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132-639: Ching began as an actor and martial arts instructor working in Hong Kong action cinema in the 1960s and 1970s (his father, Ching Gong , was a Shaw Brothers Studio director, and Ching Siu-tung had been trained in Peking opera as a child), but he made his directorial debut in 1982 with the ground-breaking wuxia classic Duel to the Death . Ching worked with producer Tsui Hark on 1987's A Chinese Ghost Story , which became an international sensation, although it

264-629: A film career spanning more than sixty years, he has appeared in over 150 domestic and international movies. Chan is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential martial artists in the history of cinema. After appearing in many Hong Kong films as a stuntman, Chan's first major breakthrough was the 1978 kung fu action comedy film Snake in the Eagle's Shadow . He then starred in similar kung fu action comedy films such as 1978's Drunken Master and 1980's The Young Master . In 1979, he made his directorial debut with The Fearless Hyena , which

396-531: A loft and falls to the lower ground. By 1983, Chan branched out into action films which, though they still used martial arts, were less limited in scope, setting and plot, with an emphasis on elaborate yet dangerous stunt sequences. His first film in this vein, Project A (1983), saw the official formation of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team and added elaborate, dangerous stunts to the fights and typical slapstick humor (at one point, Chan falls from

528-558: A shanty town , Chan stopping a double-decker bus with his service revolver and a climactic fight scene in a shopping mall. This final scene earned the film the nickname "Glass Story" by the crew, due to the huge number of panes of sugar glass that were broken. During a stunt in this last scene, in which Chan slides down a pole from several stories up, the lights covering the pole had heated it considerably, resulting in Chan suffering second-degree burns , particularly to his hands, as well as

660-522: A Chinese-Indian project, which also starred Disha Patani , Sonu Sood and Amyra Dastur , was released. The film reunited Chan with director Stanley Tong , who directed a number of Chan's films in the 1990s. Upon release, the film was a huge success at the box office, and became the 5th highest-grossing film in China, one month after its release. In 2016, he teamed up with  Johnny Knoxville and starred in his own production Skiptrace . Chan starred in

792-579: A back injury and dislocation of his pelvis upon landing. Chan performed similarly elaborate stunts in numerous other films, such as several Police Story sequels, Project A Part II , the Armour of God series, Dragons Forever , Drunken Master II , Rumble in the Bronx , and the Rush Hour series, among others. The dangerous nature of his stunts makes it difficult to get insurance, especially in

924-421: A busy high road, including a risky stunt where he slides under a truck. Chan continued to take the approach – and the budgets – to new heights in hits like Police Story (1985), which is considered one of the greatest action films of all time. Here was Chan dangling from a speeding bus, destroying large parts of a hillside shantytown, fighting in a shopping mall while breaking many glass panes, and sliding down

1056-624: A couple of attempts to crack the U.S. market, Jackie Chan 's 1995 film Rumble in the Bronx finally brought him recognition in the U.S. Since then, he has made several highly successful films for U.S. studios including Rush Hour (1998), Shanghai Noon (2000), and their respective sequels Rush Hour 2 (2001), Shanghai Knights (2003), and Rush Hour 3 (2007). Between his films for U.S. studios, he still makes films for Hong Kong studios, sometimes in English ( Mr. Nice Guy and Who Am I? ), often set in western countries like Australia or

1188-520: A couple of generations of Hong Kongers by playing historical folk hero Wong Fei Hung in a series of roughly one hundred movies, from The True Story of Wong Fei Hung (1949) through to Wong Fei Hung Bravely Crushing the Fire Formation (1970). A number of enduring elements were introduced or solidified by these films: the still-popular character of "Master Wong"; the influence of Chinese opera with its stylized martial arts and acrobatics ; and

1320-534: A culturally distinctive form that went on to have wide transcultural appeal. In turn, Hollywood action films have been heavily influenced by Hong Kong genre conventions, from the 1970s onwards. The first Hong Kong action films favoured the wuxia style, emphasizing mysticism and swordplay, but this trend was politically suppressed in the 1930s and replaced by kung fu films that depicted more down-to-earth unarmed martial arts, often featuring folk heroes such as Wong Fei Hung . Post-war cultural upheavals led to

1452-409: A daughter Etta Ng Chok Lam by her, born on 18 January 1999. It turned into a scandal within the media. Although he reportedly gave Elaine HK$ 70,000 each month for her living expenses and HK$ 600,000 when she moved to Shanghai, the transactions were later claimed to be nonexistent by her lawyer. Despite regretting the results of the affair, Chan said he had "only committed a fault that many men in

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1584-518: A dramatic role featuring no martial arts sequences with director Derek Yee , which sees Chan take on the role of a Chinese immigrant in Japan. The film was released on 2 April 2009. According to his blog, Chan discussed his wishes to direct a film after completing Shinjuku Incident , something he has not done for a number of years. The film was expected to be the third in the Armour of God series, and had

1716-862: A fad for Cantopop stars in high-tech, more American-styled action pictures such as Downtown Torpedoes (1997), Gen-X Cops and Purple Storm (both 1999). Andrew Lau 's wuxia comic-book adaptation The Storm Riders (1998) earned a record-breaking gross and ushered in an era of computer-generated imagery , previously little used in Hong Kong film. Tsui Hark 's lavish CGI-enhanced efforts Time and Tide (2000) and The Legend of Zu (2001), however, were surprisingly unsuccessful. Comedy megastar and director Stephen Chow used digital effects to push his typical affectionate parody of martial arts conventions to cartoonish levels in Shaolin Soccer (2001) and Kung Fu Hustle (2004), each of which also set

1848-771: A film directed by Lo Wei . Lo saw Chan's performance in the John Woo film Hand of Death (1976) and planned to model him after Bruce Lee with the film New Fist of Fury . His stage name was changed to 成龍 (literally "becoming the dragon", Sing4 Lung4 in Jyutping or rarely as Cheng Long in pinyin ), to emphasize his similarity to Bruce Lee, whose stage name meant "Lee the Little Dragon" in Chinese. (Note that "dragon" in Lee's name referred to Lee's birth year being

1980-539: A global success, across Asia , Europe and the third world . This eventually paved the way for Lee's posthumous Hollywood film breakthrough with the Hong Kong and US co-production Enter the Dragon (1973). Hong Kong martial arts cinema subsequently inspired a wave of Western martial arts films and television shows throughout the 1970s–1990s (launching the careers of Western martial arts stars such as Jean-Claude Van Damme , Steven Seagal and Chuck Norris ), as well as

2112-610: A martial artist, Chan is also skilled in multiple forms of Kung-fu . He is also known to have trained in other martial art forms such as Karate, Judo, Taekwondo , and Jeet Kun Do . Chan joined his parents in Canberra, Australia in 1971, where he briefly attended Dickson College and worked as a construction worker. A fellow builder named Jack took Chan under his wing, thus earning Chan the nickname of "Little Jack", later shortened to "Jackie", which has stuck with him ever since. He began his film career by appearing in small roles at

2244-519: A mini-trend of brooding police thrillers. Collaboration with other industries, particularly that of Mainland China , is another increasingly common survival and recovery strategy. Hong Kong stars and other personnel have been involved in international wuxia successes like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Hero (2002) and House of Flying Daggers (2004). Jackie Chan Fang Shilong SBS MBE PMW (born Chan Kong-sang ; 7 April 1954), known professionally as Jackie Chan ,

2376-490: A minor henchman who gets killed by Lee's character. Sammo Hung helped Chan get minor roles in both of the Bruce Lee films. Chan also worked as a martial arts choreographer for John Woo 's The Young Dragons (1974). In 1976, Jackie Chan received a telegram from Willie Chan , a film producer in the Hong Kong film industry who had been impressed with Jackie's stunt choreography work. Willie Chan offered him an acting role in

2508-472: A minor role in the 1981 film The Cannonball Run , which grossed over US$ 100 million worldwide. Despite being largely ignored by North American audiences in favour of established American actors such as Burt Reynolds , Chan was impressed by the outtakes shown at the closing credits , inspiring him to include the same device in his future films. After the commercial failure of The Protector in 1985, Chan temporarily abandoned his attempts to break into

2640-429: A modern-dress version of 1970s kung fu films by Woo's mentor Chang Cheh . The formula broke another all-time box office record. It also jump-started the faltering career of co-star Chow Yun-fat , who overnight became one of the colony's most popular idols and Woo's favorite leading man. For the remainder of the 1980s and into the early 1990s, a deluge of films by Woo and others explored similar territory, often with

2772-640: A more modern setting with 1984's Wheels on Meals and 1985's Police Story . Rumble in the Bronx (1995), which had a successful worldwide theatrical run, brought Chan into the North American mainstream. He gained international fame for portraying Chief Inspector Lee in the American buddy cop action comedy film Rush Hour (1998), a role he reprised in two sequels . Chan continued to work both in Hollywood and Hong Kong cinema, appearing in

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2904-499: A name for him with American audiences. So far, he has returned to Chinese cinema for only two films: Hero (2002) and Fearless (2006). He claimed Fearless would be his last traditional kung fu film. Chow Yun-fat has also moved to Hollywood. After his 1995 film Peace Hotel , he has made a handful of films in Hollywood which have not seen as much success as those of the aforementioned figures'. These include The Replacement Killers (1998), The Corruptor (1999), Anna and

3036-519: A new box office record. Striking a different note were a series of crime films more restrained and actor-driven than the earlier, John Woo-inspired examples. The Milkyway Image production company was at the vanguard with examples like Patrick Yau 's Expect the Unexpected (1998), Johnnie To 's The Mission (1999) and Running Out of Time (1999). Andrew Lau and Alan Mak 's blockbuster Infernal Affairs trilogy (2002–2003) has set off

3168-399: A pole covered with exploding light bulbs. The latter is considered one of the greatest stunts in the history of action cinema. The 1988 sequel called for explosions on a scale similar to many Hollywood movies and seriously injured leading lady Maggie Cheung – an occupational risk Chan had already grown used to. Thus Jackie Chan created the template for the contemporary urban action-comedy of

3300-506: A progenitor of the kung fu comedy. In subsequent titles like Executioners from Shaolin (1977), The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978), and Legendary Weapons of China (1982), Lau emphasized the traditions and philosophy of the martial arts and strove to give onscreen fighting greater authenticity and ever greater speed and intricacy. The kung fu boom was partly fueled by enormous international popularity, and not just in East Asia. In

3432-618: A raft of imitations, often starring Mainland wushu champion Jet Li . He went on to receive a special award for a mainland China person at the 1995 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival . The other signature star of the subgenre was Taiwanese-born actress Brigitte Lin . She made an unlikely specialty of androgynous woman-warrior types, such as the villainous, sex-changing eunuch in The Swordsman 2 (1992), epitomizing martial arts fantasy's often-noted fascination with gender instability. Hong Kong's international impact initially came in

3564-590: A reboot of the Police Story franchise directed by Ding Sheng , and it was released in China at the end of 2013. Chan's next film Dragon Blade was released in early 2015 and co-starred Hollywood actors John Cusack and Adrien Brody . In 2015, Chan was awarded the title of " Datuk " by Malaysia as he helped Malaysia to boost its tourism, especially in Kuala Lumpur where he previously shot his films. In early 2017, Chan's new film titled Kung Fu Yoga ,

3696-424: A response to the late Bruce Lee and the numerous imitators who appeared before and after Lee's death. Lee's characters were typically stern, morally upright heroes. In contrast, Chan plays well-meaning, slightly foolish regular men, often at the mercy of their friends, girlfriends, or families, who always triumph in the end despite the odds. Additionally, he has stated that he deliberately styles his movement to be

3828-405: A romantic comedy that focused on personal relationships and featured only a few martial arts sequences. Although Chan had left Golden Harvest in 1999, the company continued to produce and distribute for two of his films, Gorgeous (1999) and The Accidental Spy (2001). Chan then helped create a PlayStation game in 2000 called Jackie Chan Stuntmaster , to which he lent his voice and performed

3960-832: A second wave of wuxia films with highly acrobatic violence, followed by the emergence of the grittier kung fu films for which the Shaw Brothers studio became best known. Hong Kong action cinema peaked from the 1970s to the 1990s . The 1970s saw a resurgence in kung fu films during the rise and sudden death of Bruce Lee . He was succeeded in the 1980s by Jackie Chan —who popularized the use of comedy, dangerous stunts , and modern urban settings in action films—and Jet Li , whose authentic wushu skills appealed to both eastern and western audiences. The innovative work of directors and producers like Tsui Hark and John Woo introduced further variety, with genres such as heroic bloodshed and gun fu films, and themes such as triads and

4092-507: A similar visual style and thematic bent. They were usually marked by an emphasis on the fraternal bonds of duty and affection among the criminal protagonists. The most notable other auteur of these themes was Ringo Lam , who offered a less romanticized take in such films as City on Fire , Prison on Fire (both 1987), and Full Contact (1992), all starring Chow Yun-Fat. The genre and its creators were accused in some quarters of cravenly glorifying real-life triads, whose involvement in

Ching Siu-tung - Misplaced Pages Continue

4224-686: A soldier in the Warring States period in China. He is the lone survivor of his army and must bring a captured enemy soldier Leehom Wang to the capital of his province. In 2010, he starred with Jaden Smith in The Karate Kid , a remake of the 1984 original . This was Chan's first dramatic American film. He plays Mr. Han, a kung fu master and maintenance man who teaches Jaden Smith's character kung fu so he can defend himself from school bullies. His role in The Karate Kid won him

4356-471: A strong streak of racial and/or nationalistic pride. The popularity of these movies in North America would continue into the 1980s when ninja movies were introduced. In popular culture, the films of this era were colloquially known as Kung Fu Theater or Black Belt Theater , names that many independent stations used for their weekly airing slot. The Brothers (1979), a Shaw Brothers production,

4488-479: A technique known by Western fans, sometimes disparagingly, as wire fu . As so often, Tsui Hark led the way. He produced Swordsman (1990), which reestablished the wuxia novels of Jin Yong as favorite big-screen sources (television adaptations had long been ubiquitous). He directed Once Upon a Time in China (1991), which resurrected oft-filmed folk hero Wong Fei Hung . Both films were followed by sequels and

4620-416: A tree and fractured his skull. Over the years, he has dislocated his pelvis and also broken numerous parts of his body, including his fingers, toes, nose, both cheekbones, hips, sternum, neck, ankle, and ribs. Promotional materials for Rumble in the Bronx emphasized that he performed all of the stunts, and one version of the movie poster even diagrammed his many injuries. Chan created his screen persona as

4752-511: A two-picture deal. Director Yuen Woo-ping allowed Chan complete freedom over his stunt work. The film established the comedic kung fu genre, and proved refreshing to the Hong Kong audience. The same year, Chan then starred in Drunken Master , which finally propelled him to mainstream success. Upon Chan's return to Lo Wei's studio, Lo tried to replicate the comedic approach of Drunken Master , producing and also showed new features at

4884-452: A vogue that helped reinvigorate the waning kung fu genre. Especially notable in this regard were two of Chan's childhood Peking Opera School classmates, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao , who also made careers of this specialty, sometimes co-starring with Chan. Hung, noted for the seeming paradox of his overweight physique and physical agility, also made a name for himself as a director and action choreographer from early on, with titles like Enter

5016-586: A working title of Armour of God III: Chinese Zodiac . The film was released on 12 December 2012. Because the Screen Actors Guild did not go on strike, Chan started shooting his next Hollywood movie The Spy Next Door at the end of October in New Mexico . In The Spy Next Door , Chan plays an undercover agent whose cover is blown when he looks after the children of his girlfriend. In Little Big Soldier , Chan stars alongside Leehom Wang as

5148-615: Is a Hong Kong actor, director, writer, producer, martial artist, and stuntman known for his slapstick - acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, and innovative stunts, which he typically performs himself. Before entering the film industry, he was one of the Seven Little Fortunes from the China Drama Academy at the Peking Opera School , where he studied acrobatics, martial arts, and acting. In

5280-493: Is a fan of the Italian duo Bud Spencer and Terence Hill , from whom he was inspired for his movies. Chan has performed most of his own stunts throughout his film career, which are choreographed by the Jackie Chan Stunt Team . The team was established in 1983, and Chan has used them in all his subsequent films to make choreographing easier, given his understanding of each member's abilities. Chan and his team undertake many of

5412-576: Is also a globally known philanthropist and has been named one of the top 10 most charitable celebrities by Forbes magazine. In 2004, film scholar Andrew Willis stated that Chan was perhaps the "most recognized film star in the world." In 2015, Forbes estimated his net worth to be $ 350 million, and as of 2016 , he was the second-highest-paid actor in the world. Chan was born on 7 April 1954 in British Hong Kong as Chan Kong-sang to Charles and Lee-Lee Chan , political refugees from

Ching Siu-tung - Misplaced Pages Continue

5544-499: Is widely credited with launching the kung fu boom. But remaining at the vanguard, at least initially, were Shaw Brothers and director Chang Cheh. Chang's Vengeance (1970) was another of the first trendsetters and his dozens of contributions included The Boxer from Shantung (1972), Heroes Two (1974), Five Deadly Venoms (1978) and Crippled Avengers (1979). Kung fu cinema was particularly influenced by Chang's concern with his vision of masculine values and male friendship;

5676-609: The 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony . Chan received his honorary Doctorate of Social Science degree in 1996 from the Hong Kong Baptist University . In 2009, he received another honorary doctorate from the University of Cambodia , and has also been awarded an honorary professorship by the Savannah College of Art and Design in Hong Kong in 2008. Chan is currently a faculty member of

5808-681: The Chinese Civil War , and the victory of the Chinese Communist Party —had shifted the centre of Chinese language filmmaking to Hong Kong. The industry continued the wuxia tradition in Cantonese B movies and serials, although the more prestigious Mandarin -language cinema generally ignored the genre. Animation and special effects drawn directly on the film by hand were used to simulate the flying abilities and other preternatural powers of characters; later titles in

5940-563: The Chinese Civil War . In circa 1937, Chan's father, originally named Fang Daolong, briefly worked as a secret agent for Lieutenant General Dai Li , the chief spy in Kuomintang-ruled China . For fear of being arrested by the communist government, Chan's father fled to British Hong Kong in the 1940s and changed his surname from Fang to Chan. Chan was his wife Chan Lee-lee's surname. Chan discovered his father's identity and changed his Chinese name to Fang Shilong ( 房仕龍 ) in

6072-515: The Dragon zodiac , not the Chinese dragon .) The film was unsuccessful because Chan was not accustomed to Lee's martial arts style. Despite the film's failure, Lo Wei continued producing films with similar themes, but with little improvement at the box office. Chan's first major breakthrough was the 1978 film Snake in the Eagle's Shadow , shot while he was loaned to Seasonal Film Corporation under

6204-563: The Hong Kong Avenue of Stars and the Hollywood Walk of Fame , as well as an honorary Academy Award for his "extraordinary achievements" in film. Chan has been referenced in various pop songs, cartoons, films, and video games. He is an operatically trained vocalist and is also a Cantopop and Mandopop star, having released a number of music albums and sung many of the theme songs for the films in which he has starred. He

6336-645: The Kuomintang government, who saw it as promoting superstition and violent anarchy. Wuxia filmmaking was picked up in Hong Kong, at the time a British colony with a highly liberal economy and culture and a developing film industry. The first martial arts film in Cantonese , the dominant Chinese spoken language of Hong Kong, was The Adorned Pavilion (1938). By the late 1940s, upheavals in mainland China —the Second Sino-Japanese War ,

6468-637: The Netherlands , and sometimes in Cantonese (2004's New Police Story and 2006's Rob-B-Hood ). Because of his enormous U.S. popularity, these films are usually released in the U.S., a rarity for Hong Kong films, and generally attract respectable audience numbers. Jet Li has reduced his Hong Kong output since 1998's Hitman concentrating on Hollywood instead. After a minor role in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), he has gone on to star in several Hollywood films which have performed respectably and made

6600-618: The "most recognized star in the world". Despite the success of the Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon films, Chan became frustrated with Hollywood over the limited range of roles and lack of control over the filmmaking process. In response to Golden Harvest's withdrawal from the film industry in 2003, Chan started his own film production company, JCE Movies Limited (Jackie Chan Emperor Movies Limited) in association with Emperor Multimedia Group (EMG). His films have since featured an increasing number of dramatic scenes while continuing to succeed at

6732-583: The 1980s had not only established Hong Kong as the dominant cinema in East Asia , but reawakened Western interest. By the 1990s, there was a second "Asian invasion" from Hong Kong action cinema, heavily influencing and revitalizing Hollywood action cinema. There was a significant crossover of Hong Kong stars, filmmakers and action choreographers from Hong Kong to Hollywood, in addition to the wide adoption of Hong Kong action filmmaking techniques in Hollywood. The wide adoption of Hong Kong action film conventions

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6864-518: The 1980s, combining cops, kung fu and all the body-breaking potential of the modern city with its glass, metal and speeding vehicles. Chan's move towards larger-scale action films was paralleled by work coming out of Cinema City , the production company established in 1980 by comedians Raymond Wong , Karl Maka and Dean Shek . With movies like the spy spoof Aces Go Places (1982) and its sequels, Cinema City helped make modern special effects, James Bond -type gadgets and big vehicular stunts part of

6996-546: The 1990s, reshaping the way Hollywood action films were made. Lam's City on Fire (1987) inspired Quentin Tarantino 's Reservoir Dogs (1992); Tarantino was an admirer of the heroic bloodshed genre. The Killer also heavily influenced Luc Besson 's Léon: The Professional (1994). Eventually, John Woo himself introduced his brand of heroic bloodshed to Hollywood in the 1990s. By the late 1990s, Woo's style of cinema had become firmly established in Hollywood. Due to

7128-410: The 1990s. Bollywood action scenes emulated Hong Kong rather than Hollywood, emphasising acrobatics and stunts and combining kung fu (as perceived by Indians) with Indian martial arts such as pehlwani . Hong Kong martial arts films such as Enter the Dragon were the foundation for fighting games . The Street Fighter video game franchise (1987 debut) was inspired by Enter the Dragon , with

7260-461: The 2010 remake The Karate Kid and the upcoming Karate Kid: Legends (2025). For CZ12 (2012), he earned two Guinness World Records for "Most Stunts Performed by a Living Actor" and "Most Credits in One Movie". His against type performances include Shinjuku Incident (2009) and The Foreigner (2017). His voice acting work includes all three Chinese versions of Mulan (1998),

7392-863: The 2016 action-comedy Railroad Tigers and the 2017 action-thriller The Foreigner , an Anglo-Chinese production. He also starred in the 2017 science fiction film Bleeding Steel . He then teamed up with John Cena and starred in the 2023 Chinese-American co-production Hidden Strike . His films had collectively grossed HK$ 1.14 billion ( US$ 147 million ) at the Hong Kong box office up until 2010, over US$ 72 million in South Korea between 1991 and 2010, and ¥48.4 billion ( US$ 607 million ) in Japan up until 2012. In Europe, his films collectively sold about 84 million tickets between 1973 and 2010. As of 2021 , his films have grossed over CN¥ 14 billion ( US$ 2.17 billion ) in China, and US$ 1.84 billion (more than US$ 2.44 billion adjusted for inflation) in

7524-777: The Bronx led to a 1996 release of Police Story 3: Super Cop in the United States under the title Supercop , which grossed a total of US$ 16,270,600. Chan's first huge blockbuster success came when he co-starred with Chris Tucker in the 1998 buddy cop action comedy Rush Hour , grossing US$ 130 million in the United States alone. This film made him a Hollywood star, after which he wrote his autobiography in collaboration with Jeff Yang entitled I Am Jackie Chan . In 1998, Chan released his final film for Golden Harvest, Who Am I? . After leaving Golden Harvest in 1999, he produced and starred alongside Shu Qi in Gorgeous ,

7656-498: The Dragon as being influential for the way they pitched "an elemental story of good against evil in such a spectacle-saturated way". In Japan, the manga and anime franchises Fist of the North Star (1983–1988) and Dragon Ball (1984–1995) were influenced by Hong Kong martial arts films, particularly 1970s kung fu films such as Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon and Jackie Chan's Drunken Master (1978). In turn, Fist of

7788-421: The Eagle's Shadow . The resulting blend of physical comedy and kung fu action provided Chan with his first hit and the rudiments of what would become his signature style. Chan's follow-up movie with Yuen, Drunken Master (also 1978), and his directorial debut, The Fearless Hyena (1979), were also giant hits and cemented his popularity. Although these films were not the first kung fu comedies, they launched

7920-496: The Fat Dragon (1978). Chan's clowning may have helped extend the life of the kung fu wave for several years. Nevertheless, he became a star towards the end of the boom, and would soon help move the colony towards a new type of action. In the 1980s, he and many colleagues would forge a slicker, more spectacular Hong Kong pop cinema that would successfully compete with the post- Star Wars summer blockbusters from America. In

8052-541: The Favorite Buttkicker award at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in 2011. In Chan's next movie, Shaolin , he plays a supporting role as a cook of a temple instead of one of the major characters. His 100th movie, 1911 , was released on 26 September 2011. Chan was the co-director, executive producer, and lead star of the movie. While Chan has directed over ten films over his career, this

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8184-650: The Hong Kong practice of training in martial arts and performing their own stunts, such as Keanu Reeves , Uma Thurman and Jason Statham . Martin Scorsese 's crime film The Departed (2006) was a remake of the Infernal Affairs trilogy (2002–2003) by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak . The heroic bloodshed genre had a considerable impact on world cinema , especially Hollywood . The action, style, tropes and mannerisms established in 1980s Hong Kong heroic bloodshed films were later widely adopted by Hollywood in

8316-603: The King (1999) and Bulletproof Monk (2003). He returned to China for 2000's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and 2006's Curse of the Golden Flower . The Hong Kong film industry has been in a severe slump since the mid-1990s. The number of local films produced, and their box office takings, are dramatically reduced; American imports now dominate in a way they had not for decades, or perhaps ever. This crisis and increased contact with Western cinema have probably been

8448-450: The North American box office. King Boxer ( Five Fingers of Death ) starring Indonesian -born actor Lo Lieh was the first Hong Kong film to top the US box office, paving the way for Bruce Lee's breakthrough with The Big Boss ( Fists of Fury ) topping the US box office. In May 1973, Hong Kong action cinema made US box office history, with three foreign films holding the top three spots for

8580-500: The North Star and especially Dragon Ball are credited with setting the trends for popular shōnen manga and anime from the 1980s onwards. Similarly in India, Hong Kong martial arts films had an influence on Bollywood masala films . After the success of Bruce Lee films (such as Enter the Dragon ) in India, Deewaar (1975) and later Bollywood films incorporated fight scenes inspired by 1970s Hong Kong martial arts films up until

8712-793: The School of Hotel and Tourism Management at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University , where he teaches the subject of tourism management. As of 2015 , he also serves as the Dean of the Jackie Chan Film and Television Academy under the Wuhan Institute of Design and Sciences . In 1982, Chan married Joan Lin , a Taiwanese actress. Their son, singer and actor Jaycee Chan , was born that same year. Chan had an extra-marital affair with Elaine Ng Yi-Lei and has

8844-552: The Shaws' prolific star director into the early 1980s. The early 1970s saw wuxia giving way to a new, grittier and more graphic (and Mandarin -speaking) iteration of the kung fu movie, which came to dominate through the decade and into the early 1980s. Seriously trained martial artists such as Ti Lung and Gordon Liu became some of the top stars as increasing proportions of running times were devoted to combat set-pieces. Chinese Boxer (1970), starring and directed by Jimmy Wang Yu,

8976-507: The US market, returning his focus to Hong Kong films . Back in Hong Kong, Chan's films began to reach a larger audience in East Asia, with early successes in the lucrative Japanese market including Drunken Master , The Young Master (1980) and Dragon Lord (1982). The Young Master went on to beat previous box office records set by Bruce Lee and established Chan as Hong Kong cinema's top star. With Dragon Lord , he began experimenting with elaborate stunt action sequences, including

9108-545: The United States and Canada. As of 2018 , 48 of his films have collectively grossed more than US$ 5 billion at the worldwide box office. Chan had vocal lessons while at the Peking Opera School in his childhood. He began producing records professionally in the 1980s and has gone on to become a successful singer in Hong Kong and Asia. He has released 20 albums since 1984 and has performed vocals in Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Taiwanese and English. He often sings

9240-560: The United States where his stunt work is contractually limited. Chan holds the Guinness World Record for "Most Stunts by a Living Actor", which emphasizes that "no insurance company will underwrite Chan's productions in which he performs all his own stunts". Chan has been injured frequently when attempting stunts; many of them have been shown as outtakes or as bloopers during the closing credits of his films. He came closest to death filming Armour of God when he fell from

9372-641: The Warriors , in which he also served as action choreographer. The film stars Kelly Chen , Donnie Yen and Leon Lai . Hong Kong action cinema Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry 's global fame. Action films from Hong Kong have roots in Chinese and Hong Kong cultures including Chinese opera , storytelling and aesthetic traditions, which Hong Kong filmmakers combined with elements from Hollywood and Japanese cinema along with new action choreography and filmmaking techniques, to create

9504-555: The West, kung fu imports, dubbed and often recut and retitled, shown as "B" films in urban theaters and on television, made Hong Kong film widely noticed, although not widely respected, for the first time. African-Americans particularly embraced the genre (as exemplified by the popular hip-hop group, the Wu-Tang Clan ) perhaps as an almost unprecedented source of adventure stories with non-white heroes, who furthermore often displayed

9636-566: The age of five as a child actor. At age eight, he appeared with some of his fellow "Little Fortunes" in the film Big and Little Wong Tin Bar (1962) with Li Li-Hua playing his mother. The following year, the young actor appeared in extras of Yen Chun's 1964 film Liang Shan Po and Chu Ying Tai and had a small role in King Hu 's 1966 film Come Drink with Me . In 1971, after an appearance as an extra in another kung Fu film, A Touch of Zen , Chan

9768-481: The biggest recent influences on Hong Kong action cinema. Luring local and regional youth audiences away from Hollywood is a constant concern. Action movies are now generally headlined by babyfaced Cantonese pop music idols, such as Ekin Cheng and Nicholas Tse , enhanced with wires and digital effects – a trend also driven by the waning of a previous generation of martial arts-trained stars. The late 1990s witnessed

9900-571: The box office; examples include New Police Story (2004), The Myth (2005) and the hit film Rob-B-Hood (2006). Chan's next release was the third instalment in the Rush Hour film series directed by Brett Ratner : Rush Hour 3 in August 2007. It grossed US$ 255 million. However, it was a disappointment in Hong Kong, grossing only HK$ 3.5 million during its opening weekend. Filming of The Forbidden Kingdom , Chan's first on-screen collaboration with fellow Chinese actor Jet Li ,

10032-474: The character of Shang in the Chinese release of the Walt Disney animated feature Mulan (1998). He also performed the song "I'll Make a Man Out of You", for the film's soundtrack. For the US release, the speaking voice was performed by BD Wong and the singing voice was done by Donny Osmond . He also collaborated with Ani DiFranco on "Unforgettable". In 2007, Chan recorded and released "We Are Ready",

10164-399: The concept of mixed martial arts (MMA) in the West via his Jeet Kune Do system. In 2004, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) founder Dana White called Lee the "father of mixed martial arts". Parkour was also influenced by the acrobatic antics of Jackie Chan in his Hong Kong action films, as well as the philosophy of Bruce Lee. Hong Kong action cinema's innovative developments in

10296-566: The concept of martial arts heroes as exponents of Confucian ethics. In the second half of the 1960s, the era's biggest studio, Shaw Brothers , inaugurated a new generation of wuxia films, starting with Xu Zenghong's Temple of the Red Lotus (1965), a remake of the 1928 classic. These Mandarin productions were more lavish and in colour; their style was less fantastical and more intense, with stronger and more acrobatic violence. They were influenced by imported samurai movies from Japan and by

10428-501: The cycle included The Six-Fingered Lord of the Lute (1965) and Sacred Fire, Heroic Wind (1966). A counter-tradition to the wuxia films emerged in the kung fu movies that were also produced at this time. These movies emphasized more "authentic", down-to-earth and unarmed combat over the swordplay and mysticism of wuxia . The most famous exemplar was real-life martial artist Kwan Tak Hing ; he became an avuncular hero figure to at least

10560-416: The day, Chan came out of training in Peking opera and started in film as a stuntman , notably in some of Lee's vehicles. He was groomed for a while by The Big Boss and Fist of Fury director Lo Wei as another Lee clone, in several movies including New Fist of Fury (1976), with little success. But in 1978, Chan teamed up with action choreographer Yuen Woo Ping on Yuen's directorial debut, Snake in

10692-410: The early 1980s, Jackie Chan began experimenting with elaborate stunt action sequences in films such as The Young Master (1980) and especially Dragon Lord (1982), which featured a pyramid fight scene that holds the record for the most takes required for a single scene, with 2900 takes, and the final fight scene in which he performs various stunts, including one where he does a back flip off

10824-513: The female warrior figures who had been prominent in late 1960s wuxia work were sidelined, with prominent exceptions such as the popular Angela Mao . Chang's only competitor as the genre's most influential filmmaker was his long-time action choreographer , Lau Kar Leung (a.k.a. Liu Chia Liang in Mandarin). Lau began directing his own movies for the Shaw brothers in 1975 with The Spiritual Boxer ,

10956-486: The film Armour of God . The film was Chan's biggest domestic box office success up to that point, grossing over HK$ 35 million. In 1988, Chan starred alongside Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao for the last time to date in the film Dragons Forever . Hung co-directed with Corey Yuen , and the villain in the film was played by Yuen Wah , both of whom were fellow graduates of the China Drama Academy. In

11088-561: The film business was notorious. As the triad films petered out in the early 1990s, period martial arts returned as the favored action genre. But this was a new martial arts cinema that took full advantage of technical strides as well the higher budgets that came with Hong Kong's dominance of the region's screens. These lavish productions were often adapted from the more fantastical wuxia novels, which featured flying warriors in mid-air combat. Performers were raised up on ultrathin wires to allow them to conduct gravity-defying action sequences,

11220-545: The films became more available in the mainstream video market and even occasionally in mainstream theaters. Western critics and film scholars also began to take Hong Kong action cinema seriously and made many key figures and films part of their canon of world cinema. From here, Hong Kong came to define a new vocabulary for worldwide action cinema, with the aid of a new generation of North American filmmakers. Quentin Tarantino 's Reservoir Dogs (1992) drew inspiration from City on Fire and his two-part Kill Bill (2003–04)

11352-557: The final fight scene where he performs various stunts, including one where he does a back flip off a loft and falls to the lower ground. Chan produced a number of action comedy films with his opera school friends Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. The three co-starred together for the first time in 1983 in Project A , which introduced a dangerous stunt-driven style of martial arts that won it the Best Action Design Award at

11484-601: The final fight scene where he performs various stunts, including one where he does a backflip off a loft and falls to the lower ground. In 1983, Project A saw the official formation of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team and added elaborate, dangerous stunts to the fights and typical slapstick humor; at one point, Chan falls from the top of a clock tower through a series of fabric canopies. Critics have compared his comedic stunts in Project A to Buster Keaton , who

11616-558: The first three films in the Kung Fu Panda franchise (2008-2016), and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023). The animated television series Jackie Chan Adventures (2000-2005) focuses on a fictionalized version of Chan. Chan is one of the most recognizable and influential film personalities in the world, with a widespread global following in both the Eastern and Western hemispheres. He has received fame stars on

11748-492: The first time: Fists of Fury , Lady Whirlwind ( Deep Thrust ), and Five Fingers of Death . Lee continued his success with Fist of Fury ( The Chinese Connection ), which also topped the US box office the following month. Kung fu film releases in the United States initially targeted Asian American audiences, before becoming a breakout success among larger African-American and Hispanic audiences, and then among white working-class Americans . Kung fu films also became

11880-421: The form of martial arts films , especially 1970s kung fu films and most notably those of Bruce Lee . His earliest attempts at introducing his brand of Hong Kong martial arts cinema to the West came in the form of American television shows , such as The Green Hornet (1966 debut) and Kung Fu (1972 debut). The "kung fu craze" began in 1973, with the unprecedented success of Hong Kong martial arts films at

12012-453: The gameplay centered around an international fighting tournament, and each character having a unique combination of ethnicity, nationality and fighting style. Street Fighter went on to set the template for all fighting games that followed. The early beat 'em up game Kung-Fu Master (1984) was also based on Bruce Lee's Game of Death (1972) and Jackie Chan's Wheels on Meals (1984). The success of Bruce Lee's films helped popularize

12144-541: The industry vernacular. Director/producer Tsui Hark had a hand in shaping the Cinema City style while employed there from 1981–1983 but went on to make an even bigger impact after leaving. In such movies as Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983) and A Chinese Ghost Story (1987, directed by Ching Siu-tung ), he kept pushing the boundaries of Hong Kong special effects. He led the way in replacing

12276-619: The late 1980s and early 1990s, Chan starred in a number of successful sequels beginning with Project A Part II and Police Story 2 , which won the award for Best Action Choreography at the 1989 Hong Kong Film Awards . This was followed by Armour of God II: Operation Condor , and Police Story 3: Super Cop , for which Chan won the Best Actor Award at the 1993 Golden Horse Film Festival . In 1994, Chan reprised his role as Wong Fei-hung in Drunken Master II , which

12408-696: The late 1990s, the name he would have been named according to his kin's genealogy book . Chan's ancestral roots are located in Wuhu , Anhui . Chan spent his formative years within the grounds of the French consul's residence in the Victoria Peak , British Hong Kong, as his father worked as a cook there. Chan attended the Nah-Hwa Primary School on Hong Kong Island , where he failed his first year, after which his parents withdrew him from

12540-515: The more general integration of Asian martial arts into Western action films and television shows by the 1990s. Sascha Matuszak of Vice said Enter the Dragon "is referenced in all manner of media, the plot line and characters continue to influence storytellers today, and the impact was particularly felt in the revolutionizing way the film portrayed African-Americans , Asians and traditional martial arts." Kuan-Hsing Chen and Beng Huat Chua cited fight scenes in Hong Kong films such as Enter

12672-489: The most internationally successful film from the region. Furthermore, his decision at the outset to work for young, upstart studio Golden Harvest , rather than accept the Shaws' notoriously tightfisted standard contract, was a factor in Golden Harvest's meteoric rise and Shaw's eventual decline. The only Chinese performer who has ever rivalled Bruce Lee's global fame is Jackie Chan . Like many kung fu performers of

12804-494: The motion capture. He continued his Hollywood success in 2000 when he teamed up with Owen Wilson in the Western action comedy Shanghai Noon . A sequel, Shanghai Knights followed in 2003 and also featured his first on-screen fight scene with Donnie Yen . He reunited with Chris Tucker for Rush Hour 2 (2001), which was an even bigger success than the original, grossing $ 347 million worldwide. Chan experimented with

12936-401: The new-found international awareness of Hong Kong films during the 1980s and early 1990s and a downturn in the industry as the 1990s progressed, many of the leading lights of Hong Kong cinema left for Hollywood , which offered budgets and pay which could not be equalled by Hong Kong production companies. John Woo left for Hollywood after his 1992 film Hard Boiled . His 1997 film Face/Off

13068-560: The official one-year countdown song to the 2008 Summer Olympics which he performed at a ceremony marking the one-year countdown to the 2008 Summer Paralympics . Chan also released one of the two official Olympics albums, Official Album for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games – Jackie Chan's Version , which featured a number of special guest appearances. Chan performed "Hard to Say Goodbye" along with Andy Lau , Liu Huan and Wakin Chau , at

13200-466: The opposite of Lee's: where Lee held his arms wide, Chan holds his tight to the body; where Lee was loose and flowing, Chan is tight and choppy. Despite the success of the Rush Hour series, Chan has stated that he is not a fan of it since he neither appreciates the action scenes in the movie nor understands American humor. American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino classified Chan's style of acting and filmmaking as physical comedy , and considered him one of

13332-564: The period were Chang Cheh with One-Armed Swordsman (1967) and Golden Swallow (1968) and King Hu with Come Drink with Me (1966). Hu soon left Shaw Brothers to pursue his own vision of wuxia with independent productions in Taiwan , such as the enormously successful Dragon Inn (1967, a.k.a. Dragon Gate Inn ) and A Touch of Zen which was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival . Chang stayed on and remained

13464-468: The present day... developing his own fighting style... and possessing superhuman charisma". His first three movies broke local box office records and were successful in much of the world. Fist of Fury and Way of the Dragon went on to gross an estimated US$ 100 million and US$ 130 million worldwide, respectively. The English-language Enter the Dragon , the first-ever US-Hong Kong co-production, grossed an estimated US$ 350 million worldwide, making it

13596-400: The role of Simon Phoenix , a criminal in the futuristic film Demolition Man . Chan declined and the role was taken by Wesley Snipes . Chan finally succeeded in establishing a foothold in the North American market in 1995 with a worldwide release of Rumble in the Bronx , attaining a cult following in the United States that was rare for Hong Kong movie stars. The success of Rumble in

13728-463: The rough and ready camera style of 1970s kung fu with glossier and more sophisticated visuals and ever more furious editing. As a producer, Tsui Hark facilitated the creation of John Woo 's epoch-making heroic bloodshed movie A Better Tomorrow (1986). Woo's saga of cops and the triads (Chinese gangsters) combined fancifully choreographed (and extremely violent) gunplay (called gun fu ) with heightened emotional melodrama, sometimes resembling

13860-433: The school. In 1960, his father emigrated to Canberra , Australia to work as the head cook for the American embassy, and Chan was sent to the China Drama Academy , a Peking Opera School run by Master Yu Jim-yuen . Chan trained rigorously for the next decade, excelling in martial arts and acrobatics. He eventually became part of the Seven Little Fortunes , a performance group made up of the school's best students, gaining

13992-529: The stage name Yuen Lo ( 元樓 ) in homage to his master. Chan became close friends with fellow group members Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao , and the three of them later became known as the Three Brothers or Three Dragons . After entering the film industry, Chan along with Sammo Hung got the opportunity to train in hapkido under the grand master Jin Pal Kim, and Chan eventually attained a black belt . As

14124-418: The stunts performed by other characters in his films, shooting the scenes so that their faces are obscured. In the early 1980s, Jackie Chan began experimenting with elaborate stunt action sequences in films such as The Young Master (1980) and especially Dragon Lord (1982), which featured a pyramid fight scene that holds the record for the most takes required for a single scene, with 2900 takes, and

14256-633: The supernatural. However, an exodus by many leading figures to Hollywood in the 1990s coincided with a downturn in the industry. The signature contribution to action cinema from the Chinese -speaking world is the martial arts film , the most famous of which were developed in Hong Kong. The genre emerged first in Chinese popular literature . The early 20th century saw an explosion of what were called wuxia novels (often translated as "martial chivalry"), generally published in serialized form in newspapers. These were tales of heroic, sword-wielding warriors, often featuring mystical or fantasy elements. This genre

14388-570: The theme songs of his films, which play over the closing credits . Chan's first musical recording was "Kung Fu Fighting Man", the theme song played over the closing credits of The Young Master (1980). At least 10 of these recordings have been released on soundtrack albums for the films. His Cantonese song "Story of a Hero" (英雄故事) (theme song of Police Story ) was selected by the Royal Hong Kong Police and incorporated into their recruitment advertisement in 1994. Chan voiced

14520-479: The third annual Hong Kong Film Awards . Over the following two years, the "Three Brothers" appeared in Wheels on Meals and the original Lucky Stars trilogy. In 1985, Chan made the first Police Story film, a crime action film in which Chan performed a number of dangerous stunts. It won Best Film at the 1986 Hong Kong Film Awards . In 1986, Chan played "Asian Hawk", an Indiana Jones -esque character, in

14652-640: The time with Jackie as the Stunt Director Half a Loaf of Kung Fu and Spiritual Kung Fu . He also gave Chan the opportunity to make his directorial debut in The Fearless Hyena . When Willie Chan left the company, he advised Jackie to decide for himself whether or not to stay with Lo Wei. During the shooting of Fearless Hyena Part II , Chan broke his contract and joined Golden Harvest , prompting Lo to blackmail Chan with triads , blaming Willie for his star's departure. The dispute

14784-403: The top of a clock tower through a series of fabric canopies). The new formula helped Project A gross over HK$ 19 million in Hong Kong, and significantly more in other Asian countries such as Japan, where it grossed ¥ 2.95 billion and became one of the highest-grossing films of 1984. Winners and Sinners (1983) also featured an elaborate action sequence that involves Chan skating along

14916-510: The use of special effects and wirework for the fight scenes in his next two Hollywood films, The Tuxedo (2002) and The Medallion (2003), which were not as successful critically or commercially. In 2004, he teamed up with Steve Coogan in Around the World in 80 Days , loosely based on Jules Verne 's novel of the same name . In 2004, film scholar Andrew Willis stated that Chan was "perhaps"

15048-611: The wave of "New School" wuxia novels by authors like Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng that started in the 1950s. The New School wuxia wave marked the move of male-oriented action films to the centre of Hong Kong cinema, which had long been dominated by female stars and genres aimed at female audiences, such as romances and musicals . Even so, during the 1960s female action stars like Cheng Pei-pei and Connie Chan Po-chu were prominent alongside male stars, such as former swimming champion Jimmy Wang Yu , and they continued an old tradition of female warriors in wuxia storyte directors of

15180-486: The well-received Shanghai Noon (2000) and Shanghai Knights (2003) in the Shanghai film series, New Police Story (2004), Rob-B-Hood (2006), Little Big Soldier (2010), and Shaolin (2011), among others. The US-China co-production The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) marked his first collaboration with fellow martial arts star Jet Li . He has played martial arts mentor Mr. Han in two Karate Kid films,

15312-458: The world commit". During the incident, Elaine stated she would take care of her daughter without Chan. Chan speaks Cantonese , Mandarin , English, and American Sign Language and also speaks some German, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and Thai . Chan is an avid football fan and supports the Hong Kong national football team , the England national football team , and Manchester City . He

15444-406: Was a box office success. Throughout the 1980s, he was part of the "Three Dragons" along with Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao ; the three starred in six Hong Kong films together. 1983's Project A saw the official formation of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team and established Chan's signature style of elaborate, dangerous stunts combined with martial arts and slapstick humor, a style he further developed in

15576-505: Was a significant departure from the kung fu films the studio was known for. The Brothers was an action crime-drama, about two brothers on opposing sides of the law. It was a remake of the Indian crime drama Deewaar (1975), written by Salim–Javed . In turn, The Brothers laid the foundations for the heroic bloodshed genre of 1980s Hong Kong cinema, inspiring John Woo 's breakthrough film A Better Tomorrow (1986). No single figure

15708-414: Was also known to perform his own stunts, although Chan himself had not watched Keaton's films until years after Project A released; according to Chan, Project A was an evolution of the action stunt work he had been doing in earlier kung Fu comedy films since The Young Master . Police Story (1985) contained many large-scale action scenes, including an opening sequence featuring a car chase through

15840-687: Was completed on 24 August 2007 and the movie was released in April 2008. The movie featured heavy use of effects and wires. Chan voiced Master Monkey in Kung Fu Panda (released in June 2008), appearing with Jack Black , Dustin Hoffman , and Angelina Jolie . In addition, he has assisted Anthony Szeto in an advisory capacity for the writer-director's film Wushu , released on 1 May 2008. The film stars Sammo Hung and Wang Wenjie as father and son. In November 2007, Chan began filming Shinjuku Incident ,

15972-515: Was his first directorial work since Who Am I? in 1998. 1911 premiered in North America on 14 October. While at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, Chan announced that he was retiring from action films citing that he was getting too old for the genre. He later clarified that he would not be completely retiring from action films, but would be performing fewer stunts and taking care of his body more. In 2013, Chan starred in Police Story 2013 ,

16104-505: Was in large part a martial arts homage, borrowing Yuen Woo-Ping as fight choreographer and actor. Robert Rodriguez 's Desperado (1995) and its 2003 sequel Once Upon a Time in Mexico aped Woo's visual mannerisms. The Wachowski sisters ' The Matrix trilogy (1999–2003) of science-fiction-action blockbusters borrowed from Woo and wire fu movies, and also employed Yuen behind the scenes. A number of Hollywood action stars also adopted

16236-756: Was listed in Time Magazine's All-Time 100 Movies. Another sequel, Police Story 4: First Strike , brought more awards and domestic box office success for Chan, but did not fare as well in foreign markets. By the mid-1990s, he was the most popular action movie star in Asia and Europe. Up until January 1995, his films had grossed over HK$ 500 million ( US$ 70 million ) in Hong Kong and ¥39 billion ( US$ 415 million ) in Japan, while having sold over 33 million box office admissions in France, Germany, Italy and Spain up until then. Despite his international success, he

16368-417: Was more responsible for this international profile than Bruce Lee , an American-born, Hong Kong-raised martial artist and actor. Lee completed just four movies before his death at the age of 32: The Big Boss (1971), Fist of Fury and Way of the Dragon (both 1972), and Enter the Dragon (1973). Eastern film historian Patrick Macias ascribes his success to "(bringing) the warrior spirit of old into

16500-579: Was nominated twice for Best Action Choreography at the Hong Kong Film Awards , and won in 2003 for his efforts on Hero . That same year, he made his American film debut, directing Steven Seagal in the direct-to-video feature Belly of the Beast . In 2006, he choreographed the action scenes in the Indian superhero film Krrish , for which he won a Filmfare Best Action Award and Zee Cine Award . In 2008, Ching directed An Empress and

16632-527: Was not very successful in North America, where he had only two wide releases as a leading actor, The Big Brawl and The Protector , grossing US$ 9.51 million ( US$ 32 million adjusted for inflation). Despite this, there was a thriving North American home video market for Chan's Hong Kong films by the mid-1990s. Chan rekindled his Hollywood ambitions in the 1990s, but refused early offers to play villains in Hollywood films to avoid being typecast in future roles. For example, Sylvester Stallone offered him

16764-526: Was quickly seized on by early Chinese films , particularly in the movie capital of the time, Shanghai . Starting in the 1920s, wuxia titles, often adapted from novels (for example, 1928's The Burning of the Red Lotus Monastery and its eighteen sequels) were hugely popular and the genre dominated Chinese film for several years. The boom came to an end in the 1930s, caused by official opposition from cultural and political elites, especially

16896-535: Was referred to as the "Hong Kongification" of Hollywood. Building on the reduced but enduring kung fu movie subculture, Jackie Chan and films like Tsui Hark's Peking Opera Blues (1986) were already building a cult following when Woo's The Killer (1989) had a limited but successful release in the U.S. and opened the floodgates. In the 1990s, Westerners with an eye on "alternative" culture became common sights in Chinatown video shops and theaters, and gradually

17028-430: Was resolved with the help of fellow actor and director Jimmy Wang Yu , allowing Chan to stay with Golden Harvest. Willie Chan became Jackie's personal manager and firm friend, and remained so for over 30 years. He was instrumental in launching Chan's international career, beginning with his first forays into the American film industry in the 1980s. His first Hollywood film was The Big Brawl in 1980. Chan then played

17160-580: Was signed to Chu Mu's Great Earth Film Company. Chan appeared in the Bruce Lee film Fist of Fury (1972), both as an extra and as a stunt double for the Japanese villain Hiroshi Suzuki (portrayed by Chikara Hashimoto ), particularly during the final fight scene where Lee kicks him and he flies through the air. Chan again appeared in another Bruce Lee film, Enter the Dragon (1973), as

17292-413: Was the breakthrough that established his unique style in Hollywood. This effort was immensely popular with both critics and public alike (it grossed over US$ 240 million worldwide). Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) grossed over US$ 560 million worldwide. Since these two films, Woo has struggled to revisit his successes of the 1980s and early 1990s. After over fifteen years of success in Hong Kong cinema and

17424-740: Was usually Tsui Hark who took most of the plaudits. He continued to work with Tsui Hark, directing sequels to that film in 1990 and 1991, and co-directing all three parts of the Swordsman series, starting in 1990. Other directorial highlights included the highly successful Royal Tramp films (both 1992) which starred Stephen Chow and Brigitte Lin . Ching continued his role as action director / choreographer throughout this period, and has continued to work in that role on high-profile international successes like Shaolin Soccer (2001), Hero (2002), and House of Flying Daggers (2004). In 2002, Ching

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