Elsewhere, it will likely follow the path of Brosnan’s last action effort The November Man (2014) by putting up a brief theatrical fight before becoming a viable VOD option.
With a China release that takes advantage of the lucrative National Holiday period, this UK-China co-production should post solid numbers in the Middle Kingdom afer a two-day, $22.5m launch, although a lack of general familiarity with its political backdrop will probably prevent it from being as successful as recent Chan outings like the patriotic historical adventure Railroad Tigers (2016) or family friendly comedy Kung Fu Yoga (2017). Martin Campbell’s unfussy style works well with Jackie Chan’s action choreography
But this adaption of Stephen Leather’s 1992 novel The Chinaman plays more like an political thriller, spending as much time on conspiratorial plotting as the publicised bone breaking. Playing an anguished father who seeks revenge for the death of his daughter in a rogue IRA bombing opposite Pierce Brosnan as a Martin McGuinness-like politician, The Foreigner’s trailers have effectively sold Chan in taciturn avenger mode and emphasised the film’s brutal action content. Still, this enduring performer has rarely been as stoic as in The Foreigner, which sees him returning to English-language fare after a consolidating his stardom in the mainland Chinese marketplace. In a five-decade career defined by mixing acrobatic stunts with slapstick humour, Jackie Chan has occasionally demonstrated his serious side, notably in Crime Story (1993) and Shinjuku Incident (2009).