Little Big Soldier is a 2010 action comedy film directed by Ding Sheng and produced and written by Jackie Chan, also starring Chan and Leehom Wang. The film was produced with a budget of US$25 million and filmed between January 2009 and April 2009 at locations in Yunnan, China. According to Chan, the film was stuck in development hell for over 20 years. Little Big Soldier takes place during the Warring States period of China, and tells the story of three men and a horse. An old foot soldier and a young high-ranking general from a rival state become the only survivors of a ruthless battle. The soldier decides to capture the general and bring him back to his own state in hopes for a reward in return.
Plot
On 1 December 2009, a press conference was held for the film, along with Chan's announcement of a new teaser trailer posted on the film's official Sina website. Twitch also released a plot synopsis of the film:
Little Big Soldier was a joint production of China'sPolybona Films and Hong Kong'sJCE Movies Limited, a company set up by Jackie Chan in 2003. The film is notable for having been in production for over 20 years. Chan had wanted to perform in and write a comedic film that took place in a historical background since the 1980s, when Hong Kong action cinema was rising in prominence.
Casting
Chan originally had Daniel Wu in mind to play the part of the young general, but Chan disregarded that thought after realising that he had already filmed two movies earlier with Wu. Joan Lin, Chan's wife, suggested their son Jaycee Chan, but Chan was highly against it. Lin later suggested Leehom Wang, whom Chan agreed to immediately.
Video game
At a conference in Beijing on 20 November 2009, Jackie Chan announced, along with Universal Culture Limited and EURO WEBSOFT, that an MMO is being released to promote the film. Chan and Wang's characters in the game were also shown at the conference. On 26 January 2010, the MMO went online under the name FLASH Little Big Soldier. It is free to play under an account subscription. However, the game is available only in Chinese.