Sun, 25 November 2007 at 10:18 am

Jet Li Makes Bank

Chinese action star Jet Li (Romeo Must Die and Lethal Weapon 4) will score 100 million yuan ($13 million) for his latest movie, a record for an actor in a Chinese-language film, reports Reuters.

Nearly half of the $40 million budget for The Warlords went to the cast, among whom were Hong Kong heartthrobs Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro.

“Without Jet Li, we would not dare to invest $40 million in a Chinese-language film,” Xinhua news agency quoted director Peter Chan as saying.

The Warlords, a war epic based on a Qing Dynasty story, is slated for release in Asia in mid-December and in North America from next March.

Photos: Frederick M. Brown/Getty
Posted to: Jet Li
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Frederick Breedon/Getty

28 Comments

# 1

Tina @ 11/25/2007 at 10:26 am

1st!
good actor.

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# 2

Steph @ 11/25/2007 at 10:34 am

Good for him :) He’s a Bad A** !!! Love his work.

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# 3

... @ 11/25/2007 at 10:43 am

Amazing Actor!

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# 4

carmen @ 11/25/2007 at 10:52 am

I love all his movies, his a great actor..

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# 5

Carla @ 11/25/2007 at 11:08 am

http://www.warlordsthemovie.com/

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# 6

vicky @ 11/25/2007 at 11:19 am

I love the cast of this movie!!!

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# 7

Miapocca @ 11/25/2007 at 1:25 pm

I am sooo watching that..I admire the skill these actors bring to the screen..I think they deserve more respect for their fight scenes than the midgets and damons of this worls..this is some serious **** they do..chuck norris, van damme, BRUCE LEE, jackie chan…these folks deserve a special category in teh academy awards..the award are so snobbis, they nominate all the dram baed movies….fighting on screen and doing it in real life requires a lot more skill plus acting…

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# 8

katrina @ 11/25/2007 at 1:28 pm

This sounds great…But didn’t Jet Li supposedly retire a while ago? Does anyone know why he changed his mind?

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# 9

Anthony to the S. @ 11/25/2007 at 1:46 pm

i thought he was done w/ action movies?

http://paidandpopular.blogspot.com

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# 10

Eve @ 11/25/2007 at 3:03 pm

Oh Takeshi Kaneshiro, I’m sooooo going to watch this.

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# 11

mandy @ 11/25/2007 at 3:51 pm

Big ups to Jet Li
hehe my surname is Li too :P
Sooo Gonna watch this movie

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# 12

sueli @ 11/25/2007 at 3:52 pm

I know these are action movies [was Fearless before or after that announcement, I don't remember], but I love that they also are based on the history of China. Maybe that’s the difference.

Count me in as so looking forward to this when it is released.

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# 13

Lovejolie~~ @ 11/25/2007 at 4:22 pm

I love this guy!!!

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# 14

ihavenolife @ 11/25/2007 at 5:34 pm

i think he said he retired from epic movies w/ period costumes, not action movies. not 100% sure though, i think i’ve only seen a couple of his movies.

on a side note, :lol: @ someone’s comment that chuck norris & van damme deserves academy awards. :P

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# 15

visa fan @ 11/25/2007 at 6:38 pm

Jet Li,
Has mastered all but the holy kakapoopy! :)

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# 16

Mikaela @ 11/25/2007 at 7:24 pm

my bff’s name is Jasmine Li!

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# 17

+++ @ 11/25/2007 at 8:16 pm

Jackey Chan , another chinese actor was already making more than that several yrs. ago.

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# 18

+++ @ 11/25/2007 at 8:29 pm

He could lived like an emperor with 100 million yuan. I think the minimum wage for a worker was just around 700 yuan ( 100 USD) per month and around 300-350 yuan (50 USD) in the inner land.

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# 19

linda @ 11/26/2007 at 12:59 am

Takeshi Kaneshiro is not from Hong Kong. He is Japanese, born and raised in Taiwan.

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# 20

Mary @ 11/26/2007 at 1:12 am

Good for him! He’s freaking awesome. He’s wayyyyyy better than Jackie Chan. Jackie’s like a monkey…he doesn’t really do anythign fighting..just alot of running around and skipping off stuff and using stuff to hit people.

I like +++’s comment about Emporer. puahaha

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# 21

Shango_Hispanico @ 11/26/2007 at 2:43 am

Takeshi Kaneshiro is drop dead gorgeous!!

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# 22

ella @ 11/26/2007 at 2:58 am

I like jet li.

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# 23

marga @ 11/26/2007 at 5:54 am

if takeshi’s in it i’m there! he’s extremely gorgeous!

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# 24

lennie @ 11/26/2007 at 7:17 am

I love him, he is not only a great actor, but he is above all a great martial artist and a great buddhist philosopher. I have the deepest respect for people who do get it all: brain, mind and heart.

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# 25

charmant @ 11/26/2007 at 9:55 am

takeshi kaneshiro is japanese. (:

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# 26

Nanana @ 11/26/2007 at 10:52 am

Jet Li is like the Chinese version of Angelina’s father. Left his wife and 2 toddler daughters for another woman.
Lucky for Angelina, at least she has a loving and devoting mother, not so for these 2 girls, their mother doesn’t want to raise them either, so Jet’s daughters are raising by his relatives(I am sure he pays them well). Poor girls!

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# 27

amy @ 11/26/2007 at 9:57 pm

8 katrina : 11/25/2007 at 1:28 pm
This sounds great…But didn’t Jet Li supposedly retire a while ago? Does anyone know why he changed his mind?

to answer Katrina, I am guessing he saw the $$ for the paycheck he said, hell with retirement I will act! LOL! Plus he gets to work with an A-list cast, an opportunity no one would dare to pass up. He’s a smart man and a kick ass actor. I can’t wait to see this!