Jackie Chan may have celebrated his 61st birthday this year...and while he's been talking about retiring since the late 80's, there appears to be no sign of the Chan'ster slowing down. Last year saw the shooting of the epic Dragon Blade (Chan co-starring with John Cusack and Adrien Brody in the disjointed epic, but one that did huge numbers throughout South East Asia during its release earlier this year) and he then shot the English language action comedy Skiptrace, directed by Renny Harlin (which sees Chan, Fan Bing-bing and Johnny Knoxville battling the Russian Mafia).
This year has already seen Jackie Chan shooting an extended cameo in an upcoming Russian comedy and now comes news of Chan possibly revisiting some earlier movies for two more sequels. Rush Hour 4 has been in discussion since the third film wrapped, and though the news that a new Rush Hour tv series has been greenlighted might imply that the big screen franchise is finished, there is still talk of Chan and Chris Tucker joining forces for a fourth big screen adventure.
We always preferred the Shanghai Noon and Shanghai Knights movies to the Rush Hour franchise, Chan and Owen Wilson made a far more fun team and had real chemistry, (and both films really captured the blend of East meets West properly - as Chan's Imperial Guard and Wilson's outlaw turned lawman joined forces). Now more than 12 years since Shanghai Knights, it would appear that MGM has set its sight on a third installment, Shanghai Dawn. No word yet on a proposed start date or storyline, or if either lead is officially onboard, but this is a sequel we could get behind!
In other news Chan will teaming up for the third time with director Ding Sheng (Little Big Soldier, Police Story 2013) for the US$50 million project Railroad Tigers. The film is set in China during WW2 and will see Chan as a railroad worker who joins the resistance to use the Chinese railroad network to disrupt the Japanese occupation.
Chan is also linked to Stanley Tong's Kung Fu Yoga, and another installment in the Chinese Zodiac/Armour of God series, a potential second Karate Kid movie with Jaden Smith, and will lend his voice once more to the new Kung Fu Panda movie.
