Jackie Chan Challenges Chow Yun Fat at Box Office
A slew of big budget films will be competing for the lucrative holiday box office in mainland China. After the less than impressive openings of Back to 1942 <一九四二> and The Last Supper <王的盛宴> in late November, the films will soon be challenged by Jackie Chan’s (成龍) CZ12 <十二生肖> and Chow Yun Fat’s (周潤發) The Last Tycoon <大上海>.
CZ12
Jackie Chan wrote, directed, produced and starred his 101st movie, which includes Kwon Sang Woo, Liao Fan (廖凡), Yao Xingtong (姚星彤), Zhang Lanxin (張藍心), Laura Weissbecker, and Steve Yoo. CZ12 will open in theaters on December 12.
The action packed film will revolve around Jackie Chan who plays Jackie, a.k.a. Asian Hawk, a treasure hunter for hire, seeking the bronze-cast heads of the statues looted by the French from the Old Summer Palace. These statues of the Chinese Zodiacs are considered to be China’s national treasure. Of the 12 zodiacs, 4 remain missing.
Jackie and his sidekicks Simon, David, and Bonnie join the hunt for a large reward offered by a relic collector. The daughter of a Chinese artifacts expert, Coco, whom Jackie falls in love with, convinces Jackie to recover the relics for the country’s sake instead of for the rewards. With some detective work, Jackie speculates that the statues are at the bottom of the ocean after the ship that carried the statues was sunk.
The team successfully locates and recovers the statues, only to find themselves face-to-face with an army of mercenaries and treasure hunters….
The Last Tycoon
The Last Tycoon <大上海>, directed by Wong Jing (王晶) and produced by Andrew Lau (劉偉強), stars Chow Yun Fat (周潤發), Huang Xiaoming (黄晓明), Sammo Hung (洪金寶), Francis Ng (吳鎮宇), Yuan Quan (袁泉), Yuan Li (袁莉), and Mo Xiaoqi(莫小棋).
Set in 1930s Shanghai, the story revolves around the life of a crime boss Cheng Dahei, who is portrayed by Huang Xia0ming in the character’s youth and Chow Yun Fat in middle-age. The film chronicles how he builds his empire in Shanghai and his power struggles between influential local figures.
Raised in the Bund, Shanghai, Cheng is a hard working grocery clerk who is in love with the pretty Ye Zhiqiu (Yuan Li) who dreams of working as an actress in Chinese operas.
One night, Cheng mistakenly runs into the police and the wife of the grocery store owner. To stop Cheng from disclosing their secret, the two set him up and accuse him of raping the wife. Cheng ends up in jail but escapes with the help of a Kuomintang spy. Losing contact with Cheng, Zhiqiu decides to move to Beijing.
In the mean time, Cheng manages to get a position under Hong Shouting (Sammo Hung), one of the most powerful triad leaders in Shanghai. Cheng’s street smarts and courage is appreciated by Hong’s wife, and he is promoted to Hong’s right hand man. While Hong’s other members resort to violence, Cheng uses intelligence and diplomacy to handle the triad’s power struggle.
Hong spends most of his time womanizing, so he turns his gambling and opium business over to Cheng. Cheng falls in love with the number one beauty of Shanghai (Mo Xiaoqi) but she discovers she is only second in Cheng’s heart as he is still in love with Zhiqiu.
Because of a woman, Hong attacks the son of a warlord, and is arrested. With his intelligence and courage, Cheng manages to negotiate Hong’s release and is applauded by the crime leaders of Shanghai.
Cheng gains control over most of Shanghai. Due to the growing influence of the Japanese and ambition of the Kuomintang’s spy, who had saved him earlier and is now in charge of the corrupted spy agency, Cheng has to protect himself and his triad members. Cheng is caught by limited options as he struggles to survive. At this moment, Zhiqiu appears in his life again, but she is already married to another man….
Worthy Contenders
Other films competing in the box office include “chick flick” of the year, The Guillotines <血滴子> featuring muscle bound Huang Xiaoming (黄晓明), Ethan Juan (阮經天), and Shawn Yue (余文樂). The film depicts an elite assassin unit in the court of the Chinese emperor.
The comedy, My Sassy husband <我老婆唔夠秤2：我老公唔生性> featuring Charlene Choi (蔡卓妍) and Ekin Cheng (鄭伊健), a continuation of the characters from the highly successful My Wife Is 18 <我老婆唔夠秤>, will also be competing for holiday ticket sales. Mainland comedy, Lost In Thailand <人再囧途之泰囧> is also predicted to do well in the box office.
Bottom of the Barrel
With so many new heavyweight movies in the picture, the Korean horror movie, Deranged <铁线虫入侵>; Ron Ng (吳卓羲) and Stephy Tang’s (鄧麗欣) horror flick, Bleeding Mountain <凶间雪山>; and the Taiwanese romantic comedy, Runaway Women <暴走吧，女人>, will most likely face dismal box office performances. Oh well, there is always a DVD market.
“CZ12” Trailer
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“The Last Tycoon” Trailer
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Sources: QQ.com, Sina.com.hk, Sina.com.hk
This article is written by Lance for JayneStars.com.
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following to recent announcement made by Jackie Chan that he would not give a single penny to his illegitimate daughter, I really feel like boycotting all his films! but his action-packed trailer does looks far more interesting than Chow Yun Fat’s.
Agree too!!
He is really a great actions movie star given that wahhhhh he does all the stunts most by himself!!!
How I wish he will still be young so that I can enjoy more action movies from him!!!
This movie even better than some of the Hollywood actions movies!!!! *from the trailer*
Maybe wait until it’s available for download? 😛
not interested in either. Am waiting for Stephen Chow’s.
When it comes to family friendly movies which caters to everyone, Jackie Chan has the formula down pat. Wong Jing made this movie to make a quick buck, there’s no way he will beat Jackie, not even with Fat Gor’s help.
Well said ^^v
Not interested in jackie’s movie. Seems lame to me. Wong jing’s film looks more interesting to me.
I thought a few years ago jackie chan said he wasnt making “kung fu” style movies anymore?!….
Well, he lies all the time.
That’s the only thing he’s got going for him. He can’t exactly rely on his ‘acting’ now, can he?
I have been watiting for this movie simply because Kwon Sang Woo is in it.But following the recent announcement by Jackie that he would not admit his daughter Etta, I wanted to boycott all Jackie’s movie!!
But Kwon Sang Woo is in it! What should I do? dilemma!
After watching stairway to heaven, I’m in love with Kwon sang woo.
U should watch “cinderella man”.He is so gorgeous in it! =D
Download! 😛
What a dismal batch of films!
First you have the geriatric battle between Jackie Chan, who still thinks he is in his prime and make a movie that is no different than those he made 20 years past, and Chow Yun Fat in a movie directed by the smutmeister Wong Jing.
Second you have a “chick flick” about an ancient assassin squad – sound like the director had suffered a case of bipolarity and got everything confused including movie genre.
Adding to these two are sequel about a father/daughter romance and horror flicks starring great thespians like Ron Ng.
Well, jingle all the way.
That’s his personal problem and what he does with his money is his choice. Yes, he made his millions by sacrificing family life, etc, but they lived with it and accepted it. Who are we to judge ?It’s already water under the bridge, so to speak. Naturally I, too, felt that Etta is innocent in all this and should receive a ‘token’ but I suspect Jackie felt that Etta’s mother had tried to ‘trap’ him by getting pregnant. Things may or may not turn ugly when Etta is older.
Having said that, to boycott a good movie simply because of the above is not logical. We want to see a good show,enjoy it. If we are going to boycott every movie because one of the actors have done something stupid, then at least 50% of the movies out there should be boycotted ** Many high profile people in the entertainment business have cheated at one time or another. They’re just not caught out. Only those with high principles rejects the temptation.
No matter what,im not going to contribute my money in his movie.simple as that.
There is a variety reasons for people to go or to avoid any movies. It’s a matter of personal choice so it is frivolous for anyone else to comment or analyze the correctness of their decisions.
Why didn’t Jackie use condom? It’s his fault for being horny and stupid. However, I will still go and watch this movie.
Hahas!
Cloud, u r funny xD
To the people who would boycott a film for an actor’s personal life, I doubt they would go see the movie regardless of if the actor did anything. People who will see it will see it and people who won’t will just use that as an excuse. It’s a moot point. The likes of Christian Bale, Robert Downey Jr, Kristen Stewart, and many other stars of blockbuster movies have all been involved in either drugs, cheating, anger issues, been jailed, and load of other things deemed wrong. Yet I’m sure many people here have seen their films.
Used to like Jackie Chan a lot more, but no thanks now.
Cool! I thought Jackie Chan had announced earlier that he’s not doing them anymore? But excited to see his action movies.
The Zodiac figures that he is trying to recover was stolen by the British & French in the 1st Burning of Yuan Ming Yuan (Old Summer Palace), which was briefly mentioned in The Confidant! More here: http://casualtvb.blogspot.ca/2012/11/historical-context-burning-of-yuan-ming.html
I don’t understand why they continue to coin “Back to 1942” as a box office failure. In two weeks, the film already has outperformed the “beloved” “Cold War” by almost US$10 million in China. Some failure?
Also, My Sassy Husband opened miserably, grossing only about a million US$, so much for competing for the top film spot.
@ jackie chan why did he choose kwon sang woo as his understudy instead of ekin cheng, aaron kwok , michael tse or some chinese actor and not korean so as the trade can survive and support the hongkong entertainment crew? or at least take two understudy for insurance
Korean actors have been flooding into China and getting good roles in Chinese TV and film for a number of years since the rise of K-pop culture.
There doesn’t seem as much reciprocation though.
reciprocation (noun) 1a) a mutual exchange 1b) a return in kind or like value 2) an alternating motion
I hope you will not boycott Jackie Chan movie because of his personal decision. That is is personal life, we should respect it. Who are we to decide for him. Are you the mother of the girl or are you a relative of the girl that is why you are over reacting. Dont mention it here, because it will just muddle the case. We should refrain from intruding at others personal life. We just mind our own business and enjoy those movies. Be wise.