The Foreigner is a 2017 action thriller movie directed by Martin Campbell and written by David Marconi, based on the 1992 novel The Chinaman by Stephen Leather. The British-Chinese co-production stars Jackie Chan, Pierce Brosnan, Michael McElhatton, Liu Tao, Charlie Murphy, Orla Brady and Katie Leung. Take a look below for 26 more fun and fascinating facts about The Foreigner.
1. The movie follows a businessman who seeks revenge for the death of his daughter.
2. The Foreigner grossed $145 million worldwide and received mixed reviews, although critics praised the against the type performances of Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan.
3. Jackie Chan sings the closing credits song “A Common Man.”
4. Despite the change from the novel’s original title of “The Chinaman,” Quan is still referred to as such 6 times in the movie.
5. The Foreigner is the first movie directed by Martin Campbell in six years. His previous movie was Green Lantern in 2011.
6. The movie reunited director Martin Campbell with Pierce Brosnan, after working together on the James Bond movie GoldenEye.
7. The Foreigner was Martin Campbell’s first movie that was shot digitally.
8. Nick Cassavetes was offered to direct the movie.
9. Roadshow Films, the movie’s Australian distributor, effectively dumped the movie in a dozen cinemas in major cities and spent very little on advertising.
10. Both Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan have starred in different adaptions of “Around the World in 80 Days.” Chan appeared in the 2004 theatrical movie, while Brosnan starred in the 1989 TV mini-series.
11. The Foreigner is Jackie Chan’s second appearance in a movie with a former James Bond actor. Cannonball Run included Chan and Roger Moore.
12. The name of Jackie Chan’s role Quan Ngoc Minh suggests that he’s Vietnamese with Chinese origin, as the name is a Vietnamese name but Quan is not a common Vietnamese surname.
13. Rory Fleck Byrne was trained by Jiu Jitsu Master Ross Kesirich for the fighting scenes.
14. Dermot Crowley, who plays Hugh McGrath, also plays an IRA character named Jack Cullen in the SAS action series Ultimate Force.
15. In February 2016, two reports were made to the London Metropolitan Police about a “terrorist attack” made on the Lambeth bridge, after many local citizens weren’t told about a controlled stunt explosion made on a double decker bus for the movie.
16. Quan only kills the IRA members involved with the bombing that killed his daughter, not any of Hennessy’s men that try to stop him. He also doesn’t kill the only female member, Maggie, who is instead killed by the police.
17. The bus explosion was tested in the car park of Artem Ltd., the special effects company that did all the physical effects in the movie.
18. The movie was partially set in London’s Chinatown.
19. Co-stars Liu Tao and Jackie Chan attended the Shanghai Film Festival on June 11, 2016 to promote the movie.
20. Cliff Martinez composed the score.
21. The Fyzz Facility produced, and is distributing the movie, in association with Sparkle Roll Media and Huayi Brothers, while STXfilms distributed it theatrically across the United States of America.
22. The Foreigner had a production budget of $35 million.
23. In the United States and Canada, the movie opened alongside Happy Death Day, Marshall and Professor Marston and the Wonder Women.
24. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has an approval rating of 62% based on 89 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The site’s critical consensus reads, “The Foreigner adheres strictly to action thriller formula, but benefits from committed-and out of character-performances from its talented veteran stars.”
25. On Metacritic, the movie has a weighed average score of 55 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews.
26. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone Magazine gave the movie three out of four stars, praising Jackie Chan’s performance, saying: “It’s the most dramatic role Chan has ever tackled, and he plays it with coiled intensity and raw emotional power.”