I'm told Jackie Chan fired CAA on the day his new movie The Forbidden Kingdom opened #1 last Friday. Today he landed with the William Morris Agency's Phillip Button. As for the There Will Be Blood director, Paul Thomas Anderson left Endeavor yesterday and landed tonight at WMA with Mike Simpson and John Fogelman.
Least its not ICM!
Comment by mk — April 24, 2008 @ 8:05 pm
mike simpson? why?
Comment by weird move — April 24, 2008 @ 8:25 pm
any theories as to why all the sudden shake-ups? are they related? or has everyone just lost their mind at the same time?
Comment by david — April 24, 2008 @ 10:44 pm
Does William Morris have access to superior English teachers than Chan has been seeing to this point? Otherwise, it doesn’t matter who he’s with. American audiences don’t care about outside of the Rush Hour movies, and he’s getting too old to make his living with kung fu flix.
Comment by It Doesn't Matter — April 24, 2008 @ 11:10 pm
And this anonymous letter was not created by anyone at CAA.
Why did Jackie leave us?
They promised no more stunts where he might injure the crown jewels.
They promised they could get him an Oscar… if he likes Sesame Street.
They promised the SHANGHAI NOON sequel SHANGHAI MIDNIGHT.
They promised him he could get around the world in less than 80 days this time.
They promised him another Rush Hour, but absolutely no rush hour on the LA freeways.
As I said, they promised they could turn back time to when he was doing respectable movies like THE TUXEDO. Chan had a choice ten years ago. He could go the Bruce Lee way and die in his prime or keep living. He chose to live.
A year ago Chan came to us complaining that his parents had named him Jackie instead of Jet… Jet seemed so much faster and cooler. Could we help him change his name? We just couldn’t see it… Jet Chan. So, Chan held us reponsible for his parents’ boring choice in name… Could we help it if they didn’t name him Apple or Suri?
Sure, there’s more; he thought we should deliver pizza to him whenever he wanted it. We deliver scripts, he’d say, why not pizza? Or KFC if he felt like it?
And finally, if you really want to understand why now, why today, look at all of his films… He’s always on the move, can never stay still for long… It was simply time to jump.
Good luck in the stunt business, pal.
Comment by Lee — April 25, 2008 @ 7:39 am
Am I the only one seeing the packaging opportunities this is bringing?
Picture these guaranteed blockbusters/Oscar nominees:
PUNCH DRUNKEN MASTER LOVE- A socially awkward Kung Fu master falls in love with an equally socially awkward lady ninja thanks to his finding a harmonium at the dojo.
THERE WILL BE RUSH HOUR- Jackie Chan hunts for oil in remote deserts of China while Chris Tucker slowly realizes that his shtick is really, really annoying.
SHANGHAI BOOGIE KNIGHTS- Jackie and Owen Wilson star as cowboys/porn stars in the 18780s with Burt Reynolds as the Sheriff.
Imagine the possibilities people!
Comment by Furious D — April 25, 2008 @ 9:49 am
Actors are ridiculous and demanding.
Agents are ridiculous and deceitful.
Jackie Chan is too old.
CAA is really looking pathetic every time a client leaves, they get whiny and smear the client. It makes CAA look bad, not the clients. I’d be afraid to go to CAA for how they’d try to trash me if I dared to leave.
Bush league.
When will people learn, you can tell more about someone by what they say about others, than by what others say about them.
Comment by all ridiculous — April 25, 2008 @ 10:27 am
Mike Simpson and John Fogelman are perfect for PTA. PTA’s primary/long term agent at Endeavor left to run Vantage. Simpson and Fogelman are the best filmmaker agents in town (Tarantino, Tim Burton, among others).
Comment by jerry b — April 25, 2008 @ 10:36 am
Jackie is awesome, and The Forbidden Kingdom proved his box office muscle. Ergo: he’s looking for better parts that don’t involve a Wilson or a Tucker. Forbidden Kingdom rocks btw, go see it!
Comment by zee — April 27, 2008 @ 2:04 pm