ROTTEN TOMATOES: Peter Jackson to Direct Jet Li/Jackie Chan Pic?

Peter Jackson to Direct Jet Li/Jackie Chan Pic?

by Jen Yamato | August 14, 2006

As if the thought of Jet Li and Jackie Chan starring in a film together isn't enough to get us excited, rumor has it that the pic might be helmed by one of the biggest directors around. How big? Peter Jackson big!

China's Star Daily newspaper is reporting that Peter Jackson's name is being bandied about the Jet-Jackie project by an "anonymous insider," according to Asian cinema site MonkeyPeaches.com.

The site rather ambiguously says that Jackson, though by no means confirmed as the director for the project, has either been approached for or has accepted the job; however, no official word has been released.

The report also says Jet Li will be paid $9 Million to play the bad guy in the movie, which will be an adaptation of the Chinese "Journey to the West" epic tale about a modern day martial artist who travels back in time and encounters the Monkey King. The pic is said to be aimed more at American audiences, so signing Peter Jackson on for helming duties doesn't seem too far a stretch...if the rumors can be believed.

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(1-20 of 41 posts) | Reply

ItemNine writes:
on Aug 14 2006 02:42 PM

"....epic tale about a modern day martial artist who travels back in time and encounters the Monkey King."

I'm sold.

(Reply to this)

Azlam Orlandu writes:
on Aug 14 2006 02:47 PM

Yeah I'm there too. I love Jet and I've always been entertained by Chan. Peter Jackson being in the mix sounds too good to be true, but you never know.

(Reply to this)

sr78 writes:
on Aug 14 2006 02:51 PM

Jackson should start working on The Hobbit before McKellen buys the farm. When he's done doing that, he can make weird little movies about time machines and monkey kings.

(Reply to this)

Ciaranmv writes:
on Aug 14 2006 02:58 PM

In reply to this comment (#842097)
I agree, but KING KONG was great in that it proved that Peter Jackson was a great director, not just lucky like Lucas was with the first three "Star Wars" movies. They better hurry up with the Hobbit because they have to worry about not only Ian McKellan, but Ian Holm, too!

(Reply to this)

Zen Bullet writes:
on Aug 14 2006 03:14 PM

Yeah. I don't think so.

That news is pulling my leg so hard it's comming out of the socket.

If I'm wrong, then the world just became a much stranger place.

(Reply to this)

SIRxxxTMG writes:
on Aug 14 2006 03:36 PM

Oh my, this news gets me excited, but at the same time nervous. The idea of a Jackie Chain/Jet Li movie directed by no other than the Peter Jackson sounds great, but whats this about time travelin' monkey kings? Oh well, my hype is already sky high due to this somewhat odd (and rumored) collaboration.

(Reply to this)

dracus writes:
on Aug 14 2006 04:03 PM

I agree; Jackson needs to get on with The Hobbit first. As for Ian Holm, I don't think he's going to play Bilbo Baggins anyway. I watched all three commentary versions of the LOTR's movies last week (Hey, it was raining LOL) and in one of them (I forget which movie it was) Jackson said that in the prologue scene where you see Bilbo finding the ring inside the cave, he was going to have Elijah Wood play young Bilbo in that scene instead of Ian Holm, but changed his mind because he thought it would confuse the viewers if they saw Elijah playing a younger Bilbo as well as Frodo. My bet is that when Jackson finally films The Hobbit, he will have Elijah Wood play Bilbo because he's supposed to be 50 years younger than he is in The Fellowship.

(Reply to this)

The Senhman writes:
on Aug 14 2006 04:59 PM

In reply to this comment (#842097)
"Journey to the West" is more fantasy than sci-fi. The sci-fi element is probably there just to get the characters into the fantasy world. This is probably why Peter Jackson's name is being thrown into the mix. Steven Spielberg had expressed interest in an adaptation himself recently when he visited Shanghai, but I'm not sure if it's the same movie.

"Journey to the West" is one of the most adapted folk legends in Asia. Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle) did two himself in the 90's. A TV series from Japan was being promoted in this year's Cannes Film Festival.

If this rumor is true, the fantastical world of "Journey to the West" will definitely be more vividly realized by Peter Jackson than previous adaptations.

(Reply to this)

knowingtoast85 writes:
on Aug 14 2006 05:26 PM

I've come around. It's fun to read rt news posts based totally off of rumors from anonymous insiders. It lets me slip comfortably into a world so unlike my own.

(Reply to this)

The Senhman writes:
on Aug 14 2006 05:53 PM

In reply to this comment (#842103)
Rumors from anonymous insiders are part of the fun ;)

(Reply to this)

lavatory love machine writes:
on Aug 14 2006 07:36 PM

peter jackson and jet li sounds great, but jackie chan? umm, he's no on the same level (thi8nk the smoking)

(Reply to this)

Le Fox writes:
on Aug 14 2006 08:09 PM

I thought Jet Li was done with martial art??

(Reply to this)

The Senhman writes:
on Aug 14 2006 08:41 PM

In reply to this comment (#842106)
No, only martial arts epics about martial arts masters - like "The Tai-Chi Master," for example.

(Reply to this)

TheIceGhost writes:
on Aug 14 2006 09:04 PM

I heard somethin' about Jackie not wanting to do anymore 'violent' movies due to being a 'role-model'...don't think this film is going to exactly put him on the right track, but it sounds pretty awesome regardless.

(Reply to this)

DjMovieGoer writes:
on Aug 14 2006 09:12 PM

jackie is getting old, he just cant be drunken master anymore. Hes too beat. Gotta admire the guy.

(Reply to this)

nogard64 writes:
on Aug 14 2006 11:02 PM

[b]how do they sell this???[/b]
how would Western audience buy into this? I dont think any western person knows the story of the monkey king. I really dont see how this will sell and be successful in the west, in the east thats a whole other story! The Monkey king is like Batman in the US.

(Reply to this)

insanemansam5 writes:
on Aug 14 2006 11:20 PM

In reply to this comment (#842110)
I think western audiences know Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Peter Jackson besides if it is a good story I don't think how much audiences know about it in advance is necessarily important. If Kurasawa could make successful adaptations of something as adherently culturally and linguistically Engish as Shakespeare I don't see why Jackson can't do this.

(Reply to this)

Sibelius writes:
on Aug 15 2006 12:09 AM

Rubbish

(Reply to this)

eastern2western writes:
on Aug 15 2006 12:34 AM

[b]It is a rumor.[/b]
I do not think this real. First thing is that Jorney to the West is a very asian story and it is taught to almost every asian kid since kindergarden. According to the rumor, producers want to make a movie about journey to the west for the english speaking audience. That just sounds very contradictory to be because most western audience probably have never heard of journey to the west. Another part of this story that does not make any sense is hiring Peter Jackson to direct it. I do not know Jackson very well but I know for sure that he is an australian and he probably has never heared of the story of journey. If he mess up the most famouse fantasy story in asia, every chino (there is alot of them) would probably want to lynch the white boy. I personally would because the story is deeply rooted in my child hood memory.
2nd problem with this peter jackson is directing it. I saw all of the lotr movies and king kong and I think the guy is a buffon. In the lotr movies, he drags every thing to point of infinity and only knows how to repeat the same old shots of the digital armies. After success of lotr, he went on and made the same mistake with king kong and turned a simple movie into a 4 hr butt numbing experience.
3rd problem is that jet li and jackie chan are going to speak english in this movie. Jorney to the west is a very chinese story and translating it into english is going to lose a lot of its flavor in the language. In addition, both actors are not very good at acting in english and it is going to be more problematic for them to carry a whole movie by themselves. Even speaking their own language, both actors are still not very good and they are only good at action.
The final point you guys have to understand is that action stars have a very limited screen career. After reaching certain age, it is very hard for them repeat the same old stuff they did when there were youger. In my own personal opinion, Jackie and Jet have hitted their career plateau when they were in Hong Kong already. For Jackie Chan, the movie that represents his best work has to be Drunken Master II. For Jet Li, the mvies that represent his best work are Wong Fei Hong series and Fist of Legend.
Final note, a lot of you people in here should embrace the future and let go of the past. I always see you guys making statements like jackie can not make a movie like what he use too or jet li is very good when he was in fist of legend. People, lets face it, actors are just humans like you and I and they do get old and accumulate injuries. As years and injuries add together, they are going to become less agile and lose flexibility.

(Reply to this)

The Senhman writes:
on Aug 15 2006 12:54 AM

In reply to this comment (#842113)
While it may be true that some action stars have limited careers (Van Damme, Seagal), Jackie Chan is the rare exception. The guy has been the box office king in Hong Kong for more than two decades. Can you name another action star with that kind of draw in their own country for that long (well, technically, HK is not a country, but...)? Til this day, he's still one of the top draws in Asia.

(Reply to this)

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