Big Soldier Small General

[GeneChing]

Another upcoming Jackie Chan flick.

Jackie Chan set for 'Junior Soldiers' (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117995233.html?categoryid=13&cs=1)
Ding Sheng to direct period road movie
By CLIFFORD COONAN

BEIJING -- Jackie Chan has started work on his latest film, which has the English working title "Junior Soldiers." Lensing is expected to begin early next year.

Spox Yuan Nong from the Beijing office of Chan's JCE shingle confirmed the pic would be shot next year but gave no further details.

Project is essentially a road movie in period costume set during the Qin dynasty, according to reports on the Sina.com website; "Underdog Knight" helmer Ding Sheng will direct.

Chan will produce, star and write the screenplay, which focuses on three people and a horse.

[SimonM]

So, just to be clear, Jackie Chan is not producing a documentary about child soldiers, right?

[RAYNYSC]

I saw this & thought I'd post it not sure if it's been mentioned already.


Jackie Chan’s ‘Junior Soldiers’ begins shooting
By Mark Pollard • February 4, 2009


Chinese media reports that on February 3rd production began in Yunnan on JUNIOR SOLDIERS, Jackie Chan’s latest movie. It is a project that he has been planning for 20 years.

JUNIOR SOLDIERS is being described as a period arthouse film that is set in the Qin Dynasty. The plot centers on a journey undertaken by three individuals and a horse.

Chan, who portrays a military general, reportedly was filming a scene recently where he destroyed an inn sign post while in a drunken stupor. There’s no mention if Chan was channeling his drunken boxing performance in DRUNKEN MASTER 2, his drunken acting performance in NEW POLICE STORY or his impromptu drunken singing performance on stage with Taiwanese singer Jonathan Lee in 2006.

Chan is next appearing in theaters in director Derek Yee’s crime drama SHINJUKU INCIDENT which opens in Asia in April. Pictures, a trailer and more information is available at the official site.

Chan has already finished shooting Hollywood comedy THE SPY NEXT DOOR and is next planning to step in to replace the late Pat Morita on producer Will Smith’s remake of THE KARATE KID.

[GeneChing]

80 billion won = $57,558,150.96 USD
1 won = 7/100ths of a penny

02-05-2009 19:36
Yoo Seung-joon appears in Jackie Chan’s film “Da Being Xiao Jiang.” (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/special/2009/02/178_39057.html)
By Lee Hyo-won Staff Reporter

Yoo Seung-joon, a former K-pop star who became notorious for evading mandatory military service, will make his big screen debut in Jackie Chan's epic action film ``Da Being Xiao Jiang'' (Big Soldier Small General or Junior Soldier), Chan's entertainment company JC Group International said Thursday.

The 33-year-old was recruited by Chan last year and will play a supporting role opposite the world famous action star and Taiwanese-American actor Lee-hom Wang. Shooting for the Qin Dynasty-era movie begins Tuesday at a fortress in Yunnan, China. Chan will play a common soldier, while Wang and Yoo will play princes of warring states. Yoo's character will be the villain of the story.

In a telephone interview with Yonhap News, Yoo was quoted as saying, ``I cannot speak in detail about the movie, but I will play the bad guy. Because I play a fighting prince, I have to do action sequences involving horseback riding and swordsmanship.''

``Junior Soldier'' is an 80 billion won project that its actors, producer and writer Chan have been preparing for 20 years. The Chinese-language film anticipates worldwide release in the fall. ``I've been working in China for a while, so the Chinese lines won't be too much of a problem'' said Yoo. ``But I'm continuing to practicing lines that are in archaic Chinese.''

Emerging director Ding Sheng (``The Underdog Knight'') will helm the movie. ``When Jackie Chan was planning the project 20 years ago, he was thinking of playing Lee-hom Wang's part. But because time has passed, he decided to take the role of the common soldier,'' said Yoo. ``My part wasn't very big at first, but the director changed that after meeting me, saying I'm fit for the action sequences.''

This will be Yoo's first attempt at acting. JC Group Korea said that Chan thought highly of Yoo's well-toned physique and fluency in English, Korean and Chinese, and that he had the potential to become the next Jackie Chan. ``I feel nervous, like a newcomer again,'' said Yoo. ``Starring in a Jackie Chan movie alone is a such a great honor, and playing a sizable role is really exciting.''

Local criticism still lingers about Yoo's controversial military service evasion and subsequent deportation. ``Of course I am still very cautious about that,'' he said. ``But I want to show that I am trying my best wherever I am, and I hope to inch my way back to stand before those I've disappointed.''

[GeneChing]

That's what I like about Jackie. He's always working.
Mar 9, 1:44 AM EDT
Jackie Chan starts shooting historical epic (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_HONG_KONG_PEOPLE_JACKIE_CHAN_ASOL-?SITE=ASIAONE&SECTION=SPECIAL&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-03-09-01-44-09)
By MIN LEE

HONG KONG (AP) -- Jackie Chan says he has started shooting his new movie in southwestern China - a production Chinese media have described as a historical epic about a friendship between two soldiers.

The 54-year-old action star said in a blog entry on his Web site Monday that he was filming in the Yuanmou Earth Forest, a Grand Canyon-like tourist attraction in Yunnan province.

Chan said the film is called "Dabing Xiaojiang" in Chinese, which translates into "Big Soldier, Small General," but did not give further details. An earlier report by Chinese news Web site Sina.com described it as a historical epic about the friendship between two soldiers set in China's ancient Qin dynasty.

Chan said the movie, directed by Chinese filmmaker Ding Cheng, also stars Chinese-American pop star Leehom Wang and South Korean actor Yoo Seung-jun.

Solon So, the chief executive of Chan's JC Group, said Chan is funding the production but wouldn't give further details.

Chan's latest release is the gangster thriller "Shinjuku Incident," which is scheduled to be released in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia on April 2 and in Japan on May 1. He was also recently filming the Hollywood comedy "The Spy Next Door."

[GeneChing]

As soon as JC settles on a title, I'll change the post heading.

Jackie Chan Goes Big on 'Soldier (http://english.cri.cn/6666/2009/04/08/1261s472409.htm)
After keeping a tight lid on the project for months, Jackie Chan has unveiled the details of his $25 million picture "Big Soldier".

Chan produces, stars and wrote the screenplay, which focuses on three people and a horse.

Cast includes Chan, singer-turned actor Lee-Hom Wang, previous unknown Lin Peng and South Korea's Yoo Seung-Jun. Ding Sheng is the director.

"The film is set during the Warring States Period," Chan told a news conference on Tuesday. "It's an action picture with black humor plus a bit of romance."

"The budget of $25 million is big for the times that we live in, but this is a Jackie Chan film," Yu Dong, prexy of co-investor and distributor PolyBona, told Daily Variety.

Jackie soldiers on (http://www.star-ecentral.com/movies/buzz/buzz.asp?file=archives/buzz/2009/4/9Jackiesold&date=4/9/2009&title=Jackie%20soldiers%20on)

Superstar Jackie Chan's next project after the now-in-theatres Shinjuku Incident will be a period epic entitled Big Soldier.

According to The Press Association, Chan is producing, scripting and starring in the US$25mil film, which the actor described as "an action picture with black humour plus a bit of romance".

He will play a veteran soldier while Wang Lee Hom appears as a young, raw soldier. It's a story of three people ... and a horse.

[GeneChing]

Go to the site for pics
Big Soldier Small General Begins Production (http://cfensi.wordpress.com/2009/04/09/big-soldier-small-general-begins-production/)
By cfensi

This is a week late, but I’ve got about half a dozen half-written articles, more I want to write but no time for, and thus nothing actually gets published, because I don’t finish writing one before starting on the next one.

Jackie Chan showed off his cast for his new movie “Big Soldier Small General” (with a script that he himself penned) at a press conference about a week ago. The movie is set during the Warring States Period and is an action-comedy road movie about an old solider who kidnaps the younger general played by Leehom.

I mentioned the possibility of this pairing a long, long time ago, when Leehom was simply offered the role, and was worried that I was getting everyone’s hopes up because he hadn’t accepted it yet. But I needn’t have worried, because Wang Leehom is Asian-American and there are few Asian Americans who would turn down the chance to work with Jackie. Besides Wang Leehom however, the cast seems extremely randomly picked…mostly unknowns without much acting experience.

First there’s Lin Peng, who was at the Beijing Opening Ceremonies as the teacher who lead the students. She apparently caught his eye there with her looks. In my opinion, if he wanted to choose someone in the Olympics for their looks he should have chosen the “conductor” in the Paralympics performance with the little ballet girl Li Yue. She was really mesmerizing and the camera was fixated on her as well.

Then there’s Yoo Seungjun, a Korean-American, who launched a very sucessful career in Korea as a singer, until he was to be sent into military service, and then he became a US citizen, and was banned by the Korean government from entering South Korea ever again. He then launched a singing career in China, although not as successful as his Korean one. I get when Koreans/Japanese are picked for Chinese films in order to market them towards a greater audience, but if he is banned from even physically entering South Korea, then it doesn’t seem he’ll pull in those foreign viewers. I guess Jackie Chan just really likes him because he’s got a 15-year contract with Jackie’s company.

And finally, there’s Xu Dongmei, who’ve I’ve mentioned was one of the top sixteen from Jackie’s reality show contest “The Disciple”. Jackie must like her too giving her a role in one of his projects before his top three from that show. She’s also as you may remember, starring in Le Huo Nan Hai as “the girl with the braids” (dubbed this until I know her character’s name in the movie). I think she looks cooler with braids, but she’s very pretty without them too.

The randomness of the cast worries me a bit. It seems as if besides Leehom, Jackie just took random people from his company and then watched the Olympics for inspiration, and thought, hey, she could work as my lead. Recently, Jackie Chan has been increasingly diving into new projects and forming new ideas, and I’m not sure how many of those ideas are truly well-thought out or just whimsies of his. Jackie, please don’t screw Wang Leehom over like Ang Lee did with Lust, Caution by giving Leehom a crappy meaningless role.

I also wonder at the casting, because it was originally said there were four main stars, one of which is a horse. Who amongst these people is the horse? Which star is not even getting the role of the horse? (there’s five actors here by my count). Ah…questions to ponder.

Ding Sheng, of the Underdog Knight, is directing. The Underdog Knight was dark and completely different from a Jackie Chan comedy so it’ll be interesting to see how this movie will turn out. Good luck to Leehom and everyone else in the cast.

Source (Actually the source for this is not just one, but a bunch of articles I read a week ago, bunch didn’t save and don’t remember. Sorry.)