'Never give up': Donnie Yen once had only RM52 to his name

Donnie Yen as Ip Man in Ip Man 4.

Donnie Yen once laboured in the shadow of Jet Li and Jackie Chan.

But with the impending release of Ip Man 4 in the lucrative box-office franchise, action hero Yen, 55, can look back on even arguably overtaking Chan in a career that has also taken him to Hollywood.