title: Squid Game

text: Two classical music pieces are also used throughout the show as part of the routine for the players: the third movement of Joseph Haydn's "Trumpet Concerto" is used to wake the players, while Johann Strauss II's "The Blue Danube" is used to indicate the start of a new game. Ludwig van Beethoven's "Fifth Symphony" is also used for background music in the VIP lounge. A cover of "Fly Me to the Moon", arranged by Jung and sung by Korean artist Joo Won Shin, was used over the "Red Light, Green Light" game of the first episode; according to Joo, Hwang wanted a contrast between the brutal killing of the players in the game and the "romantic and beautiful lyrics and melody" of the song, such that the scene "embodies the increasingly polarized capitalist society that we live in today in a very compressed and cynical way".


title: Squid Game

text: For the song "Way Back Then" that accompanies children playing Squid Game, Jung wanted to use instruments that he practiced in elementary school, such as recorders and castanets. The rhythm of the song is based on a 3-3-7 clapping rhythm that is commonly used in South Korea to cheer someone on. The recorder, played by Jung himself, had a slight "beep", which was unintentional. The song "Round VI" was played by the Budapest Scoring Orchestra.


title: Squid Game

text: In the Philippines, a replica of the doll used in the episode one of the series was exhibited on Ortigas Avenue in Quezon City in September 2021.


title: Squid Game

text: A "Squid Game" doll was installed in Olympic Park, Seoul on October 25, 2021. A replica of "Squid Game's set" was exhibited at the Itaewon station in Seoul since September 5, 2021. However, the exhibit was prematurely closed due to COVID-19 quarantine regulation concerns.


title: Squid Game

text: A "Squid Game" pop-up store opened in Paris on October 2 and 3, and a person could win a free one-month Netflix subscription if they managed to get the right shape from the dalgona in one minute and 30 seconds.


title: Squid Game

text: In the Netherlands, Netflix hosted its own Squid Game where people were able to play the game "Red Light, Green Light" in both Maastricht and Rotterdam. A replica of the doll was exhibited and staff were dressed as guards. Winners were awarded with Squid Game memorabilia. The event attracted hundreds of people. Similar events featuring replicas of the doll have occurred across the world, including Sydney and the United Kingdom.


title: Squid Game

text: In October 2021, the "Hollywood Reporter" interviewed Netflix Asia's executive Kim Minyoung, who said that the company was looking into a possible video game adaptation of the series.


title: Squid Game

text: Netflix has licensed "Squid Game" for merchandising. A Young-hee vinyl figure was released in January 2022. Funko plans to release a set of "Squid Game" themed Funko Pop! figurines in May 2022.


title: Squid Game

text: The show received critical acclaim. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 95% based on 73 reviews, with an average rating of 8.10/10. The website's critics consensus reads: ""Squid Game"s unflinching brutality is not for the faint of heart, but sharp social commentary and a surprisingly tender core will keep viewers glued to the screen – even if it's while watching between their fingers." On Metacritic, the series has a weighted average score of 69 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Squid Game

text: Joel Keller of "Decider" opined that the concept of the show was creative. When writing about the narrative, he described it as "a tight narrative and a story that has the potential to be tense and exciting". Keller concluded, "STREAM IT. "Squid Game" takes a fresh idea and spins it into a thrilling drama; we hope it continues to build the tension we saw in the last 20 minutes throughout the season." Pierce Conran of the "South China Morning Post" rated the series with 4.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Overall, this is still a savagely entertaining slam dunk from Netflix Korea, which is likely to be embraced around the world as its predecessors were." Hidzir Junaini of "NME" rated the series with 4 out of 5 stars and opined, "Thematic intelligence aside, "Squid Game" is also a white-knuckle watch, thanks to its visceral competition element." John Doyle of "The Globe and Mail" described the series as "a brave, dark, ambitious tale, at times moving and at times terrifying" and added, "Its power is in its understanding that money is survival. This is not some dystopian fantasy like "Hunger Games". This is present-day life in all its complex awfulness."


title: Squid Game

text: Karl Quinn of "The Age" described the series as "enormously derivative", but wrote: "there are two tensions that elevate "Squid Game". One is within the narrative, where the primacy of the individual is in direct combat with the notion of community, and where the illusion of "choice" justifies all manner of exploitation." S. Poorvaja of "The Hindu" wrote that "the nine episodes manage to leave its viewers horrified, yet invested in the show, thanks to the razor-sharp writing and compelling performances by its ensemble cast". Abha Shah of the "Evening Standard" wrote that the series was "tightly written, each episode packed with enough pace to make it truly binge worthy", and praised its themes as being "universally engaging". Hugo Rifkind of "The Times" described parts of the series as being "glacially slow", but stated that it was "definitely interesting", and wrote: "Behind it all, there's an almost Lovecraftian sense of horror, to do with normal lives being unliveable, and huge, unknowable powers in the background that will smirk while you die."


title: Squid Game

text: Writing for "The New York Times", TV critic Mike Hale found "Squid Game" to be an "utterly traditional, and thoroughly predictable... melodrama" with "eye-catching" but "not especially interesting... production design and costuming". He also thought the series' "pretense of contemporary social relevance" failed to justify its "more than mildly sickening" violence, and thought its characters were "shallow assemblages of family and typical battlefield". Daniel D'Addario of "Variety" wrote: "Like "Joker", there's a having-it-both-ways insistence that a culture that could create violence is inherently sick and deranged, while playing out a wildly overstated version of sick derangement in a manner designed to be maximally tense and amusing."


title: Squid Game

text: Due to the popularity of "Squid Game", Singapore's national newspaper "The Straits Times" named the show's director Hwang as "The Straits Times Asian of the Year" in December 2021.


title: Squid Game

text: The series became the first Korean drama to top Netflix's top ten weekly most-watched TV show charts globally. It reached number one in 94 countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom. Netflix estimated that "Squid Game" had drawn over 111 million member households worldwide after 17 days of availability, and over 142 million member households after 28 days, surpassing the 82 million that "Bridgerton" had received in its first 28 days in December 2020, and becoming the service's most-watched series at its launch. After Netflix revamped its published metrics of viewership in November 2021 based on total hours watched of the series, "Squid Game" remained the most-watched show on the service, with over 1.65 billion hours within its first 28 days compared to "Bridgerton" 625 million hours. Although Netflix is not available in mainland China, pirated versions of "Squid Game" have been widely circulated on the Chinese Internet, making the show a popular topic on Chinese social networking sites. As of July 2022, "Squid Game" remained the most-watched show on Netflix based on the first 28 days of viewing, ahead of "Stranger Things 4".


title: Squid Game

text: Outside of Asian regions, its popularity was driven primarily through word of mouth and viral spread on social media. "Vulture" also claimed that the show's widespread localization, with subtitles in 37 languages and dubbed versions in 34 languages, helped to capture an international audience. Hwang believed that the popularity was due "by the irony that hopeless grownups risk their lives to win a kids' game", as well as the familiarity and simplicity of the games that allowed the show to focus on characterization. The diversity of the characters that play the Squid Game, drawing from different walks of lower- and middle-class life, also helps draw audiences to watch as many could find sympathy in one or more of the characters.


title: Squid Game

text: "Squid Game" had not broken into the Nielsen ratings for streaming media on its first week of availability, but for the week of September 20 through 26, 2021, it was the most-viewed show on streaming services in the United States, with over 1.9 billion minutes watched. It remained the top-viewed program on streaming media from September 27 to October 3, 2021, reaching over 3.26 billion minutes watched in the U.S. These ratings made it the most-viewed streaming program to date in 2021, and the sixth such program to reach over 3 billion minutes watched in a single week since the introduction of Nielsen's streaming media ratings. This is the only record achieved in a single season without COVID-19 lockdowns. "Squid Game" remained the most-watched show according to Nielsen for the weeks starting October 4 and 11, 2021, but was ousted by "You" in the following week. For four consecutive weeks, "Squid Game" remained as the most watched series on TV tracking service "TV Time", where it also became the most followed Korean series to date. On YouTube, "Squid Game" related content generated views within eight weeks, the highest for a television show, surpassing the viewership generated by "Game of Thrones" related content in ten years. Nielsen reported that "Squid Game" was the second-most watched original series in the United States on streaming services for all of 2021, following "Lucifer".


title: Squid Game

text: According to "Bloomberg News", by October 2021, Netflix estimated that "Squid Game" had generated nearly in value based on extended viewer data; it cost to produce. Due to "Squid Game" surprising success for Netflix, operators of other streaming services with original content, such as Disney+, Paramount+ and Apple TV+, have begun looking to follow Netflix's model of discovering regional content beyond Hollywood and finding similarly successful works for their platforms, with one executive calling this an area of "unlimited potential". Besides bringing new ideas and veering from common themes of typical Hollywood productions, such foreign productions are typically less expensive to make, with tax breaks or incentives by the host country for filming and production. Several producers of non-US TV series, who had little luck in pitching their shows to US-based streaming services in the past, were hopeful that these services would now seriously consider their works as a result of "Squid Game" success.


title: Squid Game

text: O Yeong-su's Golden Globe win made him the first Korean-born actor to win the award. The show's four SAG Award nominations also made history in it becoming the first non-English series and first Korean series to be nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. Individually, Lee Jung-jae became the first male actor from Asia and Korea to receive an individual SAG Award nomination and HoYeon Jung became the second actress of Asian as well as Korean descent to do the same. With both performers winning, the show made history in becoming the first non-English language television series to win at the SAG Awards. The show also received 14 nominations for the Primetime Emmy Awards, including for Best Drama, making it the first non-English show to be nominated in this category.


title: Squid Game

text: "Squid Game" was considered one of the latest examples of the Korean wave, the growing trend of popular South Korean media to gain international attention since the late 2010s, similar to popular Korean pop bands like BTS and Korean dramas and films like "Parasite". Such works had drawn more attention due to streaming services like Netflix and YouTube making South Korean content, traditionally controlled by the country's national broadcasters, available across the globe. Further, according to Choe Sang-Hun of "The New York Times", South Korean creators have a way of taking ideas from foreign works and applying their own cultural spin on it that draws in more audiences.


title: Squid Game

text: While all of the actors saw increases in followers on their social media accounts in the weeks after "Squid Game" premiered, HoYeon Jung saw one of the largest increases, going from about 400,000 to over 13 million followers in three weeks after "Squid Game" premiered, and reaching over 23.5 million by November 2021. In October 2021, the fashion brand Louis Vuitton announced Jung as their new global ambassador for fashion, watches, and jewelry; creative director Nicolas Ghesquière said he "immediately fell in love with Jung's great talent and fantastic personality" from her performance on "Squid Game". O Yeong-su, who had a modest career in Korean theater and film prior to "Squid Game", was surprised by his newfound fame following the show, making him feel like he was "floating on air". Lacking a casting agent, he had to turn to help from his daughter to handle the volume of calls asking him to appear in various roles. Several major talent agencies sought to sign Hwang and the lead actors of "Squid Game" in the months after its debut, with Jung being the first to sign on with Creative Artists Agency by mid-November 2021.


title: Squid Game

text: In South Korea, the popularity of "Squid Game" led to a surge of network traffic which caused SK Broadband to file a lawsuit against Netflix, seeking monetary damages to pay for increased broadband usage and maintenance costs associated with the program. One of the phone numbers used in the show belonged to a private resident who reported receiving up to 4,000 calls each day from people, several of whom desired to play a real-life version of the game; Netflix stated they would edit the show to remove the number.


title: Squid Game

text: Vendors of dalgona, the honeycomb candy featured in the second game, both within Korea and internationally found a significant increase in sales after the show's release. Everyday clothing items matching those worn in the show saw large growths in sales in the weeks after the show's initial broadcast, such as Vans slip-on shoes which spiked by 7,800%. "Variety" attributed this sales increase in part to preparation for Halloween costumes inspired by the show. Vendors of other costume props that mirrored those in the show, such as the guards' masks, also saw sales spikes in advance of Halloween following the show's premiere. The garment industry in South Korea saw a brief resurgence as demand for green tracksuits based on the show grew.


title: Squid Game

text: Netflix claimed that "Squid Game" had "pierced the cultural zeitgeist" and became a popular Internet meme, with over 42 billion views of videos related to "Squid Game" in the first month after broadcast. Analytics firm Vobile stated that by November 2021, views of "Squid Game"-related videos on YouTube had surpassed 17 billion views, surpassing that for "Game of Thrones". On October 16, 2021, an episode of the American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show "Saturday Night Live", featuring guest host Rami Malek and cast member Pete Davidson, parodied "Squid Game" by singing a country song about the series. As of November 5, 2021, the song has over 9.6 million views on "Saturday Night Live"'s YouTube channel. In November 2021, American YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson aka MrBeast recreated "Squid Game" in real life with 456 people competing in similar but non-lethal games as the show for a $456,000 cash prize. The video drew more than 303.5 million views as of November 15, 2022, making it one of the most-watched YouTube videos of 2021. Series creator Hwang has reacted positively to the recreations and parodies. Google reported that "Squid Game" was the most-searched television show on search engine in 2021, while Twitter said that "Squid Game" was the most-tweeted about television show of 2021.


title: Squid Game

text: Shortly after the show's release, users of social media adapted some of the games featured in "Squid Game" as Internet challenges, including the first "Red Light, Green Light" game and the second honeycomb cookie game. Users of video games supporting user-created content, such as "Roblox", "Fortnite Creative", and "Grand Theft Auto Online", created numerous games within these systems that were based on one or more of the "Squid Game" challenges. A video game named "Crab Game" was also created in response to "Squid Game" popularity. Some groups also worked to organize safe, mock "Squid Game" events for fans of the show. Concerns have been raised about children's exposure to "Squid Game" from either watching it or through its viral popularity, as it is considered to have a high level of violence for that age group. A number of schools around the United Kingdom observed that despite the show being aimed at mature audiences, young children were emulating some of the games from "Squid Game" during school recess, and warned parents about these activities. Parents and school boards in Quebec, Canada and in the Fayetteville-Manlius Central School District of New York have also observed young children emulating games from "Squid Game" and taken steps such as warning parents and banning such activities from school grounds.


title: Squid Game

text: Chinese online video platform Youku announced plans in October 2021 to launch the show "Squid Victory" (鱿鱼的胜利, "Yóuyú de Shènglì") in 2022. The upcoming show, initially named "Victory of Squid", was heavily criticized by Chinese netizens after it was discovered that it had plagiarized the plot and themes of "Squid Game". After facing criticism, the company apologized and stated that the show's poster and the title were abandoned. Youku later shared a new poster and announced that the show's name has been changed to "Game's Victory".


title: Squid Game

text: "Squid Game" has been accused of plagiarizing the 2014 Japanese movie "As the Gods Will", as both involve children's games where the penalty for losing is death. However, writer-director Hwang Dong-hyuk claimed he wrote "Squid Game"'s script in 2009 (5 years before "As the Gods Will" was released), saying "the similarities that were pointed out are purely coincidental and there is no copying from either party".


title: Squid Game

text: The show was used as the basis for an unaffiliated short-lived cryptocurrency scam named SQUID which had started trading in late October 2021. The currency was poised to be used eventually to back a site for online games where player would buy tokens to play in games inspired by "Squid Game", with those buying the currency helping to support the investment of the site, with the currency's value to increase as more players used the site. The currency had drawn enough buyers to increase in value by over 2,300% within a day of trading, but news organizations like the BBC identified that the scheme appears to be a "rug pull" scam due to several red flags in the proposition. By November 1, 2021, the backers of the currency completely pulled out, crashing the currency and effectively making off with .


title: Squid Game

text: YouTuber and member of the Yogscast network Lydia Ellery, who had used the handles "Squid Game" and "SquidGaming" for 11 years, was refused work because of her handle's perceived association with the show. She has also been subject to harassment by fans of "Squid Game" who "thought [she] took the account from the show", with some fans attempting to hack into her accounts.


title: Squid Game

text: Hwang wrote "Squid Game" based on his own personal experiences and observations of capitalism and economic class struggles within South Korea. Hwang also considered that his script was targeted towards global issues regarding capitalism, stating, "I wanted to create something that would resonate not just for Korean people but globally. This was my dream." and "I do believe that the overall global economic order is unequal and that around 90% of the people believe that it's unfair. During the pandemic, poorer countries can't get their people vaccinated. They're contracting viruses on the streets and even dying. So I did try to convey a message about modern capitalism. As I said, it's not profound."


title: Squid Game

text: Commentators agreed that these themes applied to capitalism across the globe today. "The Guardian" Nemo Kim and Justin McCurry describe that the situation that many of the players in "Squid Game" leading to their debt reflects the reality of the South Korean personal debt crisis, which had exceeded 100% of the country's gross domestic product at the time the show first broadcast. Rising debt had led to the government placing restrictions on borrowing practices to try to prevent people from falling further in debt, but this itself had the impact of making other borrowers finding themselves unable to pay back loans without taking out higher-interest loans, creating a rapid cascading effect. Many Koreans in these situations, often named as the "dirt spoon" class, turn to risky propositions, such as high-risk investments, cryptocurrency, or gambling, anticipating a big payoff but end up further in debt and exacerbating the problem, according to The Associated Press Kim Tong-Hyung. The use of "trainingbok" outfits for the players was said to allude to their connotation with "baeksu", roughly translated as "white hands", people that have not been able to gain financial independence and discriminated by society as they often spend their days idle and doing no work, according to Indiana University professor Jooyoung Shin.


title: Squid Game

text: Brian Lowry of CNN wrote that the series "presents a visually arresting variation on themes seen plenty of times before, which include tapping into the class divide – and the rich essentially preying on the poor and destitute – at a moment when the audience might be more receptive to that message". Henry Wong of "The Guardian" compared the show favorably to the 2019 South Korean film "Parasite", and said that the show used the "present-day, very real wealth inequality" in South Korea as a backdrop to keep the viewer interested in its characters. Caitlyn Clark of American socialist magazine "Jacobin" also compared the series favorably to "Parasite" and said that it "shreds the capitalist myth that hard work guarantees prosperity". Melanie McFarland of the American liberal website "Salon.com" described the series as "an excellent distillation of how predatory capitalism works". E. Tammy Kim of American progressive magazine "The Nation" wrote: ""Squid Game" is not a subtle show, either in its politics or plot. Capitalism is bloody and mean and relentless; it yells." Morgan Ome of "The Atlantic" wrote that the series "fits into a category of South Korean works that grapple with economic anxieties and class struggles, which are rooted in the country's concerns but resonate globally", adding that it "indicts the rich for propagating a false sense of upward mobility and the poor for buying into it".


title: Squid Game

text: Zach Weissmueller of "Reason" argued against an anti-capitalist interpretation of the series, saying that ""Squid Game" isn't really about capitalism, properly understood. It's about developing strategies for undermining and resisting authoritarian control and retaining your humanity under a system designed to strip it all away."


title: Squid Game

text: As the series was introduced ahead of the 2022 South Korean presidential election, several of the candidates began using some of the "Squid Game" imagery in their political ads and challenging opponents to similar games, as well as using the themes of the series related to economic disparity as part of their political platform. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions used outfits and imagery based on "Squid Game" as part of its messaging and demonstrations against the current economic disparity in South Korea. Closer to the election, the campaign had become drowned in more mudslinging, with the various candidates calling out others through insulting names and asserting that those that lost would be sent to jail, and as a result, the campaign period became known as the "Squid Game Campaign". A North Korean state-run website, 'Arirang Meari', used "Squid Game" to critically mock the economic situation in South Korea, saying that it exposes the "beastly" nature of the "South Korean capitalist society where mankind is annihilated by extreme competition", and describes South Korea as a country where "corruption and immoral scoundrels are commonplace". A diplomatic cable of the United States Department of State said, "At the heart of the show's dark story is the frustration felt by the average Korean, and particularly Korean youth, who struggle to find employment, marriage, or upward mobility—proving that grim economic prospects are indeed at the center of Korean society's woes."


title: Squid Game

text: Several journalists observed that "Squid Game" effectively used foreshadowing in alluding to the deaths of the major characters and other elements of the series. For example, Ali (Player 199) is shown in the second episode to be tricked by his employer out of his wages, while his death comes after he is tricked into giving Sang-woo his marbles in the sixth episode. Similarly, the gangster Deok-su (Player 101) evades a set-up by his underlings in the second episode by diving off a bridge, while his death in game comes from the seventh episode Stepping Stones game when pulled to his death from the glass bridge by Mi-nyeo. Sae-byeok has a scar on her neck and holds a knife to the neck of the man who swindled her out of her money; later her throat is slit by Sang-woo. Several additional scenes in early episodes also were said to have hinted towards Il-nam (Player 001) being special and not just a normal player of the game, including being the only old person among the players, having the "001" player identification, and keen awareness of all the games since they were of his design.


title: Squid Game

text: The series drew some criticism for its similarity to the 2014 Japanese film "As the Gods Will". Like the manga upon which the film was based, "Squid Game" features dangerous versions of children's games such as Daruma-san ga koronda, the Japanese version of Red Light, Green Light. Responding to allegations of plagiarism, director Hwang Dong-hyuk stated that he had been working on the script since at least 2008 and that similarities between the two films, of which he had been made aware during the process of filming, were coincidental. He acknowledged that he had been inspired by Japanese comics and animation, including "Battle Royale" and "Liar Game".


title: Squid Game

text: Some bilingual viewers have debated the quality of Netflix's translations, observing that the English closed captioning, which was based on the English dub, changed the meaning of some dialogue when compared to the original Korean. Bilingual performers for the English dub acknowledged that there were some translation issues, and noted that this type of work is challenging due to limitations on how captioning can be presented to viewers. Jinhyun Cho, a senior lecturer in translation at Macquarie University, stated that particularly in the Korean language, there are words that are "untranslatable" such as "aegyo", as well as honorifics used in Korean culture. Because on-screen translations are limited to a small space, there is no room for translators to provide the necessary context for these words, and thus they are often left out or overly simplified, frequently so in the case of "Squid Game". Cho gave the example of Sang-woo asking Ali to call him "hyung", a Korean honorific term used to refer to one as an older brother or an older trusted friend, rather than the more formal "sajang-nim" (company president) that Ali had been using since they first met. However, due to the complexities of the meaning of "hyung", the English translation simplified "Call me "hyung"" to just "call me Sang-woo", losing the implication of this request. The quality of the subtitles of "Squid Game" opened debate about Netflix, and other services looking to expand their libraries with international works, to give more effort to the subtitles and closed captioning quality in order to better capture meaning of the original language.


title: Squid Game

text: The show received some criticism for its portrayal of women. Haeil, a feminist organisation in Korea, said that the show was "neither a representation nor a criticism of the reality of anti-feminism in Korea" and that it demonstrated an "exclusively male gaze". The show was also found to highlight how migrant workers from other Asian countries (in the case of Ali's character being from Pakistan) are treated and at times exploited as second-class citizens within South Korea, though some found Ali's character to be too naïve to the realities of the situation and a caricature of such migrant workers within the country.


title: Squid Game

text: Due to the stress of writing and producing the first series of nine episodes himself, Hwang initially had no immediate plans to write a sequel to "Squid Game". He did not have well-developed plans for a follow-up story and said that if he were to write one, he would likely need a staff of writers and directors to help him. With the immense popularity of the show, Hwang later opined about the possibility of a second season, telling CNN "There's nothing confirmed at the moment, but so many people are enthusiastic that I'm really contemplating it." Hwang said in an interview with "The Times" that a second season may focus more on the story of the Front Man as well as incorporating more about the police. Hwang said, "I think the issue with police officers is not just an issue in Korea. I see it on the global news that the police force can be very late in acting on things—there are more victims or a situation gets worse because of them not acting fast enough. This was an issue that I wanted to raise." He added he also wanted to explore the relationship between the cryptic Front Man and his policeman brother Hwang Jun-ho, as well as the background of the salesman character (portrayed by Gong Yoo).


title: Squid Game

text: In late October 2021, Hwang stated he was in discussions with Netflix regarding a sequel; he further stated he and Netflix were also in discussions for a third season in December 2021. Hwang wanted to produce another film first as well as looking to secure a contract with Netflix to show additional films he may create alongside any further "Squid Game" seasons, as to avoid becoming known only for being the "Squid Game" creator. Hwang confirmed that he had begun conceptualization work on a second season during a press event in November 2021, with plans to bring back Lee Jung-jae to reprise his role of Gi-hun. Netflix stated in response to Hwang's comments that they had not yet officially greenlit a second season, but were in discussions with Hwang towards one. During an earnings call in January 2022, Netflix's Sarandos said when asked about a second season "Absolutely...the "Squid Game" universe has just begun." Hwang said in April 2022 that he presently was working on "Killing Old People Club", an adaption of a work called "Pape Satan Aleppe: Chronicles of a Liquid Society by Umberto Eco (Korean: 미친 세상을 이해하는 척하는 방법; "The way to pretend to understand the crazy world"), and anticipated that the second season of "Squid Game" would be completed and broadcast by 2024. Netflix confirmed that the second season was greenlit in June 2022. Hwang confirmed that the characters of Gi-hun and the Front Man will return for the second season, and will introduce Cheol-su, Young-hee's boyfriend. Hwang said that he would like to bring back some of the dead characters, such as Ji-young, and expressed regret that he had killed off several beloved characters since he did not have any plans for a second season at that time.


title: Squid Game

text: Hwang also had worked with Netflix to create a mockumentary inspired by "Squid Game" success, currently titled "The Best Show on the Planet". Hwang said the comedy was based on his own personal experience of being pushed into the spotlight due to the rapid success of "Squid Game".


title: Squid Game

text: Netflix announced a reality competition series, "Squid Game: The Challenge", in June 2022 along with an open casting call. The ten-episode series will see 456 players competing for a cash prize, with challenges based on those in the show.


title: Jason Statham

text: Jason Statham (; born 26 July 1967) is an English actor. He is known for portraying characters in various action-thriller films who are typically tough, hardboiled, gritty, or violent.


title: Jason Statham

text: Statham began practising Chinese martial arts, kickboxing, and karate recreationally in his youth while working at local market stalls. An avid footballer and diver, he was a member of Britain's national diving team and competed for England in the 1990 Commonwealth Games. Shortly after, he was asked to model for French Connection, Tommy Hilfiger, and Levi's in various advertising campaigns. His past history working at market stalls inspired his casting in the Guy Ritchie crime films "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" (1998) and "Snatch" (2000).


title: Jason Statham

text: The commercial success of these films led Statham to star as Frank Martin in the "Transporter" trilogy (2002–2008). After starring in a variety of heist and action-thriller films such as "The Italian Job" (2003), "Crank" (2006), "War" (2007), "The Bank Job" (2008), "The Mechanic" (2011), "Spy" (2015), and "" (2016), he established himself as a Hollywood leading man. However, he has also starred in commercially and critically unsuccessful films such as "Revolver" (2005), "Chaos" (2005), "In the Name of the King" (2007), "13" (2010), "Blitz" (2011), "Killer Elite" (2011), "Hummingbird" (2013), and "Wild Card" (2015). He regained commercial success as a part of the ensemble action series "The Expendables" (2010–2014) and the "Fast & Furious" franchise. In the latter, he has played Deckard Shaw in "Fast & Furious 6" (2013), "Furious 7" (2015), "The Fate of the Furious" (2017), "F9" (2021) and the spin-off "Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw" (2019). He was credited as a co-producer on "Hobbs & Shaw", receiving his first production credit.


title: Jason Statham

text: Statham's acting has been criticised for lacking depth and variety, but he has also been praised for leading the resurgence of action films during the 2000s and 2010s. According to a BBC News report, his film career from 2002 to 2017 generated an estimated $1.5 billion (£1.1 billion) in ticket sales, making him one of the film industry's most bankable stars.


title: Jason Statham

text: Jason Statham was born on 26 July 1967 in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, the son of dancer Eileen (née Yates) and street seller Barry Statham. His father also worked odd jobs as a house painter, coal miner, and singer in the Canary Islands. Statham moved to Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, where he initially chose not to follow his father's career working the local market stalls, instead practising martial arts. He grew up with football player Vinnie Jones, alongside whom he would later act. Jones introduced him to football, and Statham went on to play for the local grammar school (1978–1983), which he had attended since age 11, a passion that he shared with diving. He practised daily in perfecting his diving techniques, and was a member of Britain's National Swimming Squad for 12 years. He competed for England at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in the 10 metre, 3 metre, and 1 metre competitions. He said in a 2003 interview with IGN that his time with the national squad was "a great experience" and one that "teaches you discipline, focus, and certainly keeps you out of trouble".


title: Jason Statham

text: Statham's life in the media began when he was spotted by the agency Sports Promotions specialising in sports modelling while he was training at London's Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. He was also signed by Tommy Hilfiger, Griffin, and Levi's for various modelling contracts during their 1996 spring/summer collections. In 1997, he became a model for the clothing brand French Connection. A spokesperson for the high street clothing chain said, "We chose Jason because we wanted our model to look like a normal guy. His look is just right for now: very masculine and not too male-modelly." However, he was still forced to follow in his father's footsteps as a street seller to make ends meet, stating that he sold "fake perfume and jewellery on street corners". He made small appearances in a few music videos, including "Comin' On" by The Shamen in 1993, "Run to the Sun" by Erasure in 1994, and "Dream a Little Dream of Me" by The Beautiful South in 1995.


title: Jason Statham

text: While working as a model for French Connection, he was introduced to fledgling British director Guy Ritchie who was developing a film project and needed to fill the role of a street-wise con artist. After learning about Statham's past as a black market salesman, Ritchie cast him to play the role of "Bacon" in his 1998 crime comedy thriller "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels". The movie was well received by both critics and audiences, and helped put Statham in the public eye. For his role in the film he was paid UK £5,000. Statham's second collaboration with Ritchie came in the 2000 film "Snatch", playing the role of "Turkish". Cast alongside popular actors Brad Pitt, Dennis Farina, and Benicio del Toro, the movie earned more than $80 million in box-office revenue. For his role in "Snatch", he was paid UK £15,000, 3 times the amount of his first film. Statham was able to break into Hollywood and appeared in two movies in 2001: the science fiction action horror film "Ghosts of Mars" and the science fiction martial arts action film "The One".


title: Jason Statham

text: Statham was offered more film roles, and in 2002 he was cast as the lead role of driver Frank Martin in the action movie "The Transporter", written by Luc Besson. He has studied Wing Chun, karate, and kickboxing. The film spawned two sequels, "Transporter 2" (2005) and "Transporter 3" (2008). He also played supporting roles in "Mean Machine" (2002), "The Italian Job" (2003), and "Cellular" (2004) in which he played the lead villain.


title: Jason Statham

text: In 2005, Statham was once again cast by Ritchie to star in his new project, "Revolver", which was a critical and box office failure. He played a dramatic role in the independent film "London" in 2006. That same year he played the lead role in the action film "Crank". Statham was asked to promote Crank during the 2006 San Diego Comic-Con Convention. In 2008, Statham starred in the British crime thriller "The Bank Job" and "Death Race", a remake of "Death Race 2000" (1975). American film critic Armond White hailed Statham's ascension as an action film star. On the occasion of "Death Race", White championed Statham's "best track record of any contemporary movie star." Later in 2008, White praised Statham's "Transporter 3" as a great example of kinetic pop art. Chris Hewitt of "Empire Magazine", noted the film as "a dour, drab affair", but credited the film with "establishing Statham as a new action hero, as at ease with gruff one-liners as he was with Jackie Chan-esque high-kicking".


title: Jason Statham

text: In 2009, Statham started to develop a new movie written by David Peoples and Janet Peoples. Statham stated "We've got a movie we're trying to do, written by David Peoples and Janet Peoples, in the vein of an old film, "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre". It's not a remake or anything, but it's a little bit like that, about relationships and how greed contaminates the relationships these three people have. The working title is "The Grabbers"." He reprised his role as Chev Chelios in the 2009 sequel "."


title: Jason Statham

text: In 2010, Statham appeared alongside fellow action stars Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren and Mickey Rourke, among others, in the ensemble action film "The Expendables". Statham plays Lee Christmas, a former SAS soldier and expert at close quarters combat using knives. The film was commercially successful, opening at number one at the box office in the United States, the United Kingdom, China and India, and grossed a total of $274 million worldwide.


title: Jason Statham

text: In his first film of 2011, Statham starred in the remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson film, "The Mechanic," as Arthur Bishop. A theatrical trailer depicting Statham's character "shooting a man's head off" was banned from circulation by the Advertising Standards Authority for showing excessive violence. His role in "The Mechanic" was positively reviewed by the critics both in the United States and the United Kingdom. "The Guardian" praised his performance as possessing a "now-customary efficiency" in attaining "an entertaining hitman thriller". "The New York Times" noted Statham as "sleek as a bullet"; and the film "a more powerful recharge" of the original. UK newspaper, "The Daily Telegraph" hailed Statham as "England's best export to action movies in just about forever, a businesslike brute with gentlemanly soul." He returned to British film by starring in the police drama "Blitz" as Detective Sergeant Tom Brant. The film received mixed reviews with Cath Clake of "The Guardian" reviewing it as "not half bad" and "oddly entertaining". He was then cast in the action film "Killer Elite". The film was based on real events, which were the subject of Sir Ranulph Fiennes' novel "The Feather Men". Statham played an assassin named Danny who comes out of retirement to save an old friend, played by Robert De Niro. The film grossed returned a negative budget, and was panned by the critics.


title: Jason Statham

text: In August 2011, he began filming "Parker" for director Taylor Hackford; the film was released in January 2013. Statham played Parker, the criminal antihero previously played by Mel Gibson in 1999's "Payback" and by Lee Marvin in 1967's "Point Blank" (though their characters were given different surnames). A. O. Scott of "The New York Times" said of the actor in the film: "[Statham], who seems to be made entirely of muscle and scar tissue, is comfortable with his limitations as an actor. His Parker, in any case, is more of an axiom than a fully rounded human being." A 2012 BBC News report estimated that his ten-year film career to date (2002 to 2012) yielded over one billion dollars in the box office, making him one of the industry's most bankable stars. He was signed on to reprise his role as Lee Christmas in "The Expendables 2" in 2012.In 2013, Statham had a cameo appearance at the end of "Fast & Furious 6" as the brother of the film's antagonist Owen Shaw (Luke Evans). He reprised the character, this time as the main antagonist, in "Furious 7", which was released in April 2015. He also starred opposite James Franco in the thriller "Homefront", written by Sylvester Stallone, and headlined the British thriller "Hummingbird". The latter film was praised by critics for pushing Statham's acting abilities to new heights. His "attempt to develop his 'brand' by trying more adventurous parts" noted by "The Guardian"'s Mark Kermode, "[broadened] his dramatic palette". Statham made a cameo in the 2014 music video "Summer" of Calvin Harris as one of the car racers. In 2014, he returned as Lee Christmas in "The Expendables 3." Although critically panned, the film would go on to gross $215 million against a $90 million budget.


title: Jason Statham

text: In 2015 he starred in the action comedy "Spy" alongside Melissa McCarthy, Jude Law, and Rose Byrne. The film, a commercial success, was particularly praised for showcasing Statham's comedic side in contrast to his more serious roles. According to an article by "Empire" magazine, a "Spy 2" was development in late 2015, with more screen time dedicated for Statham's character, Rick Ford. He was nominated for the Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor in a Comedy for his role in "Spy".


title: Jason Statham

text: Statham was offered a three-film contract to reboot the "Transporter" series in late 2015, but turned it down because he was not given the script before the signing date and unhappy with its compensation package. According to an article by "The Guardian", Statham expressed interest in playing James Bond in the upcoming "Spectre" film. Its author, Steve Rose noted that "there was no doubt Statham can walk the Bond walk. And talking his talk can hardly be an issue with a character whose accent has fluctuated between Sean Connery's Scottish brogue and Timothy Dalton's Welsh." After the interview there were multiple calls from critics and the public to instate him as James Bond in a future film.


title: Jason Statham

text: The sequel to his 2011 film "The Mechanic" was scheduled for production in late 2016 and announced to open as "." The film went on to become highly commercially successfully in international film markets grossing $109.4 million worldwide. According to "Forbes", the film was Statham's "seventh-biggest earner" and most commercially successful solo film venture of his career.


title: Jason Statham

text: In February 2017, he starred alongside Gal Gadot in a 30-second super bowl advertisement for Wix.com during Super Bowl LI. CNET reported that the advertisement reached 22 million user impressions. Statham was asked to re-join the "Fast & Furious" franchise once more in 2016. The ensuing film, "The Fate of the Furious", was released in April 2017 to commercial success. While the film overall received mixed reviews, Statham was praised for his comedic timing and onscreen chemistry with contemporaries. The film went on to be the third highest-grossing film of 2017 and the 12th highest-grossing film of all time.


title: Jason Statham

text: "Spy 2" was confirmed on 15 February 2018. But later in 2018, Feig explained that although a sequel to "Spy" could still happen, "there hasn't been any interest from the studio" in the project.


title: Jason Statham

text: Statham played the lead, former Naval captain Jonas Taylor, in the 2018 action-horror film "The Meg", which was released on 10 August. In order to prepare for scenes wherein he swims in shark-infested waters, Statham swam with bull sharks in Fiji. The film would go on to gross $527.8 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing U.S.-Chinese co-production of all time.


title: Jason Statham

text: In 2019, Statham reprised his role as Deckard Shaw again in "Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw", a spin-off of the "Fast & Furious" franchise focusing on his and Dwayne Johnson's characters. The film grossed $758 million worldwide, becoming the tenth highest-grossing film of 2019, and received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for Statham's performance.


title: Jason Statham

text: A large exposé by Adam Gabbatt in "The Guardian" noted that Statham's character contributions to his industry and film niche are "tough [and] uncompromising". Some critics note his presence as a "defining feature" that signals to movie-goers the content of a film. The same exposé commented, "You know what you're getting with a Jason Statham film. He will beat people up. He will crash cars. He will do an unconvincing American accent."


title: Jason Statham

text: Statham's impact on the action-thriller genre has been seen by Gabbatt as a replacement of the same undertaken by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Jean-Claude Van Damme during their runs as headliners throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Statham himself cites Stallone, Bruce Lee, Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, and Clint Eastwood as his inspirations.


title: Jason Statham

text: An article by "Times Higher Education" reported that Manchester University Press commissioned an academic study analysing the impact Statham has had on the British and American film industries from his debut in 1998 to 2018. According to the article, professors Steven Gerrard and Robert Shail are looking to show "the changing face of British cinematic masculinity" into "one that embraces cinema across a wide range of projects, but one that also uses cross-textual media in his output".


title: Jason Statham

text: In 2003, Statham appeared in three British television commercials for the Kit Kat chocolate bar. Described as a "break philosopher", he philosophised about salmon swimming upstream, a Mexican fisherman, and the relative speeds and ages of animals, before ending with a reminder that "taking a break" (alluding to the Kit Kat slogan) is an important part of life.


title: Jason Statham

text: In the comic book series "Ultimate Spider-Man", that series' version of the villain Vulture was rendered by artist Mark Bagley to resemble actor Statham, as per writer Brian Michael Bendis' instructions.


title: Jason Statham

text: Statham has been in a relationship with model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley since 2010. The couple announced their engagement in January 2016. Their son, Jack Oscar, was born in June 2017. Their daughter Isabella James Statham was born on 2 February 2022.


title: Jason Statham

text: Statham enjoys wakeboarding, jet skiing, wind surfing, and rock climbing. While filming on location in Varna for "The Expendables 3", he drove a truck off the road into the Black Sea due to malfunctioning brakes.


title: Jason Statham

text: In a 2013 interview with "Vanity Fair", he advocated for stunt performers to be given their own Academy Award category: "All of the stunt men—these are the unsung heroes. They really are. Nobody is giving them any credibility. They're risking their necks. And then you've got poncy actors pretending like they're doing [the stunts]."


title: Jackie Chan

text: Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long (; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for his slapstick acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, and innovative stunts, which he typically performs himself. Chan has been acting since the 1960s, performing in more than 150 films. He is one of the most popular action film stars of all time.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan is one of the most recognisable and influential film personalities in the world, with a widespread global following in both the Eastern and Western hemispheres. He has received fame stars on the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Chan has been referenced in various pop songs, cartoons, films, and video games. He is an operatically trained vocalist and is also a Cantopop and Mandopop star, having released a number of music albums and sung many of the theme songs for the films in which he has starred. He is also a globally known philanthropist and has been named one of the top 10 most charitable celebrities by "Forbes" magazine. In 2004, film scholar Andrew Willis stated that Chan was perhaps the "most recognised film star in the world." In 2015, "Forbes" estimated his net worth to be $350 million, and , he was the second-highest-paid actor in the world.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan's views on Hong Kong politics have gradually shifted from a pro-democratic stance in the 1990s to a pro-Beijing stance since the 2010s. Since 2013, Chan has been a pro-Communist politician, serving as an invited delegate in the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. In 2021, he expressed his desire to join the Chinese Communist Party.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan was born on 7 April 1954 in British Hong Kong as Chan Kong-sang () to Charles and Lee-Lee Chan, refugees from the Chinese Civil War. His parents were so poor they had to borrow money from friends to pay the doctor. His parents nicknamed him "Pao-pao" () because the energetic child was always rolling around. His parents worked for the French ambassador in Hong Kong, and Chan spent his formative years within the grounds of the consul's residence in the Victoria Peak district.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan attended the Nah-Hwa Primary School on Hong Kong Island, where he failed his first year, after which his parents withdrew him from the school. In 1960, his father emigrated to Canberra, Australia to work as the head cook for the American embassy, and Chan was sent to the China Drama Academy, a Peking Opera School run by Master Yu Jim-yuen. Chan trained rigorously for the next decade, excelling in martial arts and acrobatics. He eventually became part of the Seven Little Fortunes, a performance group made up of the school's best students, gaining the stage name Yuen Lo () in homage to his master. Chan became close friends with fellow group members Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, and the three of them later became known as the "Three Brothers" or "Three Dragons". After entering the film industry, Chan along with Sammo Hung got the opportunity to train in hapkido under the grand master Jin Pal Kim, and Chan eventually attained a black belt.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan joined his parents in Canberra, Australia in 1971, where he briefly attended Dickson College and worked as a construction worker. A fellow builder named Jack took Chan under his wing, thus earning Chan the nickname of "Little Jack," later shortened to "Jackie", which has stuck with him ever since.


title: Jackie Chan

text: In the late 1990s, Chan changed his Chinese name to Fang Shilong (；Cantonese: Fong Si-lung), since his father's original surname was Fang. They are the descendants of Fang Xuanling, a chancellor of the Tang dynasty.


title: Jackie Chan

text: He began his film career by appearing in small roles at the age of five as a child actor. At age eight, he appeared with some of his fellow "Little Fortunes" in the film "Big and Little Wong Tin Bar" (1962) with Li Li-Hua playing his mother. The following year, the young actor appeared in extras of "The Love Eterne" (1963) and had a small role in King Hu's 1966 film "Come Drink with Me". In 1971, after an appearance as an extra in another kung fu film, "A Touch of Zen", Chan was signed to Chu Mu's Great Earth Film Company.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan appeared in the Bruce Lee film "Fist of Fury" (1972), both as an extra and as a stunt double for the Japanese villain Hiroshi Suzuki (portrayed by Riki Hashimoto), particularly during the final fight scene where Lee kicks him and he flies through the air. Chan again appeared in another Bruce Lee film, "Enter the Dragon" (1973), as a minor henchman who gets killed by Lee's character. Sammo Hung helped Chan get minor roles in both of the Bruce Lee films. Chan also worked as a martial arts choreographer for John Woo's "The Young Dragons" (1974).


title: Jackie Chan

text: In 1976, Jackie Chan received a telegram from Willie Chan, a film producer in the Hong Kong film industry who had been impressed with Jackie's stunt choreography work. Willie Chan offered him an acting role in a film directed by Lo Wei. Lo saw Chan's performance in the John Woo film "Hand of Death" (1976) and planned to model him after Bruce Lee with the film "New Fist of Fury". His stage name was changed to (literally "becoming the dragon", "Sing4 Lung4" in Jyutping or rarely as "Cheng Long" in pinyin), to emphasise his similarity to Bruce Lee, whose stage name meant "Lee the Little Dragon" in Chinese. (Note that "dragon" in Lee's name referred to Lee's birth year being the Dragon zodiac, not the Chinese dragon.) The film was unsuccessful because Chan was not accustomed to Lee's martial arts style. Despite the film's failure, Lo Wei continued producing films with similar themes, but with little improvement at the box office.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan's first major breakthrough was the 1978 film "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow", shot while he was loaned to Seasonal Film Corporation under a two-picture deal. Director Yuen Woo-ping allowed Chan complete freedom over his stunt work. The film established the comedic kung fu genre, and proved refreshing to the Hong Kong audience. The same year, Chan then starred in "Drunken Master", which finally propelled him to mainstream success.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Upon Chan's return to Lo Wei's studio, Lo tried to replicate the comedic approach of "Drunken Master", producing and also showed new features at the time with Jackie as the Stunt Director "Half a Loaf of Kung Fu" and "Spiritual Kung Fu". He also gave Chan the opportunity to make his directorial debut in "The Fearless Hyena". When Willie Chan left the company, he advised Jackie to decide for himself whether or not to stay with Lo Wei. During the shooting of "Fearless Hyena Part II", Chan broke his contract and joined Golden Harvest, prompting Lo to blackmail Chan with triads, blaming Willie for his star's departure. The dispute was resolved with the help of fellow actor and director Jimmy Wang Yu, allowing Chan to stay with Golden Harvest.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Willie Chan became Jackie's personal manager and firm friend, and remained so for over 30 years. He was instrumental in launching Chan's international career, beginning with his first forays into the American film industry in the 1980s. His first Hollywood film was "The Big Brawl" in 1980. Chan then played a minor role in the 1981 film "The Cannonball Run," which grossed over worldwide. Despite being largely ignored by North American audiences in favour of established American actors such as Burt Reynolds, Chan was impressed by the outtakes shown at the closing credits, inspiring him to include the same device in his future films.


title: Jackie Chan

text: After the commercial failure of "The Protector" in 1985, Chan temporarily abandoned his attempts to break into the US market, returning his focus to Hong Kong films.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Back in Hong Kong, Chan's films began to reach a larger audience in East Asia, with early successes in the lucrative Japanese market including "Drunken Master", "The Young Master" (1980) and "Dragon Lord" (1982). "The Young Master" went on to beat previous box office records set by Bruce Lee and established Chan as Hong Kong cinema's top star. With "Dragon Lord", he began experimenting with elaborate stunt action sequences, including the final fight scene where he performs various stunts, including one where he does a back flip off a loft and falls to the lower ground.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan produced a number of action comedy films with his opera school friends Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. The three co-starred together for the first time in 1983 in "Project A," which introduced a dangerous stunt-driven style of martial arts that won it the Best Action Design Award at the third annual Hong Kong Film Awards. Over the following two years, the "Three Brothers" appeared in "Wheels on Meals" and the original "Lucky Stars" trilogy. In 1985, Chan made the first "Police Story" film, a crime action film in which Chan performed a number of dangerous stunts. It won Best Film at the 1986 Hong Kong Film Awards. In 1986, Chan played "Asian Hawk," an Indiana Jones-esque character, in the film "Armour of God." The film was Chan's biggest domestic box office success up to that point, grossing over HK$35 million.


title: Jackie Chan

text: In 1988, Chan starred alongside Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao for the last time to date in the film "Dragons Forever". Hung co-directed with Corey Yuen, and the villain in the film was played by Yuen Wah, both of whom were fellow graduates of the China Drama Academy.


title: Jackie Chan

text: In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Chan starred in a number of successful sequels beginning with "Project A Part II" and "Police Story 2", which won the award for Best Action Choreography at the 1989 Hong Kong Film Awards. This was followed by "", and "", for which Chan won the Best Actor Award at the 1993 Golden Horse Film Festival. In 1994, Chan reprised his role as Wong Fei-hung in "Drunken Master II", which was listed in "Time Magazine's" All-Time 100 Movies. Another sequel, "", brought more awards and domestic box office success for Chan, but did not fare as well in foreign markets.


title: Jackie Chan

text: By the mid-1990s, he was the most popular action movie star in Asia and Europe. Up until January 1995, his films had grossed over () in Hong Kong and () in Japan, while having sold over box office admissions in France, Germany, Italy and Spain up until then. Despite his international success, he was not very successful in North America, where he had only two wide releases as a leading actor, "The Big Brawl" and "The Protector", grossing ( adjusted for inflation). Despite this, there was a thriving North American home video market for Chan's Hong Kong films by the mid-1990s.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan rekindled his Hollywood ambitions in the 1990s, but refused early offers to play villains in Hollywood films to avoid being typecast in future roles. For example, Sylvester Stallone offered him the role of Simon Phoenix, a criminal in the futuristic film "Demolition Man". Chan declined and the role was taken by Wesley Snipes.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan finally succeeded in establishing a foothold in the North American market in 1995 with a worldwide release of "Rumble in the Bronx", attaining a cult following in the United States that was rare for Hong Kong movie stars. The success of "Rumble in the Bronx" led to a 1996 release of "" in the United States under the title "Supercop", which grossed a total of US$16,270,600. Chan's first huge blockbuster success came when he co-starred with Chris Tucker in the 1998 buddy cop action comedy "Rush Hour", grossing US$130 million in the United States alone. This film made him a Hollywood star, after which he wrote his autobiography in collaboration with Jeff Yang entitled "I Am Jackie Chan".


title: Jackie Chan

text: In 1998, Chan released his final film for Golden Harvest, "Who Am I?". After leaving Golden Harvest in 1999, he produced and starred alongside Shu Qi in "Gorgeous", a romantic comedy that focused on personal relationships and featured only a few martial arts sequences. Although Chan had left Golden Harvest in 1999, the company continued to produce and distribute for two of his films, "Gorgeous" (1999) and "The Accidental Spy" (2001). Chan then helped create a PlayStation game in 2000 called "Jackie Chan Stuntmaster", to which he lent his voice and performed the motion capture. He continued his Hollywood success in 2000 when he teamed up with Owen Wilson in the Western action comedy "Shanghai Noon". A sequel, "Shanghai Knights" followed in 2003 and also featured his first on-screen fight scene with Donnie Yen. He reunited with Chris Tucker for "Rush Hour 2" (2001), which was an even bigger success than the original, grossing $347 million worldwide. Chan experimented with the use of special effects and wirework for the fight scenes in his next two Hollywood films, "The Tuxedo" (2002) and "The Medallion" (2003), which were not as successful critically or commercially. In 2004, he teamed up with Steve Coogan in "Around the World in 80 Days", loosely based on Jules Verne's novel of the same name. In 2004, film scholar Andrew Willis stated that Chan was "perhaps" the "most recognised star in the world".


title: Jackie Chan

text: Despite the success of the "Rush Hour" and "Shanghai Noon" films, Chan became frustrated with Hollywood over the limited range of roles and lack of control over the filmmaking process. In response to Golden Harvest's withdrawal from the film industry in 2003, Chan started his own film production company, JCE Movies Limited (Jackie Chan Emperor Movies Limited) in association with Emperor Multimedia Group (EMG). His films have since featured an increasing number of dramatic scenes while continuing to succeed at the box office; examples include "New Police Story" (2004), "The Myth" (2005) and the hit film "Rob-B-Hood" (2006).


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan's next release was the third instalment in the "Rush Hour" film series: "Rush Hour 3" in August 2007. It grossed US$255 million. However, it was a disappointment in Hong Kong, grossing only HK$3.5 million during its opening weekend.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Filming of "The Forbidden Kingdom", Chan's first on-screen collaboration with fellow Chinese actor Jet Li, was completed on 24 August 2007 and the movie was released in April 2008. The movie featured heavy use of effects and wires. Chan voiced Master Monkey in "Kung Fu Panda" (released in June 2008), appearing with Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, and Angelina Jolie. In addition, he has assisted Anthony Szeto in an advisory capacity for the writer-director's film "Wushu", released on 1 May 2008. The film stars Sammo Hung and Wang Wenjie as father and son.


title: Jackie Chan

text: In November 2007, Chan began filming "Shinjuku Incident", a dramatic role featuring no martial arts sequences with director Derek Yee, which sees Chan take on the role of a Chinese immigrant in Japan. The film was released on 2 April 2009. According to his blog, Chan discussed his wishes to direct a film after completing "Shinjuku Incident", something he has not done for a number of years. The film was expected to be the third in the Armour of God series, and had a working title of "Armour of God III: Chinese Zodiac". The film was released on 12 December 2012. Because the Screen Actors Guild did not go on strike, Chan started shooting his next Hollywood movie "The Spy Next Door" at the end of October in New Mexico. In "The Spy Next Door", Chan plays an undercover agent whose cover is blown when he looks after the children of his girlfriend. In "Little Big Soldier", Chan stars alongside Leehom Wang as a soldier in the Warring States period in China. He is the lone survivor of his army and must bring a captured enemy soldier Leehom Wang to the capital of his province.


title: Jackie Chan

text: In 2010, he starred with Jaden Smith in "The Karate Kid", a remake of the 1984 original. This was Chan's first dramatic American film. He plays Mr. Han, a kung fu master and maintenance man who teaches Jaden Smith's character kung fu so he can defend himself from school bullies. His role in "The Karate Kid" won him the Favorite Buttkicker award at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in 2011. In Chan's next movie, "Shaolin", he plays a supporting role as a cook of a temple instead of one of the major characters.


title: Jackie Chan

text: His 100th movie, "1911", was released on 26 September 2011. Chan was the co-director, executive producer, and lead star of the movie. While Chan has directed over ten films over his career, this was his first directorial work since "Who Am I?" in 1998. "1911" premiered in North America on 14 October.


title: Jackie Chan

text: While at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, Chan announced that he was retiring from action films citing that he was getting too old for the genre. He later clarified that he would not be completely retiring from action films, but would be performing fewer stunts and taking care of his body more.


title: Jackie Chan

text: In 2013, Chan starred in "Police Story 2013", a reboot of the "Police Story" franchise directed by Ding Sheng, and it was released in China at the end of 2013. Chan's next film "Dragon Blade" was released in early 2015 and co-starred Hollywood actors John Cusack and Adrien Brody. In 2015, Chan was awarded the title of "Datuk" by Malaysia as he helped Malaysia to boost its tourism, especially in Kuala Lumpur where he previously shot his films. In early 2017, Chan's new film titled "Kung Fu Yoga", a Chinese-Indian project, which also starred Disha Patani, Sonu Sood and Amyra Dastur, was released. The film reunited Chan with director Stanley Tong, who directed a number of Chan's films in the 1990s. Upon release, the film was a huge success at the box office, and became the 5th highest-grossing film in China, one month after its release. In 2016, he teamed up with Johnny Knoxville and starred in his own production "Skiptrace".


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan starred in the 2016 action-comedy "Railroad Tigers" and the 2017 action-thriller "The Foreigner", an Anglo-Chinese production. He also stars in the science fiction film "Bleeding Steel". In 2022, he will appear in Project X-Traction alongside John Cena.


title: Jackie Chan

text: His films had collectively grossed () at the Hong Kong box office up until 2010, over in South Korea between 1991 and 2010, and () in Japan up until 2012. In Europe, his films collectively sold about tickets between 1973 and 2010. , his films have grossed over () in China, and (more than adjusted for inflation) in the United States and Canada. , 48 of his films have grossed more than at the worldwide box office.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan had vocal lessons whilst at the Peking Opera School in his childhood. He began producing records professionally in the 1980s and has gone on to become a successful singer in Hong Kong and Asia. He has released 20 albums since 1984 and has performed vocals in Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Taiwanese and English. He often sings the theme songs of his films, which play over the closing credits. Chan's first musical recording was "Kung Fu Fighting Man", the theme song played over the closing credits of "The Young Master" (1980). At least 10 of these recordings have been released on soundtrack albums for the films. His Cantonese song "Story of a Hero" (英雄故事) (theme song of "Police Story") was selected by the Royal Hong Kong Police and incorporated into their recruitment advertisement in 1994.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan voiced the character of Shang in the Chinese release of the Walt Disney animated feature "Mulan" (1998). He also performed the song "I'll Make a Man Out of You", for the film's soundtrack. For the US release, the speaking voice was performed by B.D. Wong and the singing voice was done by Donny Osmond. He also collaborated with Ani DiFranco on "Unforgettable".


title: Jackie Chan

text: In 2007, Chan recorded and released "We Are Ready", the official one-year countdown song to the 2008 Summer Olympics which he performed at a ceremony marking the one-year countdown to the 2008 Summer Paralympics. Chan also released one of the two official Olympics albums, "Official Album for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games – Jackie Chan's Version", which featured a number of special guest appearances. Chan performed "Hard to Say Goodbye" along with Andy Lau, Liu Huan and Wakin (Emil) Chau, at the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan received his honorary Doctorate of Social Science degree in 1996 from the Hong Kong Baptist University. In 2009, he received another honorary doctorate from the University of Cambodia, and has also been awarded an honorary professorship by the Savannah College of Art and Design in Hong Kong in 2008.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan is currently a faculty member of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where he teaches the subject of tourism management. , he also serves as the Dean of the Jackie Chan Film and Television Academy under the Wuhan Institute of Design and Sciences.


title: Jackie Chan

text: In 1982, Chan married Joan Lin, a Taiwanese actress. Their son, singer and actor Jaycee Chan, was born that same year. Chan's extra-marital affair with Elaine Ng Yi-Lei produced a daughter by the name of Etta Ng Chok Lam, born on 18 January 1999. It turned into a scandal within the media. Although he reportedly gave Elaine 70,000 HK dollars each month for her living expenses and 600,000 HK dollars when she moved to Shanghai, the transactions were later claimed to be nonexistent by her lawyer. Despite regretting the results of the affair, Chan said he had "only committed a fault that many men in the world commit". During the incident, Elaine stated she would take care of her daughter without Chan.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, English, and American Sign Language and also speaks some German, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and Thai. Chan is an avid football fan and supports the Hong Kong national football team, the England national football team, and Manchester City.


title: Jackie Chan

text: He is a fan of the Italian duo Bud Spencer and Terence Hill, from whom he was inspired for his movies.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan has performed most of his own stunts throughout his film career, which are choreographed by the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. The team was established in 1983, and Chan has used them in all his subsequent films to make choreographing easier, given his understanding of each member's abilities. Chan and his team undertake many of the stunts performed by other characters in his films, shooting the scenes so that their faces are obscured.


title: Jackie Chan

text: In the early 1980s, Jackie Chan began experimenting with elaborate stunt action sequences in films such as "The Young Master" (1980) and especially "Dragon Lord" (1982), which featured a pyramid fight scene that holds the record for the most takes required for a single scene, with 2900 takes, and the final fight scene where he performs various stunts, including one where he does a backflip off a loft and falls to the lower ground. In 1983, "Project A" saw the official formation of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team and added elaborate, dangerous stunts to the fights and typical slapstick humor; at one point, Chan falls from the top of a clock tower through a series of fabric canopies. Critics have compared his comedic stunts in "Project A" to Buster Keaton, who was also known to perform his own stunts, although Chan himself had not watched Keaton's films until years after "Project A" released; according to Chan, "Project A" was an evolution of the action stunt work he had been doing in earlier kung fu comedy films since "The Young Master".


title: Jackie Chan

text: "Police Story" (1985) contained many large-scale action scenes, including an opening sequence featuring a car chase through a shanty town, Chan stopping a double-decker bus with his service revolver and a climactic fight scene in a shopping mall. This final scene earned the film the nickname "Glass Story" by the crew, due to the huge number of panes of sugar glass that were broken. During a stunt in this last scene, in which Chan slides down a pole from several stories up, the lights covering the pole had heated it considerably, resulting in Chan suffering second-degree burns, particularly to his hands, as well as a back injury and dislocation of his pelvis upon landing. Chan performed similarly elaborate stunts in numerous other films, such as several "Police Story" sequels, "Project A Part II", the "Armor of God" series, "Dragons Forever", "Drunken Master II", "Rumble in the Bronx", and the "Rush Hour" series, among others.


title: Jackie Chan

text: The dangerous nature of his stunts makes it difficult to get insurance, especially in the United States where his stunt work is contractually limited. Chan holds the Guinness World Record for "Most Stunts by a Living Actor", which emphasises that "no insurance company will underwrite Chan's productions in which he performs all his own stunts".


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan has been injured frequently when attempting stunts; many of them have been shown as outtakes or as bloopers during the closing credits of his films. He came closest to death filming "Armour of God" when he fell from a tree and fractured his skull. Over the years, he has dislocated his pelvis and also broken numerous parts of his body, including his fingers, toes, nose, both cheekbones, hips, sternum, neck, ankle, and ribs. Promotional materials for "Rumble in the Bronx" emphasised that he performed all of the stunts, and one version of the movie poster even diagrammed his many injuries.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan created his screen persona as a response to the late Bruce Lee and the numerous imitators who appeared before and after Lee's death. Lee's characters were typically stern, morally upright heroes. In contrast, Chan plays well-meaning, slightly foolish regular men, often at the mercy of their friends, girlfriends, or families, who always triumph in the end despite the odds. Additionally, he has stated that he deliberately styles his movement to be the opposite of Lee's: where Lee held his arms wide, Chan holds his tight to the body; where Lee was loose and flowing, Chan is tight and choppy. Despite the success of the "Rush Hour" series, Chan has stated that he is not a fan of it since he neither appreciates the action scenes in the movie nor understands American humor.


title: Jackie Chan

text: American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino classified Chan's style of acting and filmmaking as physical comedy, and considered him one of the greatest in the genre. British filmmaker Edgar Wright describes Jackie Chan as an "expressive" visual performer with an everyman persona. He notes that, in contrast to other action heroes (such as Bruce Lee, Sylvester Stallone, Clint Eastwood or Arnold Schwarzenegger), Chan presents himself as a loveable "goofball" underdog who overcomes the odds with almost "superhuman" acrobatic stunts and fighting abilities.


title: Jackie Chan

text: In the 2000s, the ageing Chan grew tired of being typecast as an action hero, prompting him to act with more emotion in his latest films. In "New Police Story", he portrayed a character suffering from alcoholism and mourning his murdered colleagues. To further shed the image of a "nice guy", Chan played an antihero for the first time in "Rob-B-Hood" starring as Thongs, a burglar with gambling problems. He plays a low-level gangster in 2009's "Shinjuku Incident", a serious drama set in Tokyo about unsavory characters. In 2008, Chan met actor Vijay and discussed about his stunts in his films putting his life at risk.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan has received global recognition for his film acting and stunt work. His accolades include the Innovator Award from the American Choreography Awards and a lifetime achievement award from the Taurus World Stunt Awards. He has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars. In addition, Chan has also been honoured by placing his hand and footprints at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Despite considerable box office success in Asia, Chan's Hollywood films have been criticised with regard to their action choreography. Reviewers of "Rush Hour 2", "The Tuxedo", and "Shanghai Knights" noted the toning down of Chan's fighting scenes, citing less intensity compared to his earlier films. The comedic value of his films is questioned; some critics stating that they can be childish at times. Chan was awarded the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1989 and the Silver Bauhinia Star (SBS) in 1999.


title: Jackie Chan

text: When American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino presented Chan with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1995 MTV Movie Awards, Tarantino described Chan as "one of the best filmmakers the world has ever known" and "one of the greatest physical comedians since sound came into film."


title: Jackie Chan

text: Numerous films from around the world have taken inspiration from Jackie Chan's fight sequences and action choreography. Examples include "The Matrix" and "Kill Bill" (both choreographed by his former colleague Yuen Woo-ping), the "Kung Fu Panda" series (where he also voiced Monkey), "" (2011) from Indonesian cinema, "" (2014), the "John Wick" series, "Atomic Blonde" (2017), Marvel Cinematic Universe films such as "Black Panther" (2018) and "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" (2021), the DC Extended Universe film "Birds of Prey" (2020), and the Netflix film "Extraction" (2020). British filmmaker Edgar Wright cited Chan as an influence and said that, "No matter how many people try and rip off Jackie Chan movies, there's something which they can't rip off which is Jackie Chan himself." Tom Holland also cited Chan as an influence on several action scenes in "Uncharted" (2022), noting Chan's use of his surroundings to fight people in unique ways.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan has been the subject of Ash's song "Kung Fu", Heavy Vegetable's "Jackie Chan Is a Punk Rocker", Leehom Wang's "Long Live Chinese People", as well as in "Jackie Chan" by Frank Chickens, and television shows "Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!", "Celebrity Deathmatch" and "Family Guy".


title: Jackie Chan

text: He has been cited as the inspiration for manga and anime such as "Dragon Ball", which was particularly inspired by "Drunken Master", and the fight scenes in Jackie Chan movies; the show pays homage with a character by the alias "Jackie Chun". Toriyama said he had a young Jackie Chan in mind for a live-action Goku, stating that "nobody could play Goku but him." Chan himself was a fan of the series, and had expressed some interest in adapting "Dragon Ball" into a live-action film, but said it would require "a lot of amazing special effects and an enormous budget."


title: Jackie Chan

text: A number of video games have been based on, or featured, Jackie Chan. His film "Wheels on Meals" (called "Spartan X" in Japan) spawned the hit 1984 beat 'em up arcade game "Spartan X" (released as "Kung-Fu Master" in Western markets), and its sequel "Spartan X 2" for the Nintendo Famicom console. "Spartan X" laid the foundations for the beat 'em up genre, and inspired other games including "Super Mario Bros." (1985) and "Street Fighter" (1987). "Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu" was released in 1990 for the PC-Engine and Nintendo Entertainment System. In 1995, Chan was featured in the arcade game "Jackie Chan The Kung-Fu Master". A series of Japanese video games were released on the MSX computer by Pony, based on several of Chan's films ("Project A", "Project A 2", "Police Story", "The Protector" and "Wheels on Meals"). Other games based on Jackie Chan include "Jackie Chan Stuntmaster", "Jackie Chan Adventures" and "Jackie Chan J-Mat Fitness". Chan also inspired video game characters such as Lei Wulong in "Tekken" and the fighting-type Pokémon Hitmonchan.


title: Jackie Chan

text: On 25 June 2013, Chan responded to a hoax Facebook page created a few days earlier that alleged he had died. He said that several people contacted him to congratulate him on his recent engagement, and soon thereafter contacted him again to ask if he was still alive. He posted a Facebook message, commenting: "If I died, I would probably tell the world!"


title: Jackie Chan

text: In 2015, a made-up word inspired by Chan's description of his hair during an interview for a commercial, "duang", became an internet viral meme particularly in China. The Chinese character for the word is a composite of two characters of Chan's name.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Jackie Chan has a sponsorship deal with Mitsubishi Motors that has resulted in the appearance of Mitsubishi cars in a number of his films. Furthermore, Mitsubishi launched a limited series of Evolution cars personally customised by Chan.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan was also the primary catalyst for the creation of review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, whose founder Senh Duong was his fan and created the website after collecting all the reviews of Chan's Hong Kong action movies as they were being released in the United States. In anticipation for "Rush Hour", Chan's first major Hollywood crossover, he coded the website in two weeks and the site went live shortly before the release of "Rush Hour".


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan says he has always wanted to be a role model to children, and has remained popular with them due to his good-natured acting style. He has generally refused to play villains and has been very restrained in using swear words in his films – he persuaded the director of "Rush Hour" to take "fuck" out of the script. Chan's greatest regret in life is not having received a proper education, inspiring him to fund educational institutions around the world. He funded the construction of the Jackie Chan Science Centre at the Australian National University and the establishment of schools in poor regions of China.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan is a spokesperson for the Government of Hong Kong, appearing in public service announcements. In a "Clean Hong Kong" commercial, he urged the people of Hong Kong to be more considerate with regards to littering, a problem that has been widespread for decades. Furthermore, in an advertisement promoting nationalism, he gave a short explanation of the March of the Volunteers, the national anthem of the People's Republic of China. When Hong Kong Disneyland opened in 2005, Chan participated in the opening ceremony. In the United States, Chan appeared alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in a government advert to combat copyright infringement and made another public service announcement with Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca to encourage people, especially Asian people, to join the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Construction has begun on a Jackie Chan museum in Shanghai. In November 2013, a statue of Chan was unveiled in front of what is now known as the JC Film Gallery, which opened in the spring of 2014.


title: Jackie Chan

text: On 1 February 2015, Chan was awarded the honour of Knight Commander of the Order of the Territorial Crown by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia Tuanku Abdul Halim in conjunction with the country's Federal Territory Day. It carries the title of Datuk in Malaysia.


title: Jackie Chan

text: After the 1997 handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China, Chan's politics gradually shifted from a pro-democratic to a pro-Beijing stance. In 1989, Chan performed at the Concert for Democracy in China in support of democratic movement during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests; by 2021, in contrast, he expressed his desire to join the Chinese Communist Party.


title: Jackie Chan

text: During a news conference in Shanghai on 28 March 2004, Chan referred to the recently concluded Republic of China 2004 presidential election in Taiwan, in which Democratic Progressive Party candidates Chen Shui-bian and Annette Lu were re-elected as president and vice-president, as "the biggest joke in the world". A Taiwanese legislator and senior member of the DPP, , called for the government of Taiwan to ban "Around the World in 80 Days". Police and security personnel separated Chan from scores of protesters shouting "Jackie Chan, get out" when he arrived at Taipei airport in June 2008.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Referring to his participation in the torch relay for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Chan spoke out against demonstrators who disrupted the relay several times attempting to draw attention to a wide-ranging number of grievances against the Chinese government. He warned that "publicity seekers" planning to stop him from carrying the Olympic Torch "not get anywhere near" him. Chan also argued that the Olympics coverage that year would "provide another way for us to tell the world about Chinese culture."


title: Jackie Chan

text: In 2009, Chan was named an "anti-drug ambassador" by the Chinese government, actively taking part in anti-drug campaigns and supporting President Hu Jintao's declaration that illegal drugs should be eradicated, and their users punished severely. In 2014, when his own son Jaycee was arrested for cannabis use, he said that he was "angry", "shocked", "heartbroken" and "ashamed" of his son. He also remarked, "I hope all young people will learn a lesson from Jaycee and stay far from the harm of drugs. I say to Jaycee that you have to accept the consequences when you do something wrong."


title: Jackie Chan

text: On 18 April 2009, during a panel discussion at the annual Boao Forum for Asia, he questioned whether or not broad freedom is a good thing. Noting the strong tensions in Hong Kong and Taiwan, he said, "I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we're not being controlled, we'll just do what we want." Chan's comments prompted angry responses from several prominent figures in Taiwan and Hong Kong. A spokesman later said Chan was referring to freedom in the entertainment industry, rather than in Chinese society at large.


title: Jackie Chan

text: In December 2012, Chan caused outrage when he criticised Hong Kong as a "city of protest", suggesting that demonstrators' rights in Hong Kong should be limited. The same month, in an interview with Phoenix TV, Chan stated that the United States was the "most corrupt" country in the world, which in turn angered parts of the online community. Other articles situated Chan's comments in the context of his career and life in the United States, including his "embrace of the American film market" and his seeking asylum in the United States from Hong Kong triads.


title: Jackie Chan

text: In April 2016, Chan was named in the Panama Papers. While Chan was not accused of engaging in illegal activity per se, he was listed as having up to six different offshore accounts, likely for the purposes of serving as tax shelters.


title: Jackie Chan

text: In 2019, Chan criticised Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests, saying that the Five-starred Red Flag' is respected everywhere around the world." He also supports the National People's Congress decision on Hong Kong national security legislation.


title: Jackie Chan

text: In addition to his film production and distribution company, JCE Movies Limited, Jackie Chan owns or co-owns the production companies JC Group China, Jackie & Willie Productions (with Willie Chan) and Jackie & JJ Productions. Chan has also put his name to Jackie Chan Theater International, a cinema chain in China, co-run by Hong Kong company Sparkle Roll Group Ltd. The first—Jackie Chan-Yaolai International Cinema—opened in February 2010, and is claimed to be the largest cinema complex in China, with 17 screens and 3,500 seats. Chan expressed his hopes that the size of the venue would afford young, non-commercial directors the opportunity to have their films screened. Fifteen further cinemas in the chain were planned for 2010, throughout Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, with a potential total of 65 cinemas throughout the country proposed.


title: Jackie Chan

text: In 2004, Chan launched his own line of clothing, which bears a Chinese dragon logo and the English word "Jackie", or the initials "JC". Chan also has a number of other branded businesses. His sushi restaurant chain, Jackie's Kitchen, has outlets throughout Hong Kong, as well as seven in South Korea, with plans to open another in Las Vegas. Jackie Chan's Cafe has outlets in Beijing, Singapore, and the Philippines. Other ventures include Jackie Chan Signature Club gyms (a partnership with California Fitness), and a line of chocolates, cookies and nutritional oatcakes. With each of his businesses, a percentage of the profits goes to various charities, including the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation.


title: Jackie Chan

text: In 2016, Chan partnered with Asian Le Mans Series champion David Cheng to form a racing team in the series and the FIA World Endurance Championship. The two met in March 2015 and Chan told Cheng about his interest in motorsports and raised the possibility of starting a team. Together, the two formed Baxi DC Racing Alpine, the first mainland China-based operation in WEC. In October, leading into the 2016–17 Asian Le Mans Series season, the team was rebranded to Jackie Chan DC Racing and raced with liveries promoting Chan's movie "Kung Fu Yoga". At the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans, the team became the first Chinese team to win its class (LMP2).


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and has championed charitable works and causes. He has campaigned for conservation and against animal abuse, and has promoted disaster relief efforts for floods in mainland China and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.


title: Jackie Chan

text: In June 2006, citing his admiration of the efforts made by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates to help those in need, Chan pledged the donation of half his assets to charity upon his death. On 10 March 2008, Chan was the guest of honour for the launch, by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, of the "Jackie Chan Science Centre" at the John Curtin School of Medical Research of the Australian National University. Chan is also a supporter and ambassador of Save China's Tigers, which aims to save the endangered South China tiger through breeding and releasing them into the wild.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Chan donated RMB ¥10 million to help those in need. In addition, he planned to make a film about the Chinese earthquake to raise money for survivors. In response to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Chan and fellow Hong Kong-based celebrities, including American rapper MC Jin, headlined a special three-hour charity concert, titled "Artistes 311 Love Beyond Borders", on 1 April 2011 to help with Japan's disaster recovery effort. The 3-hour concert raised over $3.3 million. In January 2017, Chan donated $65,000 to help flood victims in Thailand.


title: Jackie Chan

text: Chan founded the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation in 1988 to offer scholarship and active help to Hong Kong's young people and provide aid to victims of natural disaster or illness. In 2005, Chan created the Dragon's Heart Foundation to help children and the elderly in remote areas of China by building schools, providing books, fees, and uniforms for children; the organisation expanded its reach to Europe in 2011. The foundation also provides for the elderly with donations of warm clothing, wheelchairs, and other items.


title: Jackie Chan

text: One product which Chan had endorsed in China was the "Little Tyrant" ("小霸王") produced by Subor, a Nintendo Entertainment System hardware clone marketed as a "learning machine" to circumvent China's then-ban on video game consoles. In 2010, Chan served as brand ambassador for Kaspersky Lab's antivirus software in Asia.


title: Jackie Chan

text: There is an urban legend called the Jackie Chan curse, ABC News reported in 2010 that the legend originated because "A slew of products sold in China bearing his name, smile and seal of approval have proven defective, prone to explosion, and in one case, potentially damaging to consumers' health." This led to a belief that any product or company which was endorsed by Jackie Chan would suffer setbacks. In 2016 the failure of fitness chain California Fitness was blamed on the curse. The curse was again invoked in 2021 when Evergrande Group suffered major losses following Chan's promotion of Evergrande Spring brand bottled water. However, Jackie Chan has also endorsed a number of products and companies which have not had issues.


title: IMDb

text: IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, plot summaries, trivia, ratings, and fan and critical reviews. IMDb began as a fan-operated movie database on the Usenet group "rec.arts.movies" in 1990, and moved to the Web in 1993. It is now owned and operated by IMDb.com, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon.


title: IMDb

text: The title and talent "pages" of IMDb are accessible to all users, but only registered and logged-in users can submit new material and suggest edits to existing entries. Most of the site's data has been provided by these volunteers. Registered users with a proven track record are able to add and make corrections to cast lists, credits, and some other data points. However, the addition and removal of images, and alterations to titles, cast and crew names, character names, and plot summaries are subject to an approval process; this usually takes between 24 and 72 hours.


title: IMDb

text: Registered users can choose their username, and most are pseudonymous. There is no single index of contributors, no index on each profile page of the items contributed, and—except for plot synopses and biographies—no identification of contributors to each product's or person's data pages. Users are also invited to rate titles on a scale of 1 to 10, and the totals are converted into a weighted mean-rating, with filters in place to mitigate ballot-stuffing.


title: IMDb

text: User "profile pages" show a user's registration date and, optionally, their personal ratings of titles. Since 2015, "badges" can be added showing a count of contributions. These badges range from total contributions made to independent categories such as photos, trivia, and biographies. If a registered user or visitor is in the entertainment industry and has an IMDb page, they can add photos through IMDbPRO.


title: IMDb

text: IMDb originated in 1990 with a Usenet posting entitled "Those Eyes", by the English film fan and computer programmer Col Needham, about actresses with beautiful eyes. Others with similar interests soon responded with additions or different lists of their own. Needham subsequently started an "Actors List", while Dave Knight began a "Directors List", and Andy Krieg took over "THE LIST" from Hank Driskill, which would later be renamed the "Actress List". Both lists had been restricted to people who were alive and working, but soon retired people were added, so Needham started what was then (but did not remain) a separate "Dead Actors/Actresses List". Steve Hammond started collecting and merging character names for both the actors and actresses lists. When these achieved popularity, they were merged back into the lists themselves. The goal of the participants now was to make the lists as inclusive as possible.


title: IMDb

text: By late 1990, the lists included almost 10,000 films and television series, correlated with actors and actresses appearing therein. On October 17, 1990, Needham developed and posted a collection of Unix shell scripts that could be used to search the four lists, and thus the database that would become the IMDb was born. At the time, it was known as the "rec.arts.movies movie database".