The Forbidden Kingdom

About The Forbidden Kingdom

The Forbidden Kingdom (Chinese: 功夫之王) is a 2008 Hollywood martial arts-adventure film from Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company directed by Rob Minkoff. It is the first film to star together two of the best-known names in the martial arts film genre, Jackie Chan and Jet Li. The action sequences were choreographed by Yuen Woo-ping.

The movie is distributed in the United States through Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company, and through The Huayi Brothers Film & Taihe Investment Company in the People's Republic of China. It is set to be released on DVD and Blu-ray in the US on September 9, 2008. The UK release has been dated for 17th November 2008.

The film opens during a battle between Sun Wukong, the Monkey King (Jet Li), and heavenly soldiers amongst the clouds. The movie then reveals that the sequence was a dream, whence South Boston teenager Jason Tripitikas (Michael Angarano) awakens. Viewers here see that he is an enthusiast in the interest of kung fu movies, the fact being attested by the advertisement poster thereof that cover his walls. Coincidentally, his TV is playing an episode from the 1970's Japanese TV Series "Monkey". After getting dressed, he makes his way to a pawn shop in Downtown Boston's China town to buy some wuxia DVDs. There, Jason converses with Hop (a prosthetics-laden Jackie Chan), the shop's elderly owner, and, while thumbing through some DVDs, he is drawn to a golden staff inside a room full of antiques. Hop tells him that the staff is to be delivered to its rightful owner and then closes the door.