By Finally, the dream casting none of us have been waiting for. Seann William Scott, coming off the surprise sleeper hit Goon, will be starring with Jackie Chan in the upcoming comedy Skiptrace, which is going to be directed by Sam Fell (ParaNorman). In it Chan plays a Hong Kong cop (how original) who must track down fast talking American Connor Watts (Scott) in order to shut down a crime syndicate.
Basically it’s Rush Hour with a white guy. Fine by me. Scott was in the incredibly underrated The Rundown and showed he can pull off the wise-cracking sidekick just fine and Chan is Chan, even with recent setbacks. On the other hand I don’t think we should expect too much. The idea for the film comes from Chan and judging from who is producing this looks like it could be getting a pretty small release if not just going straight to video.
Press release:
SEANN WILLIAM SCOTT JOINS JACKIE CHAN AND FAN BINGBING IN EXCLUSIVE MEDIA’S ACTION COMEDY ‘SKIPTRACE’
Los Angeles, CA (October 21 2013) – Seann William Scott (AMERICAN REUNION, ROLE MODELS) has joined Jackie Chan (RUSH HOUR, THE KARATE KID) and Fan Bingbing (X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST) in Academy Award nominated director Sam Fell’s action comedy SKIPTRACE, it was announced today by Exclusive Media’s Co-Chairmen Nigel Sinclair and Guy East and Beijing based Talent International Film Co., Ltd.’s President Esmond Ren.
Set to start production on January 13, 2014 SKIPTRACE will be produced as a Sino-Foreign co-production by Exclusive Media and Talent International (北京唐德国际电影文化有限公司) (CHINESE ZODIAC 12), who will also co-finance the film. In addition to starring, Chan is a producer on SKIPTRACE. David Gerson is also attached to produce. The project was brought to Exclusive Media by Dasym Investment Strategies B.V.’s (formerly Cyrte Investments) Charlie Coker, who will act as executive producer on the film along with Dasym.
Exclusive Media’s Senior Executive VP, Production, Damien Saccani is overseeing the production on behalf of the company. Alex Walton, President of International Sales and Distribution is handling international rights to the film.
Based on Chan’s original idea, SKIPTRACE is written by Jay Longino and co-written by THE SITTER scribes Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka, and David Posamentier and Geoff Moore (BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY). The film follows Bennie Black (Jackie Chan), a Hong Kong detective who has been tracking notorious crime boss Victor Wong for over a decade. When Bennie’s young niece Bai (Fan Bingbing) gets into trouble with Wong’s crime syndicate, Bennie must track down the only man who can help him: fast-talking American gambler Connor Watts (Seann William Scott). Bennie races against the clock to bring Connor back to Hong Kong and the unlikely pair embark on an entertaining and perilous adventure from the snowy mountains of Mongolia to the windswept dunes of the Gobi desert.
“Being part of great movies such as ROLE MODELS, THE RUNDOWN and the iconic AMERICAN PIE franchise will position Seann perfectly as Jackie Chan’s co-star,” said Nigel Sinclair and Guy East.
“We are very excited to have Seann on board this project, and know that his chemistry with Jackie will make for a unique pairing that has never been seen before. Seann is well loved by our Chinese audience for his stand-out performance in the AMERICAN PIE films, as well as his good looks!” said Esmond Ren.
Seann William Scott recently completed his starring role in the Courteney Cox directed independent dramedy, JUST BEFORE I GO (playing a suicidal man who goes back to visits his hometown before he presumably ends his life) opposite Olivia Thirlby, Garrett Dillahunt, and Rob Riggle. Last year he was seen in the independent hockey feature film GOON in which he received critical reviews opposite Liev Schrieber and Jay Baruchel which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. He has also starred in ROLE MODELS opposite Paul Rudd and the enormously successful AMERICAN PIE comedy franchise.
Seann William Scott is repped ICM Partners and attorney firm Sloane, Weber, Offer, and Dern.
