End for Asians in Hollywood?

[harhar]

Jackie Chan seems to be heading back to HK, Jet Li has been inactive for a long while and the only "news" is that Chow Yan Fat is starring in a 2005 movie.

What gives? I suppose of them all, Chow is the one who has improved his English the most, can do more than action/martial arts genre type flicks and is a hell of a lot taller than the other two and more good looking.

Then again, I don't think Chow will last long once his "token" factor starts to wear off American/Western audiences. It's just like how no Westerner has really become a star in HK (halfcasts are excluded).

Jackie is obviously heading back to HK because he misses the "god" treatment.

[Eliar Swiftfire]

Zhang Zi Yi's star is rising. And she's the only one who looks promising.

But yes, the rest of them, including the directors, are in trouble.

[James Ko]

There are other asians on the block for example Sandra Oh - she has been in a few films that is catching on with the media in Hollywood... and then there is Lucy Liu too still popular but haven't done anything special recently. And ya ZZY is pretty popular and people are finally noticing her... I think she should have a English so people can remember her better.

[Eliar Swiftfire]

Double post.

[Eliar Swiftfire]

Well, I'm sure the American-born Chinese are doing well, but the others are suffering.

Sandra Oh doesn't have to suffer much considering that her husband is Alexander Payne. So whenever she's praising Alexander Payne while accepting awards for Sideways, she's praising her hubby. Sweet.

[James Ko]

Any asian poster here want to start a career in Hollywood maybe we would talk about you in a few years

[nliu]

Are you kidding? This is just the beginning!! Wait for John Cho to explode onto the scene with Harold and Kumar 2!!!

[James Ko]

Are you kidding? This is just the beginning!! Wait for John Cho to explode onto the scene with Harold and Kumar 2!!!

Hehe, but people only refer him as the MILF asian guy from american pie... not many people call him by his name though

[Eliar Swiftfire]

Any asian poster here want to start a career in Hollywood maybe we would talk about you in a few years

Yeah. Watch me.

[beansprouts]

Yeah. Watch me.

Oh yeah, we are all watching in anticipation....

[bobo]

Jet Li's new movie Unleashed is coming out and Jackie Chan said that he wants to film in both HK and USA. He had a script he wanted to do with his son.
Also movies like Hero and House of Flying Daggers just came out in the states.
I also saw a trailer for the original verison of Infernal Affairs.
The asian screen is disappearing at all.
However the movies in Hong Kong right now are terrible. Everything is about pop stars or rip offs or infernal affairs.

[Sugar]

I think asians hitting it in Hollywood should take a while.. I mean, it is not till recently like in 2002 that Halle Berry was the first african american to win best actress for oscar and Denzel to win one that year as well..

I think it is still a discrimination/racist thing

[Eliar Swiftfire]

Sorry to disappoint you optimistic people out there, but firstly:

1) Jet Li's Unleashed is kept in the can for years (it's supposedly slated for an early 2004 release) because the studio knows that it's crap and that it won't make much money. With the exception of Hero, Jet Li's box-office record ain't exactly impressive, his biggest hits are Kiss of the Dragon and Romeo Must Die, which made a grand total of 55-60 million each.

2) Jackie Chan was crapping (and saving his own face). After Rush Hour 2, his career in Hollywood had been disastrous. Tuxedo tanked, Shanghai Knights could only break even, Medallion tanked, oh, and Around The World in 80 Days was the biggest flop in 2004. Do you think Hollywood producers around the world would still BEG him to act? Of course not, he has to go back to HK to salvage some pride, since his New Police Story was MODERATELY successful (yes, 20 million, but it's only the THIRD top-grossing movie in HK, behind Kungfu Hustle and FANTASIA???) So yes, he can only make movies produced by himself (if the whole crap about him wanting to make a movie with his son is true)

And no, I don't think of it as a discrimination thing, expecting the westerners to rave over films starring Asians is similar to expecting HKers to rave over their own HK films starring white people.

Hero may have done well box-officewise, but that's a foreign film, foreign films are generally accepted warmly in USA. Ask the French and the Spanish.

[TuToo]

Internal Affair I is currently playing on Direct TV with English dubs along with Hero in English sub. 2 chinese movies on the pay-per-view chanels at the same time ... i guess, it can't be that bad for asians

ZZY is a star in the new Steven Spieldburg (sp?) film: the memoirs of a geisha. i think she's doing quite well in Hollywood. Lucy Liu is on hold or something, because i havent heard about her in a while. Kelly Hu is gorgeous but she's off the news also.

about Jackie, i'm getting tired of his acting and so with Jet Li (i'm just allergic to his look...i get chills running down my spine no offense to JL's fan ) they both play same old thing/roles/type of char. over and over again ... just nothing new, kinna too predictable.

imo, Hero is a fairly decent movie with a crappy plot and House Of Flying Daggers is just ....a blah. to me, asians in hollywood is like a fireworks on 4th of July: happens once in a while, and it's bright, colorful, in split seconds, and just gone

[Eliar Swiftfire]

Steven Spielberg is just the producer of Memoir. Director's Rob Marshall, who won the Oscar for Chicago.

[flyingfox2002]

I am waiting for the day that an Asian can play a normal role. No more kung fu fighting, no more gun slinging, just a regular dramatic role.

[James Ko]

I thought there will be a Rush Hour 3?

[Eliar Swiftfire]

I thought there will be a Rush Hour 3?

Postponed indefinitely.

[TuToo]

1)Steven Spielberg is just the producer of Memoir. Director's Rob Marshall, who won the Oscar for Chicago.

2) Postponed indefinitely

1) oh...thanx for the correction.

2) any reasons why?

House of Flying Daggers is nominated for the best cinematography this year ... not bad eh?

[Eliar Swiftfire]

2) any reasons why?

Obviously, because his last few movies tanked.

As for House of Flying Daggers, haaah haaah haaah, it didn't even get a Best Foreign Film nomination.