- Title: USA: AMERICAN FILM PREMIERE OF JACKIE CHAN'S NEW MOVIE "RUSH HOUR 2"
- Date: 3rd June 2001
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 3) (REUTERS) SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) JACKIE CHAN SAYING OF CHRIS TUCKER: "I know he's black, I'm Chinese, he's American, I'm from China, different cultures, different backgrounds. (But it) Works! Yeah. Yeah, right now we've become very good buddies. I just love him." SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHRIS TUCKER SAYING OF HIS EXPERI
- Embargoed: 18th June 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA2C1CRBGY4WDE2FDH75CSVVP92
- Story Text: Three years after they teamed up and grossed over 250 million dollars around the world, Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker reunited on Thursday, July 26 in Los Angeles at the World Premiere of their new sequel "Rush Hour 2," again directed by Brett Ratner and this time co-starring "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Tiger" ingenue Zhang Ziyi.
Once again, the film is a fish-out-of-water comedy where two cultures collide in the midst of solving a diabolical crime. In the first film, Chan played a Hong Kong detective who was forced to solve a case in Los Angeles with Los Angeles cop Chris Tucker. This time out, Tucker's character is on vacation in Hong Kong and gets entangled in a plot involving counterfeit money and brutal Chinese Triads.
Also in the cast are John Lone as the head of one of the crime gangs, Alan King as Lone's associate and hotel and casino magnate, newcomer Roselyn Sanchez as an undercover U.S.
Secret Service agent and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"
co-star Zhang Ziyi as Hu Li, Lone's beautiful and deadly henchwoman.
Originally, Zhang Ziyi's role was supposed to go to a man and be a more run-of-the-mill thuggish type of character. But when director Brett Ratner saw "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and then met the actress who, many say, stole that film, he insisted on having her in his film. He re-wrote the script to give her a bigger part and make her more a part of the action.
On the set, language barriers were everywhere, as Jackie Chan and Zhang Ziyi spoke Mandarin, John Lone spoke Cantonese, Chris Tucker spoke his own unique brand of English and Roselyn Sanchez threw in a dose of Spanish. But, somehow, with the help of translators and unspoken communication, the cast and crew were able to collaborate and make the film a reality.
Of course, "Rush Hour 2" is filled with the usual helpings of Jackie Chan's distinctive fighting style. This time, Chris Tucker joins in on the action a little more himself.
The film was shot on location in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and, primarily, Hong Kong. In fact, the idea to base the sequel in Hong Kong was inspired by Chris Tucker and Brett Ratner's experiences while visiting the city during the premiere of the first film. According to both men, the people of Hong Kong had such strange reactions to Tucker and his antics that Ratner knew then and there that the sequel had to take place there.
There is already talk of a third Rush Hour and this time, they hope to go to a place where both Tucker and Chan are out of place. At the christening of the 'Rush Hour Express' a United Airlines service to Hong Kong, Chan said he hoped to go to Egypt for the next installment in this hugely popular franchise. The passengers aboard the Rush Hour Express made history by becoming the first to view a world premiere on board an aircraft.
"Rush Hour 2" hopes to replicate the box office success that its predecessor enjoyed when it opens in theaters throughout the United States on Friday, August 3.
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