"It’s not what you’d expect of Jackie Chan" - director Martin Campbell
The premier trailer for Jackie Chan‘s new film The Foreigner, starring Pierce Brosnan, has just been released.
Other than knowing that Chan and Brosnan were starring in the film, very little was revealed about The Foreigner.
Now, the internet has learned more about Brosnan’s character. Playing a former IRA man turned politician, Liam Hennessy, Brosnan becomes the target of Jackie Chan’s character, Quan, whose daughter was killed in a London bombing. Quan believes Hennessy knows the men responsible and will do whatever it takes to seek vengeance.
The film also stars Michael McElhatton (Game Of Thrones), Charlie Murphy (Love/Hate) and Rory Fleck Byrne (Damo & Ivor).
It may come as a disappointment to some, but Chan and Brosnan do not engage in combat with each other in the film.
“That did not come into the equation,” Brosnan said. “I might have thrown a few Irish roundhouse (kicks) and probably would have been dealt with quite quickly.”
Discussing working with Chan, the James Bond star said, “The days that we worked together started with joviality. “And they ended in absolute anguish and medieval violence. Jackie has a wonderful sense of humor. But once that bell went off, that was it.”
Director Martin Campbell says that Chan’s role is rather different to that of his usual martial art films such as Rush Hour.
“It’s a very unique role for him, not what you’d expect of Jackie Chan,” the director says. “He’s playing a dead-straight role, a very quiet, determined old man with a singular focus of tracking down whoever killed his daughter.”
“It was important for me to do a role that was more serious, with a lot of emotion,” says Chan, who has a 17-year-old daughter. “To prepare, I imagined what it would be like to be the father dealing with that situation.”
Unlike his previous films, Chan wasn’t permitted to shoot dangerous stunts for the film, “simply because if he was hurt, we’d be in (trouble),” the director says.
Nonetheless, Chan still delivered elaborate fight scenes. “My fans want to see me doing the stunts, and it keeps me in shape,” he says.
“Quan’s fighting skills are slightly more military,” says Campbell. “Jackie keeps Quan well-grounded, Pierce keeps his character well-grounded. It’s actually a very serious drama.”
Last year, The Foreigner was caught up in a controversy after a bomb stunt carried out for the film on London Bridge caused locals to complain. Director Campbell had reassured that “all the locals and residents were warned. That took four months of negotiations.”
Most recently, Chan likened his team’s LMP2 win at the Le Mans 24 Hours to his Oscar win last year.
The Foreigner has an initial release date of 13 October 2017.