A new report from the National Post is announcing that international action star Jackie Chan will be one of the celebtated attendees at an Asian film and art festival program titled A Century Of Chinese Cinema, at this summer’s Toronto International Film Festival Bell Lightbox. The event will be held between June 5 and August 11, featuring films including Chan’s smash hit classic, Police Story, and footage from his upcoming follow-up in the series, Police Story 2013.
Also featuring at the event are the works of visual artist Yang Fudong, cinematograoher Christopher Doyle, and the opening night screening of the 1993 film, Farewell My Concubine, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Chen Kaige.
As news of POLICE STORY 2013 initially broke a few months back, Jackie said on his Weibo microblog, “I’ve played policemen many times before, but I’ve never shot a film which focused on the life of a mainland policeman. So this time, I get the chance to fulfill this kind of role.”. The film is reportedly said to include, among other things, heavy-handed drama throughout the film, in addition to a cage fighting sequence with an MMA pro-fighter. Director Ding Sheng (The Underdog Knight) also tells the press that the film is “a continuation of the classic Police Story brand only in name.”
Police Story 2013 will star Jackie along with his new protegè, Jack Tu along with Liu Ye, Jing Tian and Huang Bo and is set for release later this year. It is also likely one of his last forays into death-defying action before he passes on the action torch to Jay Chou and heading into the production and direction of action comedy vehicle called Skip Tracer, according to a forwarded City On Fire report from Beyond Hollywood. That film will co-star actress Fan Bing Bing, and will also be produced by David Gerson, with a screenplay by Jay Longino, Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka, and is set to be presented this summer at Cannes to seek distribution.
POLICE STORY 2013 also made its way to the Beijing International Film Festival last month featuring star-studded appearances from the cast dressed in black in memory of the victims of the Sichuan earthquake earlier last month.
In other news, Chan’s third installment to the ARMOUR OF GOD franchise, Chinese Zodiac, will get a limited North American theatrical release this summer (although no release date has been set just yet).
Tickets go on sale at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in two weeks. Stay tuned for more updates.
Photo Credits: Nerve, Inquistr
