Watch Jackie Chan and John Cusack Swing Swords in First 'Dragon Blade' Trailer
Book your tickets for China now, because the new Jackie Chan-John Cusack-Adrien Brody team-up looks epic.
Behold the first trailer for Dragon Blade, a massive Roman Empire vs. Han Dynasty flick that opens in China early next year. With a reported budget of $65 million, Dragon Blade is one of the most expensive films in the country’s history — production costs are much lower there — and between the period-accurate costuming, hoards of extras, and significant CGI, it certainly makes use of that big outlay.
Chan plays a Chinese officer named Huo An, who teams up with Cusack’s Roman general to defend the Silk Road against another Roman general, played by Brody. Such a literal culture-clash didn’t happen in real life, of course, but when you factor in clashing swords and Brody sneering, “His crime is that he took the place in your heart that belongs to me” about three inches from Cusack’s face, historical accuracy is beside the point.
Dragon Blade could mark another low-point for Cusack and Brody, both highly regarded actors (Brody, lest we all forget, won an Oscar more than a decade ago) who, in recent years, have found themselves in mostly forgettable movies (Cusack as Edgar Allen Poe in The Raven and a guy named Rat Billings in the hardly seen Adult World, Brody in the bomb Third Person and as one “Flirty Harry” in InAPPropriate Comedy). Then again, it could be a semi-genius attempt to build up their profiles in the increasingly huge Chinese movie market.
Either way, it’ll be hard to tell from here in America, at least for a while, asDragon Blade doesn’t yet have a US release date.
