The Forbidden Kingdom

For other uses, see Forbidden Kingdom (disambiguation).

The Forbidden Kingdom
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRob Minkoff
Written byJohn Fusco
Produced byCasey Silver
Starring
CinematographyPeter Pau
Edited byEric Strand
Music byDavid Buckley
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • April 18, 2008 (2008-04-18) (United States)
  • April 24, 2008 (2008-04-24) (China)
Running time
104 minutes[2]
Countries
Languages
  • English
  • Mandarin
  • Cantonese
Budget$55 million[5]
Box office$128 million

The Forbidden Kingdom (Chinese: 功夫之王: Gong Fu Zhi Wang (Mandarin) or Gung Fu Ji Wong (Cantonese) and translated King of Kung Fu (English); Working title: The J & J Project[6]) is a 2008 Chinese-American fantasy wuxia film[7][8] written by John Fusco and directed by Rob Minkoff, starring Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Michael Angarano, Liu Yifei, Collin Chou, and Li Bingbing. Loosely based on the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West, the plot revolves around Jason Tripitikas (Angarano), a modern-day American teenager who is transported back to ancient China after discovering the Monkey King's magical staff. He accompanies Lu Yan / Old Hop (Chan) and Sun Wukong / Silent Monk (Li) on their quest to return the staff to its rightful owner while trying to avoid the minions of the evil Jade Emperor (Chou). The action sequences were choreographed by Yuen Woo-ping.

The film is regarded as the first coproduction helmed by an American director to make a primarily English-language wuxia genre film set in a pre-modern China for a global audience.[9] Heavily promoted as the first film starring both Chan and Li,[10] it was distributed in the United States through Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company,[11] and through The Huayi Brothers Film & Taihe Investment Company in China. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the US and Hong Kong on September 9, 2008 and the United Kingdom on November 17, 2008. Rotten Tomatoes' critical consensus praises the fight scenes but says the film has too much filler. The Forbidden Kingdom grossed $128 million against a budget of $55 million.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference BOM was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "The Forbidden Kingdom (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. April 23, 2008. Retrieved September 21, 2016.
  3. ^ "The Forbidden Kingdom". American Film Institute. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  4. ^ "The Forbidden Kingdom". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  5. ^ Frater, Patrick (April 11, 2008). "'Forbidden Kingdom' a global affair". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved October 8, 2011.
  6. ^ Yan, Seto Kit (April 22, 2008). "Yin and yang". The Star. Archived from the original on April 23, 2008. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
  7. ^ "The Forbidden Kingdom Box Office: Chan + Li Wuxia Underwhelms".
  8. ^ https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1369&context=honors-theses
  9. ^ Rojas, Carlos; Chow, Eileen (April 25, 2013). The Oxford Handbook of Chinese Cinemas. Oup USA. ISBN 978-0-19-976560-7.
  10. ^ http://www.china.org.cn/entertainment/2008-03/19/content_13081465.htm
  11. ^ "Hollywood Reporter – Entertainment News". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 9, 2017.