The Forbidden Kingdom is a 2008 American 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 was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the US on September 9, 2008 and in the UK on the 17th of November, 2008.
Plot: It’s about a slightly nerdy guy from south Boston, who loves old Kung Fu movies, etc. Through a series of events he ends up being transported to classical China, where he discovers it was prophesied that he would bring the legendary staff of the Monkey King (which he found in a Boston pawn shop), free the Monkey King from his stone prison, and end the reign of the evil Jade Warlord. Along the way he meets friends, learns Kung Fu, begins to fall in love, and eventually succeeds in his mission and returns to his world with the confidence and maturity he was looking for. So yeah, it was exactly as corny and goofy as that description makes it sound. It had better than average production values and acting for that kind of movie, but the story was totally par-for-the-course average. It’s silly. Life doesn’t work that way. Sure there are challenges, but you don’t get to face them with a sword or a staff. There’s really no time to learn to live from your center, to be still, to become more than whatever you are at the moment. You just have to get through one day at a time, right? Do the best you can.
Box office performance
The Forbidden Kingdom grossed a total of $128,912,209 worldwide – $52,075,270 in the United States and $76,836,939 in other territories. In its opening weekend in the United States and Canada, the film grossed $21,401,121 in 3,151 theaters, ranking #1 at the box office opening weekend & averaging $6,792 per theater.
