Kids urge Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen to join 'Rogue One'
- By Zhang Rui
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E-mail China.org.cn, December 22, 2016
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Jiang Wen, Donnie Yen, director Gareth Edwards, actress Felicity Jones and actor Diego Luna pose with the National Aquatics Center in the background at the China's premiere of "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" held in Beijing, Dec. 21, 2016. [Photo/China.org.cn] |
Chinese actors Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen said in Beijing on Wednesday that it was their children who had prompted them to join the cast of the space saga "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story."
"Now my kids know how cool their dad is," said Donnie Yen, who plays blind warrior Chirrut Imwe in the film. "My boy reminded me every day to take him to the premiere, I had never seen him like that, even though I had other films before." Donnie Yen took his wife as well as his son and daughter to walk the red carpet at the Beijing pre-miere; his son, a "Star Wars" fan, was dressed in a costume of his father’s character.
"My son also said to me, 'you should take part in the film,' " actor-and-director Jiang Wen said at a Beijing press conference. "I was like, 'it is silly to play a hero.' He said, 'this is a humorous hero.' So I went ahead and did it.”
Jiang plays Baze Malbus, a Rebel warrior and close friend of Chirrut Imwe. He was absent from premieres in other cities, which incited the speculation that he had split with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. But Jiang denied the rumor: "I was busy with my own new film, 'Xia Yin,' so I waited in Beijing for this last big premiere.”
Those who also attended the Beijing premiere included Gareth Edwards, actress Felicity Jones and actor Diego Luna. The director said that he would feel they succeeded if people want to watch the original "Star Wars" after they leave the cinema.
The first stand-alone spin-off of the Star Wars series tells the story of Jyn Erso, the daughter of the unwilling designer of the Galactic Empire's superweapon, the Death Star, and her quest to retrieve his plans for destroying it with a team of Rebel warriors. The film is chronologically set after the events of "Revenge of the Sith" and immediately before the events of "A New Hope."
Critically applauded "Rogue One" raked in US$155 million domestically in North America after its debut on Dec. 16 and US$290.5 million worldwide. It was the fourth largest December three-day weekend ever, the third largest opening of 2016, the 12th largest opening of all-time and became only the second December opener to debut at over US$100 million, behind last year's monstrous opening for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," which grossed US$247 million that weekend.
But "The Force Awakens" performance in the Chinese market was not as outstanding as elsewhere due to the lack of Star Wars culture here. It grossed US$124 million in total in China earlier this year. Hiring Yen and Jiang is clearly part of a strategy to please Chinese audiences.
Principal photography of "Rogue One" began in early August 2015 and wrapped in February 2016, with reshoots and additional filming taking place in mid-June 2016.
"Rogue One" had a grand premiere ceremony at Beijing's iconic National Aquatics Center, collo-quially known as the Water Cube, where a huge IMAX screen was temporarily set up. The film will hit Chinese theaters on Jan. 6, 2017.
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