Jet Li becomes highest paid actor, shatters own record

Beijing, (PTI): Shattering his own record, celebrated action star Jet Li could get 100 million yuan (about US$ 13.3 million), the highest ever paid to an actor in a Chinese film, for his role in an epic battle movie, its director said.

Nearly half the budget of the film 'The Warlords' went to the cast, with Li cornering a lion's share, followed by Hong Kong star, Andy Lau (16 million yuan), Takeshi Kaneshiro (12 million yuan) and actress Xu Jinglei (2 million yuan).

Li was a "guarantee" for the global sales of the film, according to the director Peter Chan, who said the actor could command the equivalent of 120 million yuan in Hollywood blockbusters but he accepted less because of his friendship.

"Without Li, we would not dare to invest US$ 40 million in a Chinese language film," he was quoted as saying by the Xinhua news agency.

The 100-million-yuan payday still broke the record for a star in a Chinese film that the 44-year old Li, a former national kung fu champion, himself held with 70 million yuan for the film 'Hero', he said.

Li made it big in the celluloid world with Hong Kong films in the 1990s with movies such as "The Legend of Fong Sai-Yuk" series before moving on to Hollywood.

'The Warlords', based on a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) story about the killing of General Ma Xinyi, is an epic about three blood brothers and their struggle amid war and political upheaval.

The film is listed for release on December 13 in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and southeast Asia and from next March in North America.