Random Thoughts

Oscar Ravichandran, who had produced great blockbusters like ‘Tagore, Aparichitudu and Dasavataram’ planned another sensational film. The film has Bollywood Badshah Sharukh Khan and Hollywood Star Jackie Chan in the lead roles and it would be directed by none other than KS Ravikumar, who had brought out a great film like ‘Dasavataram’. The film had almost completed the story sittings and is likely to go to sets on August 8. The producer is planning to release the film across the globe by dubbing in almost all languages in the world. AR Rahman is being convinced to score music for the movie.

A rumour has been making the rounds in Kerala media that Asin is going to do an international ad campaign with Jackie Chan, to be shot in Japan!

Jackie Chan is the flavour of the season ever since he came for the audio launch of Dasavatharam in Chennai. Now Mohanlal is supposed to do the film Nairsen with him in September.

At the Dasavatharam audio launch, Jackie was introduced to Asin and photographed together which may have lend credence to the story that Asin is going to do an ad with him.

When contacted in Mumbai, Asin said: "It is a figment of somebody's imagination running wild. No such offer has come my way, and I don't thing that Jackie is endorsing any products."

HONG KONG (AP) — Jackie Chan's Web site says construction has begun on a museum for the action movie star in the Chinese financial capital Shanghai.

A statement published Friday says the 54-year-old attended a ceremony marking the start of work earlier this week.

The museum will house props and costumes from Chan's movies, photos and other memorabilia, the Web site said. Construction is scheduled to finish in October 2009.

It seems Mohanlal is going to do a film titled Nair San, in which he is going to be featured with Jackie Chan!

Hard to digest? The film will be shot in Mongolia, and will have a Japanese, Chinese and English version. It will be directed by Albert, who won the Aravindan award for his debut film Kanne Madanguka.

”Nair San is based on a real character, Ayyapan Pillai Madhavan Nair. He studied in Model School in Thiruvananthapuram and, during his school days, he got involved in the freedom struggle. He had to escape from the British—so he escaped to Japan via Sri Lanka and joined the war against British imperialism,” says Albert.

Albert had sent the concept script to Jackie Chan’s office and got a positive report from him. Later, he went to Hong Kong and is reported to have met Chan.

“The film’s shoot will start on September 1 in Mongolia and we are talking to Jackie Chan’s office to coordinate the shoot,” he says. “It is a historical period drama and will be shot by cameraman Vaidi. It is a big budget commercial extravaganza with a budget of around Rs 50 crore. The Morphous group from the Middle East is funding the project.”

When contacted, Mohanlal said: “I think it is a great opportunity for an actor like me to do the role of Nair San. My father had told me many years back about Sen’s daring exploits and he had met hi, too. I’m told that he used to stay in Poojapura, the area where I stay in Thiruvananthapuram.”

Mohanlal has given a 125-day call sheet for the film, which will be shot in Mongolia, Japan and Hong Kong.

Jackie Chan is planning to make a film about the recent devastating Chinese earthquake, which left almost 60,000 dead and more than five million homeless.

The 7.9-magnitude quake stunned the world and now Chan wants to do everything he can to help the shellshocked survivors - and that involves making a film about their plight.

The 'Rush Hour' star, who is an icon in China, is planning a meeting with the country's leading studio bosses and film financiers to discuss his movie plans.

He says: "There are so many touching stories (and) through this movie, we will be able to show the whole world what happened. This will also be another way to raise money."

Chan also plans to raise money through benefits for the victims and their families.

He tells America's People magazine: "I can spend six years doing a movie, but I can plan an event in 72 hours. An event we're doing on June 1 in Hong Kong will include more than 100 artists from Asia."

Chan has already visited hospitals, schools and the ruins of streets of houses in the areas worst hit by the earthquake, and he has already donated more than $1m (€627,475).

Complete Shanghai film fest coverage

SHANGHAI -- The pall of the recent earthquake in China hung over Day 1 of the 11th Shanghai International Film Festival on Saturday, sapping the event of the glitz it had begun to display in recent years.

The opening ceremony, clocking in at 30 minutes, was the shortest in memory and lacked typically long-winded speeches by Chinese government officials.

"The SIFF ceremony is very low profile this year because of the national mourning," said Yue-Sai Kan, founder of Yue-Sai cosmetics and a popular television hostess.

There were no limousines and no red carpet. Guests arrived at the Shanghai Grand Theater by bus, sedan and SUV and walked a carpet decorated with giant pink hearts to honor the 70,000 people who lost their lives in the May 12 quake in Sichuan Province.

Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai spoke briefly in support of the 5 million Chinese left homeless by the quake. A lifetime achievement award was given posthumously to Oscar-winning director Anthony Minghella, whose widow, Carolyn Choa, appeared on his behalf. Wong replaced Minghella as the festival's Jin Jue award jury chair.

Next, actress Zhang Ziyi was given the award for Outstanding Achievement in Film and Qin Yi, famous for her 1930s roles, was named the honorary recipient of the SIFF Lifetime Achievement Award for Chinese Filmmakers.

Chuck Boller, executive director of the Hawaii International Film Festival, was in Shanghai for a ninth year, seeking films for his lineup in October. "The choice of films gets better all the time," he said.

Boller praised Shanghai for approaching in quality South Korea's Pusan International Film Festival, also held each October. He noted, however, that China's most international city still failed to draw a large group of overseas guests.

Betty Brow, executive vice president of international banking at the Bank of Hawaii -- and one of Boller's festival sponsors -- was at the opening looking for investment opportunities. "We specialize in the film industry," Brow said. "We have the largest Chinese team of all the banks in Hawaii."

After the opening remarks, many guests left before the unveiling of the opening film, the Chinese documentary "Olympic Dreamers."

Tomas Prasek, co-founder of a Czech company whose technology helps stage film festivals, observed: "There's a movie going on which almost nobody is watching."

Jackie Chan

Here is a Ripley's Believe It or Not from the heart of southern tinsel town. Chennai-based Aaskar Ravichandran, the producer of Kamal Haasan's latest movie Dasavathaaram, is planning to make a movie with Jackie Chan as the lead actor at a cost of Rs 600-700 crore ($150 million), which would by far be the most expensive movie made in India.

If his dream comes true, it will beat the cost of making Rajinikanth starrer Sivaji-The Boss ten times over, which had cost $15 million.

The head of a leading film production company in Chennai said that this would be too big and risky a bet particularly for a Jackie Chan movie. "When was the last time you heard of a big hit from Jackie Chan movie in India? It is definitely a daring attempt and I wonder how Ravichandran is going to fund this movie," he asked.

"The movie will be funded from bank debts and the collections from Dasavathaaram," said Ravichandarn.

He confirmed his biggest bet ever taken in the Indian film industry to Business Standard , while discussing his expectation from Dasavathaaram. He estimates box office collection for this movie would be Rs 200-300 crore, when the movie finally gets out of the theatres. He also said that the first week collection alone would be Rs 50 crore ( just Rs 10 crore short of the movie production cost of Rs 60 crore).

Ravichandran who was distributing the Jackie Chan movies in India for a number of years is now going to produce the actor's movie on his own. Apparently, the script of the movie that will be made in the Indian style has been approved by Jackie Chan. The genre of the movie, like most other Jackie Chan movies will be action-comedy.

Ravichandran, however, did not disclose any other information about the salary the big stars on the movie will be drawing and details of the people who are going to work in the movie.

Producer's three-year old son Sanjith will also make his debut in this movie.

According to movie industry sources, Ravichandran had made lavish arrangements for the star's two day visit in Chennai. He booked the entire top floor of Park Sheraton Hotel for three days for Jackie Chan and for his personal security guards. The total cost of Jackie Chan's visit to Chennai was around Rs 5.5 crore, said sources.

Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan continues to be dogged by political remarks he made four years ago in Taiwan.He was greeted with protesters yelling "Jackie Chan, get out" on Wednesday when he arrived in Taipei for a charity event, according to Agence France Presse.
The protesters were angry over remarks he made four years ago about the island's presidential elections.
At that time, Chan insinuated that President Chen Shui-Bian staged an election-eve shooting that give him a margin over his opponent during the presidential runoff.
"It's the biggest joke in the world," he said of the March 2004 presidential electiion.
Chen and his running mate Annette Wu were lightly wounded in the shooting, which helped boost him ahead of his opponent by a razor-thin margin. Opposition parties alleged that the shooting was staged to win a sympathy vote.
Chen's Democratic Progressive Party favours national independence for Taiwan, a stance frowned on by the Chinese mainland which still considers the island part of China.
Chan, star of Rush Hour and The Forbidden Kingdom, had to be escorted from his private jet by police and bodyguards on Wednesday.
Jackie Chan insulted Taiwanese people and denied the value of our democracy," a woman told CTI TV at the airport.It was Chan's first trip to Taiwan in four years and follows the election of Chen's opponent Ma Ying-jeou of the Nationalists as president. The new president promises closer ties to China, ending talk of independence.Chan dismissed the criticism over his remarks at a news conference to promote a charity that supports youth soccer teams."My affection for Taiwan … is witnessed by everyone. My wife is Taiwanese and I am a son-in-law of Taiwan. I am half Taiwanese," he said.Chan has a big following in Taiwan and in most of Greater China as the star of dozens of Chinese-language martial arts films.

Last year's Happy Chinese New Year Contest was a lot of fun and Jackie wants to do it again this year. Jackie loved the Year of the Pig entries so much last year that he decided to choose three winners and he made a donation to the Build a School project in their names. This year for the Year of the Rat, we will award three grand prizes for Jackie's three favorites (yes, Jackie will choose his favorites again). Here are the three prizes:

SHIRT ONE Jackie wore this shirt on September 19, 2007 in Zaozhuang.	SHIRT TWO Jackie wore this shirt on September 16, 2007 in Changchun.	SHIRT THREE Jackie wore this shirt on September 22, 2007 in Inner Mongolia

Three people will each win one of Jackie's shirts. These are the actual shirts that Jackie wore during the September 2007 Dragon's Heart trip and Jackie has already autographed each of them.

Last year we gave calendars to the first 50 people who entered the contest. This year we looked around our office for some prizes and found a whole box of great promotional items from Rob-B-Hood. We have colorful t-shirts and unique baby bottles - all great items for your collection. The first 55 fans to enter the contest will win a t-shirt or bottle (our choice of prize and/or size). It's as easy as that!

Here's what we found for giveaways:

Rob-B-Hood t-shirts! We have 46 tees to give away, all size medium and small.

OR

Rob-B-Hood promotional bottle. We have 9 of these to send.

This year Jackie would like you to draw or paint a picture for him to help celebrate the Year of the Rat. We will post your original drawings here at the Kids Corner and Jackie will choose the winners. To enter, scan and email your drawing to the webmaster.

Please use the following guidelines:

• Scan should be at least 650 pixels wide and in .jpg format.

• Please name the file like this:

Year_Rat_yourname_yourcountry.jpg (for example: Year_Rat_Jackie_China.jpg)

and write New Year Contest as the subject line.

• You must include your full name and postal mailing address in your email so we can send you your prize. Giveaway prizes will be sent to the first 55 people who submit a New Year's drawing. To make it easier for us to mail prizes, please write your address in this format:

Your Full Name
123 Hollywood Lane
Los Angeles, CA 98765 USA

There is no age restriction; everyone is welcome to send a drawing.
Contest ends on February 7th. One prize per family or address.

Only original drawings, paintings, or computer generated artwork created specifically for this contest will be eligible to win a prize.

CLICK THE RATS TO SEE THIS YEAR'S DRAWINGS

CLICK THE PIGGY TO SEE LAST YEAR'S DRAWINGS!

Jackie Chan, the Superstar of Hollywood, became the real hero at the Dasavatharam audio launch held at Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai. Right from his entry into the dais along with superb looked Mallika Sherawat, the super actor became the center of attraction in the event. Chief Minister M Karunanidhi launched the audio of Dasavatharam along with Jackie, V Shridhar, elder brother of producer Ravichandran and Kamal Hassan the hero of the film.

Oscar Ravichandran's decision to invite the Hollywood action hero Jackie Chan as the Chief Guest served the purpose meaningfully. He made the entire function enjoyable like his fabulous films. The audience loved his simplicity, innocence, smile, meaningful speech and mannerisms.

Mallika Sherawat was clinging onto Chan throughout the evening and was his biggest moral support in translating things to his convenience. There was tremendous chemistry between Jackie and Mallika. She helped him in his pronunciation of difficult words and Indian names during his speech.

Amithab: After KS Ravikumar's lengthy welcome speech, the mike was handed over to Amitabh Bachchan. He said, "Chennai is very special to me as I got my first National Award here for Saath Hindustani from none other than Shri M Karunanidhiji, who was the then Chief Minister. And now years later, I am here again sharing the dais with him. It is my immense pleasure to see my friend Kamal as a center figure in such a grand event. Every time his name is mentioned, I notice the excitement of the audience. So I end my speech saying 'Kamal Hassan… Kamal Hassan…Kamal Hassan… (the claps sound rocked the auditorium.)."

Vijay: Normally Vijay ends his speech in very few words. But yesterday, he delivered an unusual speech. He praised Chan for his extra-ordinary onscreen performance and how he became an ardent fan of him. On Kamal, Vijay said, "Here, I'm not going to praise or congratulate Kamal sir. He is the Guru for people like me. Acting in films like Dasavatharam is his duty. Then only it is possible to actors like me to learn more on acting." Vijay also thanked Oscar Ravi for inviting him with veteran actors Kamal, Big B and Mammootty.

Kamal: Kamal Hassan spoke in Tamil to the audiences about Dasavatharam and later in English so that Jackie could follow it. He said, "I always feel jealous of you and I have 32 fractures in my career trying to emulate your stunts. I am meeting you for the first time and your simplicity is amazing. I have started a new friendship with you from today."

Jackie Chan: Jackie took the help of Mallika while he spoke about Oscar Ravichandran and his association with him. He also said that he will do a film with Kamal in future.

Jackie says that Dasavatharam is simply amazing and unbelievable effort of Kamal. He also said that Amitabh is the real Superstar of Asia and in future he would like to play in a romantic role while Amitabh plays an action block in a film.

Rama Narayanan, Jayaprada, Hema Malini, Asin, and Mallika Sherawat also delivered speeches on this most memorable occasion.

As usual, Oscar Ravichandran did not attend this function. As a policy does not attend his own functions nor does he get photographed, he simply stayed in his office and watching the events through a specially arranged live screen!

A passionate advocate for animals, Jackie Chan has once again teamed up with the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) to create awareness of a little-known example of appalling cruelty to animals – bear farming in Asia. Chan and WSPA have filmed a powerful 30-second PSA calling for an end to the cruel practice and showing the intense suffering and deplorable conditions bears on farms are forced to endure.

WSPA has identified bear farming as the planet’s worst example of animal suffering inflicted by humans, and the PSA is part of a worldwide campaign to highlight the plight of the 12,000 bears living in Asia’s bear farms.

“Around the world, WSPA is working hard to make people aware of what happens on bear farms,” said Peter Chen, WSPA Canada Community Outreach Officer. “We’re grateful that Jackie Chan is helping to further WSPA’s mission to end bear farming.”

Bile from the gall bladders of bears is used in Tradition Asian Medicine and believed to have medicinal properties. As a result, bears are raised in captivity and forced to suffer painful procedures to extract their bile. The conditions the bears live in are dire – most live in cages about the size of a telephone booth turned on its side, where they cannot stand or easily turn around. They can live this awful existence for decades.

The use of bear bile in Traditional Asian Medicine is unnecessary. A synthetic alternative has existed since the 1950s, and many experts in Traditional Asian Medicine agree that alternatives such as herbal remedies and acupuncture are equally effective.

“The World Society for the Protection of Animals campaigns to stop cruelty and change attitudes towards animals,” said Jackie Chan. “They are doing great work in so many countries and deserve our support.”

To watch the PSA and for more information, please visit: www.wspa-usa.org

Jackie Chan’s support lends a well-known voice to an important campaign to protect defenseless bears in Asia. The public can also lend their support by signing WSPA’s petition at www.endbearfarming.org.

One of the biggest threats faced by bears in the United States today is an illegal yet thriving trade in bear parts, including bear gallbladders. Each year wild bears are killed so that their parts can be sold in Traditional Asian Medicine (TAM) shops in the United States and internationally. US Representative Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) recently re-introduced H.R. 5534, the Bear Protection Act of 2008, to protect North American bears. The Act specifically bans the import, export and interstate trade of all bear parts and products, while closing loopholes in existing state laws.

Supporters are urged to contact their representative and encourage them to co-sponsor and pass this important legislation:

http://capwiz.com/wspausa/issues/alert/?alertid=11109406

The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) works to raise the standards of animal welfare throughout the world. WSPA holds consultative status with the United Nations and observer status with the Council of Europe, and is the world’s largest international alliance of welfare organizations. Headquartered in the UK with offices in 15 countries, WSPA works towards building a global animal welfare movement with compassion and action through partnerships with over 850 animal organizations in more than 150 countries.

Name :	Jackie Chan
Birth Date :	April 7, 1954
Birth Place :	Hong Kong, China
Birth Name :	Kong-Sang Chang also known as Jackie Chan Sing Lung (which means 'Already a Dragon')
Height :	5'8
Education :	Nan Hua Elementary Academy Chinese Opera Research Institute (1961-1971) Peking Opera School
Nationality :	Hong Kong/Chinese
Profession :	Actor, director, producer
Wife :	Lin Feng-Chiao (aka Lin Feng Chow; Taiwanese; actress; married in 1983; separated)
Relationship :	Elaine Ng (Miss Asia, 1 daughter)
Claim to fame :	as Ah Keung in Rumble in the Bronx (1995)
Fan Mail :	Willie Chan Golden Harvest Ltd. Hong Kong China

The only child of Charles and Lee-Lee Chan, Jackie Chan was born Chan Kong-Sang (meaning Born In Hong Kong) on the 7th of April, 1954. The family lived in a mansion in the exclusive Victoria Peak district, not owned by them Charles worked as a cook for the French Ambassador, while Lee-Lee was the housekeeper. He was not academically bright which was noticed by Charles, who decided to enrol the boy, now 7, at the Peking Opera School, operated by Shu Master Yu Jan-Yuen.
Being part of the Chinese Opera Research School, Jackie learnt through ten years of nineteen hours a day the major discipline of the Peking Opera, which includes acting, singing, dance, mime, acrobatics and a variety of martial arts. After graduation he went to work at the Shaw Brothers Studios as a stuntman, where after two years he was promoted to stunt co-ordinator. Watching Jackie direct stunt men, a producer spotted his talents and gave him his first adult in Little Tiger from Canton (1971). After years of being paid minimally for his abilities, 1978’s Snake in the Eagle Shadow and Drunken Master gave Jackie the freedom to create the genre of kung fu comedy, which transformed the Hong Kong film industry. In 1980 Jackie directed his first film, The Young Master, with producer Raymond Chow. The major success of The Young Master prompted Chow to bring Jackie to the United States to star in Big Brawl and Cannonball Run, which also starred Burt Reynolds and Roger Moore.
With his experience in American film making techniques, Jackie’s headed back home to improve Hong Kong cinema and this is evident in Project A (1983). Jackie returned to the United States twice as an actor, in Cannonball Run 2 and the Protector, before the New York Film Festival honoured him for Police Story (1986). His direction in Police Story II, Project A II, and Armoured of God II which were all well acclaimed in the States increasing the popularity of Hong Kong Cinema. The conquest of Jackie and many of Hong Kong filmmakers went into full swing. But a major turning point came when Jackie starred in Rumble in the Bronx (1994), a Hong Kong production filmed in Canada and distributed by New Line Cinema. The success of Rumble in the Bronx helped launch a series of American films of Jackie’s and which lead finally to the present day of Rush Hour and it’s sequel Rush Hour 2.

Hollywood studios are taking their fight against piracy in China into the belly of the beast by erecting a huge billboard with an antipiracy message from Jackie Chan in Beijing's Silk Market.

Billboard features a simple warning from the Hong Kong star: "Protect the movies, say NO to piracy."

Billboard was launched in partnership with the Beijing Silk Street Co. and Chaoyang Model Anti-Copyright Infringement and Piracy-Free Zone.

It will be displayed for two weeks in one of the busiest spots in Chaoyang district, spreading its message to more than 20 million people.

"Chan's message to Beijing's citizens is direct and simple," said Mike Ellis, MPA's regional prexy and managing director. By eschewing pirated fare, Chinese will take steps toward "nurturing and protecting China's movie industry, which then will be free to reach out and tell compelling, exciting Chinese stories to people around the world."

Putting the billboard in Silk Market is an ironic touch for the MPA, as the shopping area was once the place to go for counterfeit goods, including pirated DVDs, despite its location right next to the U.S. embassy.

These days, following some high-profile legal actions and so much international attention on combating piracy, the Silk Market is trying to go legit. It recently launched its own brand of goods and warned pirates not to copy them or risk the consequences.

The MPA has been busy in China, announcing the winners in a copyright protection-themed student film contest and last week inking a deal with the seven most popular Chinese websites -- where millions of films and TV programs are being uploaded, watched or downloaded every day -- regarding copyright protection of U.S. films.

The websites have promised to remove any programs illegally uploaded by users once notified by MPA and its member companies.

Armour of God (Chinese: 龍兄虎弟, Long xiong hu di) is a 1986 Hong Kong martial arts-action film co-directed by, and starring Jackie Chan. The film features Chan's regular kung-fu, comedy and stunts, with an Indiana Jones-style theme. During a relatively routine stunt in this film Chan came the closest he has ever been to death when a tree branch snapped sending Chan plummeting a huge distance and cracking his skull.

In the movie Jackie plays the character of Asian Hawk (the character's real-name being also Jackie), an adventurer with a mercenary-like way of thought. Jackie used to perform in a band with his friends Alan and Laura (Lorelei) before he was kicked out of the band by Alan, who wanted Laura for himself. At the beginning of the film Jackie steals a sword from an African tribe that is one of the five pieces of a valuable armour known as the Armour of God. Alan is still a successful singer and Laura is a renowned fashion-designer,

An evil cult wants to destroy the armour and has already collected two pieces of it. To get the final three pieces they kidnap Laura to force Alan to get Jackie to collect the remaining pieces of the armour for the cult.

* This film was taped in Croatia and Slovenia.

* Chan and his crew were filming in Yugoslavia and the scene called for him to jump from a wall to a tree branch. The first take went perfectly, but Jackie wasn't satisfied and had wanted to do the scene once more. The second time, his grip on the branch slipped and Jackie fell 15 feet to the ground below. He landed on a rock on his head, causing part of his skull to crack and shoot up into his brain. He was flown to the hospital and was in surgery 8 hours later. He now has a plastic plug, and a permanent hole in his head. He is also slightly hard of hearing in one ear from that fall. Chan took time off for a month in recuperation, touring across Europe. During his recuperation, Producer Raymond Chow opted Chan to keep his hair long, which explains the continuity problem between his short hairdo in the beginning in the film to the long hair we see after completing the tree stunt once more along with the rest of the film.

* In the scene where Jackie infiltrates the cult's hideout and rescues Alan and Laura, Laura addressed Jackie's name as "Kong-Sang". When Jackie tries to leave Alan in the prison by himself, Alan addressed his full name as "Chan Kong-Sang". In an ironic twist, "Chan Kong-Sang" is actually Jackie Chan's birth name in real life. However, in the U.S. version of the movie, Jackie's name had been changed from Kong-Sang to "cowboy". Whether this change is due to Chan's childhood fascination as a cowboy or merely a ploy to westernize the character of Asian Hawk is up for debate.

At the Hong Kong box office, Armour of God was Jackie Chan's biggest hit up to that point, grossing HK $35,469,408 in its theatrical run.

In North America, Armour of God was released direct-to-video by Miramax after the theatrical distribution of its sequel, Armour of God 2: Operation Condor, which was released in North America as simply Operation Condor. As such, the title Armour of God was changed, somewhat confusingly, to Operation Condor 2: The Armor of the Gods it was released after Operation Condor.

A new musical score was created for this release, and English dubbing (with the participation of Chan) was also done. Nine minutes of cuts were made to the Miramax version, including:

* The concert scene of Jackie Chan's band, 'The Losers.'
* Chan's dream sequence.
* The scene in which May (played by Lola Forner), disguised as a prostitute, encounters a monk who wants to sleep with her.
* An extended version of the slapstick sequence in which Alan (played by Alan Tam) hides in May's room. The scene also includes Laura (while under the cult's spell) attempting to seduce Jackie.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A martial arts dream team -- Jackie Chan and Jet Li -- won the weekend as their movie matchup "The Forbidden Kingdom" debuted at No. 1 with $20.9 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The tale of a modern American teen hurtled back in time to a kung fu adventure in ancient China, "The Forbidden Kingdom" features Asian superstars Chan and Li in multiple roles and their first big-screen duel.

"I couldn't believe it had never been done before," said Harvey Weinstein, whose Weinstein Co. released "The Forbidden Kingdom" along with partner Lionsgate.

Universal's romantic comedy "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," starring Jason Segel as a nice guy who's dumped by his glamorous girlfriend (Kristen Bell), opened in second place with $17.3 million. It's the latest from producer Judd Apatow ("Knocked Up").

The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, the slasher remake "Prom Night," fell to third with $9.1 million, raising its total to $32.6 million.

Al Pacino's serial killer thriller "88 Minutes," from Sony's TriStar Pictures, was a dud, premiering at No. 4 with $6.8 million. The movie stars Pacino as a crime profiler who receives a call telling him he has 88 minutes to live.

"Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," a rare documentary opening in wide release, debuted at No. 9 with $3.1 million. Released by Rocky Mountain Pictures, the film features Ben Stein as he challenges Darwinian theories that prevail in academic circles and suggests that life could have emerged through intelligent design.

In narrower release, the Weinstein Co. documentary "Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?" bombed with just $143,299 in 102 theaters, averaging a paltry $1,405 a cinema. "Forbidden Kingdom" averaged $6,623 in 3,151 theaters.

A globe-trotting hunt for the al Qaeda leader, "Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?" was directed by Morgan Spurlock, who made the hit documentary "Super Size Me."

With a PG-13 rating, "Forbidden Kingdom" proved a family friendly film, compared with more action-intense martial arts flicks. The movie is part of a new Asian line of films from the Weinstein Co., including an upcoming remake of "Seven Samurai."

"I have three daughters who have never seen a martial arts movie, and they loved this," Weinstein said. "A lot of females identify with it. That's the audience that's going to grow. I think we'll get young girls and moms next weekend."

Overall receipts were up for the first time in a month as Hollywood lumbers through a prolonged dry spell. The top 12 movies took in $82.1 million, up 12 percent from the same weekend last year.

"There is a collective sigh of relief in Hollywood," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Media By Numbers. "This is overdue and much needed as we head toward the beginning of the summer season."

Movie attendance is running 6.5 percent behind that of 2007, according to Media By Numbers, whose sales figures are estimates for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters. Final figures will be released Monday.

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Jackie Chan: A-list Asian megastar, iconic kung fu hero to millions and basically a really famous guy. We had been pursuing an in-depth interview with him for months through "The JC Group," Jackie's all-conquering management company.

Schedules conflicted, dates came and went - then finally a breakthrough. He was setting aside an afternoon in between a dizzying array of international commitments. Better still, we would be filming in Jackie's Hong Kong den -- his office which is home to a private "museum" of memorabilia and awards collected over the years.

Jackie Inc. is a sprawling, multi-tentacled empire with offices all over the world - but his hideaway is in a particularly charmless area of Hong Kong. Once inside the dreary office block, you pass a team of people working on JC merchandise and into Jackie's inner sanctum.

The first thing that confronts you is the ordered chaos in his suite of rooms. Clearly incapable of throwing anything away, his office is littered with props, costumes, trophies (including several for his bowling skills), CDs, and -- some might say -- junk.

He is also a compulsive collector. As he later tells us, if a friend gives him a gift such as a tea cup, he begins amassing tea cups until he has to build glass display cases to house his out-of-control collection.

Another obsession is antique locks, including one vast, heavy model he hand-carried back from Turkey.

Our first sighting of Jackie is odd. We were told he is a very late riser and the main challenge of the shoot for his staff was getting him out of bed. Instead, he arrives early, unannounced and on his own - a rarity with film stars.

We are still setting up and he stares at us blankly through thick glasses, then disappears into his gym without a word. We begin to wonder if he actually knows about the interview.

Introductions are finally made and the effusive, likeable Jackie Chan is alive and well. He throws himself into the idea of us filming him working out - putting on a bright yellow sweat suit, then pouring out the sweat from his sleeve after 40 minutes on the cross trainer.

During the interview, he is animated and a great story teller, discussing brushes with the triads and the last time he saw Bruce Lee alive.

As China's Olympic poster boy, he was clearly uncomfortable discussing Tibet and drew the distinction between sport and politics currently favored by the IOC.

Our eventual guided tour took in his room of autographed film star photographs (Robert De Niro his most treasured) and his personal walk-in wine chiller, which was naturally behind a false wall.

His business drive is evident. His merchandising arm produces clothes, glasses and Jackie Chan action figures, while he also dabbles in gizmos that interest him - he owns the distribution rights to the Segway in Hong Kong and cheerfully taught Anjali how to ride one.

Exhausted, we took our leave after a five hour shoot while Jackie still appeared to be warming up. The following day he left for Japan - ahead of Olympic duties on the Great Wall of China and a quick skip over to India.

Unarguably "the hardest working man in showbusiness" -- when awake