Hopes for Sly and Jackie Chan movie
WILL Hong Kong movie idol Jackie Chan soon be swapping screen punches with Hollywood action star Sylvester Stallone? Apart from checking out work on his Planet Hollywood restaurant, one of the important dates during Stallone's 48-hour visit to town was dinner with local film magnate Raymond Chow.
The Golden Harvest boss and the Rambo legend were brought together by Singaporean property and hotel tycoon Ong Beng Seng (one of Sly's partners in the Planet Hollywood venture) who told Keeping Posted that he had sounded out Chan on the idea some weeks earlier in Singapore and he, not unnaturally, seemed most receptive.
With Chan and Stallone starring alongside in meaty roles (karate chop meets ham fist) the box office success of such a movie is guaranteed. And for Chan it might bring the Hollywood break that his talents deserve.
For any such project to get off the ground, the key element is getting the finances together. But with billionaire Ong showing such a keen interest, the Chan-Stallone pairing looks set to be on.
Said Ong: ''I believe Sly and Jackie would make a great team. If the project takes off then I would like to see the movie made in Asia, which is why I wanted Sly to meet Raymond Chow.'' Incidentally, Ong was desperately trying to locate actress Michelle Yeoh to invite her to the dinner, too.
But Yeoh was not back from her Lunar New Year holiday in her native Malaysia.
Let's hope her extended vacation doesn't result in Yeoh - Chan's accomplice in many a celluloid skirmish - missing out on a probable Hollywood break.
While on the subject of Tinseltown, arriving here next week to keep up the Planet Hollywood hype is cool and deadly law enforcer Steven Seagal.
As Seagal notes in one of his movies: ''It's a tough job, but someone's got to take care of the garbage.''
