Cast members of "CZ12" pose for New Year photos

Cast members of “CZ12″ pose for New Year photos (Source: Xinhua)

Jackie Chan and Wang Zhonglei cover “BQ”

Jackie Chan and Wang Zhonglei cover “BQ” (Source: Xinhua)

Jackie Chan’s “CZ12” set for summer 2013 U.S. release

Action legend Jackie Chan’s new film “CZ12″ will be released into European and North American cinemas in summer next year.

Chan’s film tells the story of a spy searching for twelve bronze statues that European forces stole from Beijing’s Old Summer Palace during the mid-1800s.

The action star wrote, directed, produced and starred in the film, which he says will be his final hard-core action role.

Director of distribution Ramy Choi has told The Hollywood Reporter that the film would open on “a few hundred screens” in either the spring or summer of next year.

“CZ12″ has topped box-office lists in several Asian countries.

The movie, which also stars Oliver Platt and Liao Fan, has opened in China, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

Jackie Chan currently has several new projects in the works, including a new movie with his “Rush Hour” co-star Chris Tucker.

Source: CRI

Merry Christmas from Jackie Chan and “CZ12” cast

Jackie Chan and “CZ12” cast  (Source: Xinhua)

Jackie Chan’s "Chinese Zodiac" (CZ12) premieres

Cast members of the action film “CZ 2012″ Zhang Lanxin, Jackie Chan, Yao Xingtong and Laura Weissbecker attend the film’s premier. (Source: Xinhua)

Jackie Chan Promotes "CZ12" in Singapore

Cast members of the action film “CZ2012″ Jackie Chan (C), Yao Xingtong (L), and Zhang Lanxin attend  press conference of the film at Singapore’s Resorts World Sentosa, December 18, 2012. (Xinhua)

Jackie Chan: Pulling new punches

Jackie Chan realizes he isn’t getting any younger and is searching for young talent to replace him as Chinese action film’s new icon.

Jackie Chan was on the set of his latest film Chinese Zodiac 12. He was supposed to jump through a picture frame hanging from the ceiling but got stuck. He crashed to the floor and injured his waist.

The crew was shocked into silence.

Before anyone moved to help him, he said: “I’m not dead. Don’t be so quiet.”

He slowly got up and walked toward the corner of the room, blood oozing from his back.

Chan recovered soon after. But the incident made him think.

“I told myself I can’t be so lucky every time,” Chan says.

“I have to admit, I’m not a young man anymore. That was when I decided Chinese Zodiac 12 would be my last major action film. That means I will still make action films but not on this scale.”

Chinese Zodiac 12 is also Chan’s 101st film. The danger of filmmaking is frightening but fascinating at the same time, motivating the 58-year-old to write, direct and lead the action comedy to be released on Dec 20.

“You may not believe it, but I still panic before shooting actions scenes,” he tells China Daily.

“But not many people have the chance to have an entire road blocked for them to fly above. And when shooting Police Story, I fell off the roof of a building. When I was descending, I saw surprised girls standing in front of the window with their mouths wide open. It was fun.”

He also enjoys innovative choreography.

In Chinese Zodiac 12, he wears a rollerblading suit in a chase scene filmed on zigzagging mountain roads, tries to fly without an engine and rides a log that tumbles downhill.

Everyday objects, such as sofas and paintings, become weapons.

Chinese Zodiac 12 won Chan two Guinness World Records. One is for the “most stunts by a living actor”. The award notes: “No insurance company will underwrite Chan’s productions in which he performs all his own stunts.”

The star formed the Jackie Chan Stuntmen Association, training stuntmen and paying their medical bills out of his own pocket.

The film also earned him the record for the “most credits in one movie”. Chan assumed 15 roles in the film, including director, producer, actor and choreographer.

The star has no plans to retire. He says the best way to end his career would be to suddenly die on the set.

“Think of Bruce Lee and James Dean – the way they died made them eternal legends,” he says.

“I really can’t think out a better way to end my life and career. I don’t want people to see a weak and frail Jackie Chan onscreen. But I don’t want to quit filmmaking, either. So, the best thing is to die suddenly while I still look strong onscreen.”

Chan finalized his will 15 years ago. He’ll leave his entire fortune, estimated at $340 million, to his wife and charity but not his children.

The kung fu star is known for his unconventional views about life and death.

He was devastated by his father’s death but doesn’t visit his tomb or burn paper money (a Chinese mourning tradition).

“What matters is how I treated him when he was alive,” Chan says.

“What I do after his passing is pointless. I know he can’t receive the paper money.”

He doesn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day, or his wife’s or son’s birthdays.

Chan was angry when his son, Jaycee, called him on Father’s Day.

“I told him, don’t only call me on my birthday and Father’s Day. Pay more attention to me on regular days. I got his calls twice a year before, and now I get none,” he says, jokingly.

He does not worship the sky or sacrifice pig heads, as most Hong Kong filmmakers do before filming. He curses the heavens if it rains when it’s not needed for the scene.

“Call me anti-tradition, but I am not superstitious at all. I believe in real efforts,” he says.

He leads a group of young actors in the film, performing the same stunts as them and more dangerous ones.

As with most of his films, there are few special effects.

He has nothing against technology, though, he says.

Actually, he wants to act in films like Batman or Superman because it’s easier, he explains.

“Putting on a mask, posing in front of a green screen and getting the same pay – who wouldn’t want to do that? But we can’t compete with Hollywood in terms of visual effects. We can’t fly in ways more dazzling than Batman or Spiderman. What we can really excel at is still real kung fu performed with fists and feet.”

Chan hopes to find a younger version of himself but realizes this is something he can’t do on his own.

“People would like to invest 150 million yuan ($24 million) in a film starring me but wouldn’t put up 100 million yuan for one starring three young actors,” he says.

“They only believe in big names.”

So he has been casting young actors in his films, including Daniel Wu, who starred in many of his movies, such as New Police Story and Shinjuku Incident.

In his 2010 film, Little Big Soldier, he cast Xu Dongmei, a total newcomer who stood out from Disciples of Jackie Chan, a TV competition Chan initiated to find potential action stars.

“It would be pathetic if, many years later, Jackie Chan is still Chinese action films’ most famous icon,” he says.

Source: China Daily

Jackie Chan’s "Chinese Zodiac" (CZ12) premiers in Beijing

Cast members of the action film “CZ 2012″ Zhang Lanxin, Jackie Chan, Yao Xingtong and Laura Weissbecker attend the film’s press premier in Beijing,  December 11, 2012. “

The film is scheduled to be released in China on December 20. (Source: Xinhua)

Jackie Chan: new film will be last action movie

Kung Fu superstar Jackie Chan said that while the upcoming film “Chinese Zodiac 2012″ will be his last major action movie, citing his increasing age, he will still be packing punches in the world of philanthropy.

Chan wrote, directed and produced his latest film, set to premiere in cinemas in China next month. He also plays the lead role and said that he regarded it the “best film for myself” in the last ten years.

“I’m the director, I’m the writer, I’m the producer, I’m the action director, almost everything,” the 58-year-old actor said while in Beijing to film a documentary.

“This really, really is my baby. You know, I’ve been writing the script for seven years,” and the film took a year and half to make, he added.

In the film, Chan is a treasure hunter seeking to repatriate sculpture heads of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac, which were taken from Beijing’s Summer Palace by French and British forces during the Opium Wars.

He said it was an important movie for him because it will be his last major action feature, although he insisted it is not the end of his action career.

“I’m not young any more, honestly,” he said, noting that with special effects technology and doubles a lot can be done without physical risk.

“Why (do) I have to use my own life to still do these kind of things?” he said. “I will still do as much as I can. But I just don’t want to risk my life to sit in a wheelchair, that’s all.”

Chan was recently awarded the Social Philanthropist of the Year award by Harpers Bazaar magazine. He said he wanted to increase time devoted to charitable work and hoped China’s leagues of newly wealthy will follow his example – which he underlined by auctioning a Bentley 666 for around 6 million yuan ($961,837).

Chan said while Chinese philanthropists have made some encouraging strides, much more still needs to be done – a task made harder by the Internet, with netizens willing to leap on every perceived wrong move.

“Right now people (must) very, very be careful, but that doesn’t stop them to want to do the charity. I think it’s a good sign,” Chan said.

Source: china daily

“Chinese Zodiac” Posters

Posters of Jackie Chan’s new film “Chinese Zodiac” (CZ12) starring Jackie Chan, Kwone Sang Woo, Laura Weissbecker, Yao Xing Tong, Liao Fan, Zhang Lan Xin, and Steve Yoo Seung Jun is scheduled to be released December 20, 2012  (Source: Xinhua)