Jackie Chan, John Cena To Star In Action Thriller

Gongfu star Jackie Chan is throwing his hat into the ring, teaming up with American wrestling superstar John Cena in an action thriller that has a working title of Project X.

It will be helmed by Need For Speed (2014) director Scott Waugh, with Cena replacing Sylvester Stallone, who was previously slated to star.

Cena was at the Shanghai International Film Festival last week to meet Chan, where the two reportedly got busy mapping out high-octane action sequences for the film.

Hollywood Reporter cited Chan as saying: “Look at how many on-screen heroes the US has, but China doesn’t have its own superheroes, its own Superman, Spider-Man.

“Monkey King is not really modern. And today’s young people want new, contemporary-era heroes.”

Chan is also rumoured to be involved in the fourth installment of popular gongfu franchise Ip Man. The plot reportedly has Bruce Lee opening a martial arts school in the United States, a move that irks local residents there.

Lee’s mentor, Ip Man, has to travel to America to help soothe ruffled feathers.

Donnie Yen, who portrays Ip Man, has posted online that shooting of Ip Man 4 has started in China.

According to online sites such as Sina, Ip Man has a showdown with a character played by Chan.

The face-off, which was rumoured as far back as last year, when speculation of a fourth Ip Man movie started, resurfaced in the wake of Yen’s latest post.

But no word of confirmation has come from him, Chan or Wilson Yip, who directed the previous three installments and is back for the fourth.