Jackie Arrives in Venice

Jackie arrived in Venice, Italy today for the world's first screening of Rob-B-Hood, an action-comedy which he recently finished filming in Hong Kong. When Jackie met with reporters, he repeated his often-expressed desire to diversify in his movie roles. He said he was "fed up" playing action roles and wants to imitate Robert De Niro by taking on more mature movie roles. Jackie told reporters he wanted to take a break from the action roles he has played in most of his movies.

"I must say that I've been willing to change my roles for some time. I've been quite fed up with the roles I've been playing. I want to put myself to the test in future, interpreting different characters," said Jackie. "We all know that the life of an action hero is quite short. In the future I would like people to consider me as not just a martial arts character but for other roles as well. When I'm in Europe or America, children see me and say "Ohhh, Jackie Chan! Why nobody says, 'Ohh, Robert De Niro?' I want to change."

Jackie suggested Rob-B-Hood co-star Louis Koo as a successor. "I think Louis Koo is an excellent actor. He doesn't know Kung-Fu, but he learns fast. He can become 'Jackie Chan Two'."

The Venice Film Festival is organized by the Venice Biennale and aims "to encourage the awareness and the promotion of all the various aspects of international cinema as art, entertainment and industry, in a spirit of freedom and tolerance," according to La Biennale di Venezia's website.

Official selections include Venezia 63 - In Competition, Venezia 63 - Out of Competition, Orizzonti, and Corto Cortissimo. Rob-B-Hood will screen on September 8th in the Out of Competition section.

Four international juries will assign the awards of the Mostra: the Venezia 63 jury will award the Golden Lion for best film; the Corto Cortissimo jury will award the Corto Cortissimo Lion for best short film; the Orizzonti jury will award the Orizzonti prize; the “Luigi De Laurentiis” jury will award the Lion of the Future, for which all the debut full-length films presented in the various sections of the Festival are eligible. (Source: La Biennale di Venezia)

Photos: REUTERS, Yule.Sohu.com