Tony Jaa’s Career Is Pretty Much Over
posted by The Joe
Remember how, when you first saw Ong Bak, you figured stuntman Tony Jaa was destined to be the new Jackie Chan or Jet Li? Well, as it turns out, not so much.
The story goes like this – Tony Jaa wanted to make Ong Bak 2, being both actor and director, since his refusal to listen to the original film’s director ruined their working relationship. But then he disappeared from the set. For two months. Rumors were that he spent a month in a cave practicing black magic, and he combated that accusation by appearing on TV last week and breaking down in tears.
As if that wasn’t enough, there was speculation that Jaa was kidnapped directly following the TV interview, but he turned up fine with a list of demands for the sequel -
1. An extra 55 million baht to finish the last 20 percent of the film
2. The right to choose his own production crew
3. Jaa’s personal manager would to oversee the production’s accounts
4. The film would be finished by November 30
5. Details concerning the actor’s fee, and his director’s fee
6. A 50-million-baht share of the profits from distribution/ticket sales
7. An end to Jaa’s current acting contract
Jaa stated that if these demands weren’t met, he’d disappear again. However, after being followed by mysterious men, he’s all set to drop the demands and finish the film on schedule. After which he’ll probably never work again, except maybe in Hollywood.
(thanks Twitchfilm)
Ong Bak 2 – Promo Reel