Forbidden Kingdom Production Notes
Martial Arts Stars Jackie Chan and Jet Li in First On-screen Pairing
Apr 13, 2008
Shot on-location in China, "The Forbidden Kingdom" features the magical martial arts choreography of Woo-Ping Yuen.
In The Forbidden Kingdom, a teenaged kung-fu movie fan from Boston, Massachusetts, (Michael Angarano) finds a strange weapon in a Chinatown pawnshop that somehow throws him back in time to ancient China. Here, he meets powerful warriors and martial arts masters (including Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Liu Yifei) who help him return the weapon to its rightful owner. In this magical fish-out-of-water story based on the traditional Chinese legend of the Monkey King, several plots about courage, revenge, love, and loyalty converge in exciting and unexpected ways.
About the Production
- Director Rob Minkoff (The Lion King, Stuart Little) traveled to China where he learned of the Monkey King legend. Shortly after his return, he coincidentally was given the script for The Forbidden Kingdom, which was based on this legend.
- One of Minkoff’s main goals was to make this new martial arts film more universally accessible to audiences of all ages and cultures. This is achieved with physical and verbal humor, actors of various ages, dialogue mostly in English, scenes in America and China, and a more uplifting story that children can understand and appreciate.
- The characters in John Fusco’s screenplay were inspired from classic Chinese ideas and characters, including Taoist cosmology, swordplay novels, and vintage kung-fu movies.
- Action choreographer Woo-Ping Yuen (The Matrix, Kill Bill, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) used the Hong Kong style of action filmmaking in which the stunt team choreographs the fight about five minutes before it is filmed instead of long rehearsal periods with fixed choreography.
- Woo-Ping and his team created a training program for the actors that focused on multiple disciplines including fitness training, horseback riding, martial arts fight training, wire-hanging training, and weapons training.
- Director of Photography Peter Pau (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) created colorful backdrops inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings.
About the Actors
- Co-stars Jackie Chan and Jet Li have been friends for a long time, but have never appeared in a film together until now. Li says he signed on to make The Forbidden Kingdom because the script “created this great fusion of Eastern and Western sensibilities.”
- According to Chan, most fight sequences require anywhere from ten to fifteen takes for each segment, but because of the chemistry between himself and Li, their sequences required only three to five takes.
- After his initial audition, American actor Michael Angarano was put through a three-hour physical test of kung-fu training to gauge his martial arts learning potential. The final step in his audition process was meeting with Jackie Chan (with whom he shares many scenes) on the set of Rush Hour 3.
- The Forbidden Kingdom
- Director: Rob Minkoff
- Run time: 113minutes
- Rating: PG-13 (for sequences of martial arts action and some violence)
The copyright of the article Forbidden Kingdom Production Notes in Martial Arts Films is owned by Leslie C. Halpern. Permission to republish Forbidden Kingdom Production Notes in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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