photo:yahoo

AP article posted that Asian martial arts star Jackie Chan admitted that not being a fan of the “Rush Hour” series. Ironically, “Rush Hour” was Chan’s first movie to break US$100 million at the U.S. box office, earning US$141 million, according to the box office tracking Web site Box Office Mojo. “Rush Hour 2″ made US$226 million and “Rush Hour 3″ has earned US$137 million so far.

Also according to AP, Jackie is known to be blasé about his Hollywood work. He said in a 2005 interview that he uses the high salary he earns in the U.S. to fund Chinese-language projects that he’s truly interested in and also showed little enthusiasm for his latest Hollywood project, “The Forbidden Kingdom,” which marks his first on-screen collaboration with fellow action star Jet Li.

Formula Movie

Since 1980s, Jackie has done numerous action comedy films - “Project A” (1983), “Police Story” (1985), “The Protector” (1985) and others of which he played the role of a cop. This formula works so well for him that he ended up getting type cast with the same type of roles in Hollywood. It’s probably no fun playing the same role for an action star like Jackie. That’s why it is no surprise that even he is not too enthused about “Rush Hour 3”.

The comedy franchise is strives on the formula from Jackie’s other action comedies. The new ingredient added in this is American comedian Chris Tucker and a script adopted for a more American audience making it yet another blockbuster hit.

The question is whether or not a film requires an American A-list actor in order to make it a hit the US market. “The Departed” is an American adaptation of the successful Asian hit “Infernal Affairs”. Both versions were well accepted by their intended audience. But it leaves me wondering whether “Infernal Affairs” would have still done well had it been shown in US theatres. Surely, having American actors in remade Asian films does not automatically cook up a major blockbuster. This is obvious when casting Hollywood stars Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock in “The Lake House” did not really fly in comparison to its original Korean version, “Il Mare”.

If this is not the winning formula, then perhaps Hollywood should focus more on marketing to expose local viewers to quality foreign films and other cultures. Hopefully there will be one day where American viewers would be able to appreciate Asian films and artists beyond traditional Chinese wu-xia films like “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, “House of Flying Daggers”, or “The Banquet”, where producers can make movies that are suitable to both Asian and American film viewers’ taste.