Fifteen years ago, martial arts legend Jackie Chan came to Prague to film the 2003 action-comedy sequel Shanghai Knights. Chan was back in the Czech capital over the last few weeks, but this time the superstar was behind the camera.
Chan visited Prague and other locations in the Czech Republic over the first two weeks of July to shoot scenes for The Diary, a new WWII-era production directed by Chan and starring his son, actor Jaycee Chan.
The Diary, a romantic drama set in the pre-war years of the early 1930s, stars the younger Chan as a man who leaves his home in Shanghai to come to Europe and reunite with the love of his life, played by Argentinean actress Martina Stoessel.
The Diary also stars American actors Kevin Kline and Noah Centineo alongside Hong Kong action star Andy Lau, presumably playing the younger Chan’s father.
Primary filming took place in Shanghai earlier this year, but the production moved to the Czech Republic for 12 days of shooting in early July.
In Prague, Chan shot scenes for the new movie in central locations throughout Malá Strana that also included some work on Charles Bridge. The Diary also filmed in locations across the Czech Republic including Plzeň, Mladá Boleslav, and Hradec Králové.
Local production company Stabiz coordinated shooting in the Czech Republic.
“Jackie was very fond of filming in the Czech Republic, he thanked the whole team during a speech,” Stabiz’s Martin Stanek said in a press release.
“[Chan] appreciated the professionalism of all the members of the Czech staff and he promised to come back soon with another project.”
While high-profile foreign productions typically fly in most of their own crew while filming abroad, Chan used a primarily local crew while filming The Diary in the Czech Republic, which included Prague-based cinematographer Klaus Fuxjäger.
The elder Chan is no stranger behind the camera – he directed some of his best-known 1980s Hong Kong martial arts movies, including Armour of God, Police Story, and Project A. The Diary, however, is his first work as director since 2012’s Chinese Zodiac, and his first film as director in which he does not also star.
Leading actress Stoessel may be unfamiliar to English-speaking audiences, but she shot to fame after her title role in the Disney Latino series Violetta. Last week, she lit up social media with some of her photos of the production in Prague:
Lead photo via Stabiz / Stanislav Honzík
2 Responses
She’s a Goddess
Aaaaand 7 years later is this thing coming out? No updates anywhere