In this day and age, sequels are never too late. "Tron: Legacy" came out 28 years after the first film, "Mad Max: Fury Road" came out 30 years after "Beyond Thunderdome," and now, a new "Shanghai" film is being made 12 years after the previous one, "Shanghai Knights." Both Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson are confirmed to come back for the third film.
According to a report from Den of Geek, only the two lead actors have been confirmed and announced thus far. MGM has not yet signed on any directors or screen writers at this point.
It is still unknown if Tom Dey or David Dobkin, directors of the first and second films, respectively, are in negotiations to helm the third film. The report does explain, however, that the studio is currently hunting for screenwriters who could bring the right story to the table.
"Shanghai Dawn" might also be one of Chan's final action films other than his alleged projects "The Karate Kid 2" and "Expendables 4" as the actor has expressed on multiple occasions that he intends on retiring from action films due to his age. Instead, he would focus on more dramatic and comedic roles.
"Shanghai Dawn" was rumored to be in development since 2003 when the title and initial plans for the film were posted on Chan's website. However, no official movement on the project has occured since and both lead actors have moved on to other projects, leading many to assume that the film would never happen.
The first film the series, "Shanghai Noon," was released in 2000 and was a box office success, earning a marginal $99.3 million over its $55 million budget. While not fondly remembered by many today, it did manage to garner a 79 percent "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Its 2003 sequel, "Shanghai Knights," earned only a little less but it was widely criticized as a weaker film compared to "Noon."
