Vanguard is a 2020 Chinese action-adventure spy-thriller drama film written and directed by Stanley Tong, starring Jackie Chan, Yang Yang, and Miya Muqi. The film was scheduled to be released on 25 January 2020 in China but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is Jackie Chan's sixth film with director Stanley Tong. The filming locations were in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and in Taiwan. Jackie Chan almost drowned while filming a scene for the film. Chan was reportedly paid 80 million yuan (approximately $12 million dollars).
Douban, a Chinese media rating site, gave the film 5 out of 10. Edmund Lee for the South China Morning Post rated the film 1.5 out of 5, stating the film is "Equipped with a cheesy Z-grade plot, forgettable villains, and some jaw-droppingly clunky lines of dialogue, Vanguard is that unashamedly old-fashioned Chan vehicle which makes one ponder why he’s still going at it.
An accountant is threatened by the world's deadliest mercenary organization and Covert security company Vanguard is the last hope of survival for him. With U.S. studio tentpoles dropping out of the theatrical calendar, Chinese blockbusters may find a rare opportunity to gain some traction abroad. At least that’s what London-based distributor Trinity CineAsia is betting on.
The firm has acquired the Jackie Chan-starring blockbuster “Vanguard” from Hong Kong-based Golden Dragon Pictures for theatrical runs in the U.K., Ireland, and Russia CIS. It was produced by Shanghai Lix Entertainment, Hong Kong director Stanley Tong’s production outfit.
“Vanguard” is the ninth collaboration between Chan and Tong and features the action star jetting between continents in search of the kidnapped client of his international security agency, called Vanguard. While its U.K. release date is still to be determined, it will screen in wide release in Ukraine from Oct. 2 at 163 cinemas and Russia CIS from Oct. 15. on 500 prints. Trinity CineAsia anticipates a box office of around $750,000 for the region, but estimates remain a “moving target” due to changing coronavirus conditions.
Warner Bros. had initially scheduled “Wonder Woman 1984” to premiere Oct. 2, but it was rescheduled earlier this month for Dec. 25. The star-studded Kenneth Branagh-directed murder mystery “Death on the Nile” was also at one point scheduled for early October, but has since been pushed to Dec. 18.
“There’s a sort of vacuum left by these studio films falling off the schedule. We are definitely trying to take advantage of that,” said Trinity CineAsia co-founder and director Cedric Behrel. It helps that Chan’s star power makes the film an easier sell to a commercial audience than most other Chinese-language titles.
Around 75% of cinemas are currently reopened in Russia CIS. Predictions that 90% could be open by the time “Vanguard” premieres could turn on a dime according to the virus’ trajectory. Meanwhile, 90% of cinemas in Ukraine and 100% of cinemas in the Baltics are open, though theaters in major CIS markets Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan remain entirely shut. Re-opened cinemas all are operating at 50% capacity.
“The only market in the world that’s going back to normal in China, leaving China out of sync with the rest of the world” as the pandemic continues to wreak global havoc, explained Behrel.
“Vanguard” opened in China Wednesday to first-day sales of $8.59 million, according to the Maoyan industry tracker, outpacing the opening days of competing volleyball drama “Leap” ($8.2 million) and Disney’s “Mulan” ($8.1 million) but lagging behind “Tenet,” which opened Sept. 4 to $8.9 million.
Behrel outlined the predicament of scheduling theatrical releases at a time when China is hurtling ahead but global cinema-going remains so depressed: “It’s detrimental to wait to release until things get better because we don’t know when that’ll be, and by that stage, the film will be old news and available through piracy and so on.
So we had to make this very hard decision — do we go with the film now and take a chance on theatrical or wait to know that we might not have a second chance in theaters?”
Vanguard Cast
- Jackie Chan as Tang Huanting
- Yang Yang as Lei Zhenyu
- Ai Lun as Zhang Kaixuan
- Miya Muqi as Mi Ya
- Zhu Zhengting as Shendiao
- Fady Zaky as The Bodyguard
- Xu Ruo Han as Fareeda
Vanguard Release Date
It was to be released on 25 January 2020 in China but was withdrawn due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The theatrical releases of Vanguard in Singapore and the Philippines have been delayed due to the postponement of the film's release in China. As the outbreak of COVID-19 in China caused the cancellation of many theatrical premieres, certain regulations prevent any Chinese film from being released overseas before the film's local release in China.
On September 1, 2020, it was announced, that the film will hit Chinese theaters on September 30, 2020. The English version of the film opened in theaters in the United Arab Emirates and select neighboring countries on October 8, 2020.
Gravitas Ventures acquired the North American rights and plans on giving the film a wide theatrical release, including drive-ins and IMAX theaters, on November 20, 2020.
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