Working with a luminary like Steven Spielberg is a golden opportunity, one coveted by many but earned only by a handful, and Jackie Chan had been longing to be among the latter.
While Chan was keen on experiencing the epic world of dinosaurs, Spielberg couldn’t quite envisage the now 70-year-old slapstick acrobat against such a backdrop of sci-fi slash reptilian adventures. But the film that the two would ultimately end up working together on, would somehow turn out to be worse.
Jackie Chan Was Desperate to Work With Steven Spielberg
With a career spanning five prolific decades, a dazzling, unforgettable filmography, and a deluge of accolades attesting the same, it’s no surprise that even industry goliaths are dying to join forces with Steven Spielberg. Just look at Jackie Chan.
“When I came to Hollywood,” the Drunken Master star once told Tribute magazine, “there were two people I wanted to meet. One was Steven Spielberg and the second one was George Lucas.”
Extolled as one of the biggest action icons in the film industry, the Hong Kong actor had always been eager to pool resources with Spielberg for a film. Even better would’ve been a Jurassic Park project which Chan had been excited to lead. Alas, the Band of Brothers co-creator didn’t deem it a good idea.
But Spielberg did have a different film in mind that he could partner up with Chan for, and the Rush Hour star wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Little did know though, it was going to be a bad, bad idea.
Jackie Chan Starred In A Flop Because of Steven Spielberg
Chan, 70, had been desperate to team up with Spielberg, 77, for at least one movie, if nothing else. So, when the Oscar-winning director came to Chan with a film that the Hong Kong actor would’ve otherwise steered clear of, he decided to seize the opportunity.
With the Schindler’s List director as the executive producer and his company, DreamWorks Pictures attached to the project, Chan agreed to star in The Tuxedo. “If it wasn’t for the fact that this film was made by Steven Spielberg’s company, I wouldn’t have done this,” he said.
Even though The Karate Kid star had been a household name at the time (not to mention he was basking in the fresh fame of Rush Hour 2), however, the 2000s action comedy flopped horrendously at the box office.
On a reported budget of $60 million, the film brought in merely $50 million in the domestic circuit, amassing just a little over $104 million at the global box office (via Box Office Mojo).
And as if that’s not bad enough, it received a barrage of negative reviews from critics and audiences alike. The 21% Rotten Tomatoes rating is enough to give us second-hand embarrassment. But hey, at least he got to work with his dream filmmaker.
The Tuxedo can be rented or bought on Apple TV+.
