and the film he’s about to embark on. After all, it’s a flick that is being fostered by Eli Roth and Quentin Tarantino (under whom RZA found tutelage).

RZA (Robert Diggs), Grammy award winning rapper and producer, the founding member of the infamous Wu-Tang Clan, has recently caught up with the L.A. Times regarding his writing/directing debut: a martial arts genre mash up entitled THE MAN WITH THE IRON FIST.

Described by Roth (who’ll produce the film) as appealing to “an audience that’s hungry for kung fu but not grindhouse. Something that’s modern, like BLADE,” THE MAN WITH THE IRON FIST looks to cull sensibilities from all walks of cinema, particularly the works of Roth, Tarantino, John Woo and Jim Jarmusch (all of whom served as RZA’s mentor).

From RZA himself:

“Tarantino is my teacher, I’ve watched hundreds of movies with him and spent hundreds of hours learning craft from him. I’m a disciple of Tarantino.”

Tarantino reciprocates:

“You have to understand that even though they’re very different, being a producer on a record is not too different from being a director of film — especially with something like Wu-Tang Clan,” Tarantino said. “All these guys have their different contributions. Everyone has a say. But ultimately, the album is RZA’s decision. That’s very similar to what a director does. It’s a lot like how I was influenced by Phil Spector.”

As Roth describes the project:

“RZA is such a creative fountain. The script is great, he’s got characters, jokes. What he does with lyrics, he does with dialogue,” Roth said. “And he’s done such a great mix: spaghetti western, kung fu, modern fighting infused with hip-hop and multiculture. He has this whole comic book universe figured out. I know he’s going to make a brilliant film.”

Despite securing funding and completing a shooting script, shooting dates and plot details have been kept quite mum.

Click HERE to read a bunch more, including quotes from Jim Jarmusch, QT and more from Roth.