Forbidden Kingdom News
Some unofficial/unconfirmed tidbits concerning The Forbidden Kingdom:
1: Jet has declined the role of playing the Monkey King, and another Chinese actor has been brought in for the role of the Monkey King. Monkey King would be an important storyline, but would only appear in a few scenes here and there in the film.
2. The role of the silent monk has less than 50 lines or so, so throughout the movie, Jet would not be speaking much.
3. Jackie is going to use a cucurbit as his weapon. (FYI, a lot of Chinese deities and Taoist who drink store wines in them) Jackie might be doing some drunken boxing according to one report.
4. Li Bingbing is going to fight both Jackie and Jet at separate occasions. And, her fight with Jet at the end would be the most important one. (So, we are not going to see a combat between Jackie and Jet. What a wasted opportunity! Having a girl without martial arts background dueling with two kung fu legends, and one of them is going to be a highlight. Highly uninteresting to me.)
5. Jackie is billed at 800 million RMB, with distribution right in China while Jet is billed with at 200 million RMB. (This caused some unpleasant discussion between the Chinese fans, dismissing the news as a fake. Well, we have to wait for official figure to confirm their billings. To me, it doesn't really matter, as long as the movie is good.)
What a waste of time it would be if jackie and Jet dont fight in this movie. My expectations are getting lower and lower.
They will fight, yes.
HONG KONG: Jackie Chan vs. Jet Li, the kung fu movie fan's fantasy has become reality.
Chan and Li are currently in China shooting their first movie together, the Hollywood production "The Forbidden Kingdom," and Chan said in his Chinese-language blog Thursday they recently shot their first on-screen duel.
"I finally 'fought' with Jet Li today. We've never fought before having known each other for so many years," Chan said in an entry dated last week.
Chan said the fight scene went smoothly and the two actors finished what was expected to be a daylong shoot in a few hours.
"The short sparring that lasted a few moves went very smoothly. It was like fighting with a brother from the same school of martial arts. We blended easily on every move, be it in terms of timing or rhythm," he said.
Today in Culture
'My Blueberry Nights' at Cannes: In the mood for something sweet
At Cannes, Raphaël Nadjari touches on issues of belief and doubt with "Tehilim"
A Rothko sells for $72.84 million at record-setting Sotheby's sale
"The feeling was like shooting with Sammo Hung or Yuen Biao. Whether it's a look, an expression or a turn, we were well coordinated. It feels great," Chan wrote, referring to two fellow action stars.
He added he and Li also worked well with choreographer Yuen Woo-ping, who designed action sequences for "The Matrix" trilogy.
"We worked together seamlessly," Chan said.
"The Forbidden Kingdom" is about an American teenager's fantasy journey to ancient China to rescue a mythological monkey king. The idea for the film originates with the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West," in which a monkey king, a pig and a friar help guard a Buddhist monk searching for religious texts.
Li will play the monkey king and a silent monk, while Chan will play another monk called T'sa-Ho.
Chan and Li offer a contrast in martial arts styles. Chan, trained in Peking Opera, is known for his defensive, dance-like moves while Li, a former national kung fu champion in China, tends to dominate his on-screen opponents.
Chan said in his English blog the crew had finished shooting in the Gobi Desert and moved on to Wuyi mountains in the eastern Fujian province.
He said he enjoyed shooting in the dessert.
"Seeing the vast expanses of sand, blue sky, and white clouds combined with no traffic congestion and no gossip from Hong Kong newspapers, made me feel completely relaxed," Chan wrote.