Ip Man is a series of Hong Kong martial arts films based on the life events of the Wing Chun master of the same name. The progenitor of the series was Ip Man (2008), which was followed by two sequels – Ip Man 2 (2010), Ip Man 3 (2015), the spin-off Master Z: Ip Man Legacy (2018) and the final instalment Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019). All four main films were directed by Wilson Yip, written by Edmond Wong and produced by Raymond Wong. Ip Man, Ip Man 2, Ip Man 3, and Ip Man 4: The Finale. star Donnie Yen. Mandarin Films released the first two films in Hong Kong, which earned more than $37 million with a budget of around $24.6 million. Donnie Yen has mentioned each film has a unique theme, that the first Ip Man film was about “survival”, Ip Man 2 focuses on “making a living and adaptation”, while Ip Man 3 focuses on “life” itself.
Ip Man’s original title was controversial. It was disputed when film director Wong Kar-wai announced plans to make his own Ip Man film with Tony Leung Chiu-wai while filming 2046. Wong had planned his own Ip Man biopic titled The Great Master (一代宗师), with Leung playing the role of Ip. Wong’s film, however, had been in development hell, having been announced several years earlier. Producer Raymond Wong wanted to name his film Grandmaster Yip Man, which bore a resemblance to the title Wong Kar-wai wanted to use for his film.
To settle the dispute, Raymond Wong publicly retracted the film title, stating “Actually, all along, we have called our film Ip Man, but our mainland investors said that Yip Man was a great master of his times, so we changed our title to Grandmaster Yip Man out of respect for him.”
