It’s good to be the king. That is, if you consider Jackie Chan the king—which many around the world still do. In fact, Chan’s global star has been shining so bright and so long that The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be bestowing one of this year’s four honorary Oscars to the action legend.
Chan will receive an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards this November (via Collider), along with famed film editor Anne V. Coates (LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, CHAPLIN, FIFTY SHADES OF GREY), documentary director Frederick Wiseman (TITICUT FOLLIES, IN JACKSON HEIGHTS) and casting director Lynn Stalmaster (THE GRADUATE, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT).
Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs put out a statement saying:
“The Honorary Award was created for artists like Jackie Chan, Anne Coates, Lynn Stalmaster and Frederick Wiseman — true pioneers and legends in their crafts. The board is proud to honor their extraordinary achievements, and we look forward to celebrating with them at the Governors Awards in November.”
Though the Academy usually awards many behind-the-scenes people and industry titans, they don’t usually give honorary awards to action stars like Chan, but luckily they’ve come to their senses. Though Chan has mostly stuck to working on films in his native China as of late, the man is responsible for blowing kung-fu movies into the stratosphere with hits like DRUNKEN MASTER, POLICE STORY, SHANGHAI NOON and RUSH HOUR. The man has been a cultural icon for decades, and still sits high on the Forbes list of the world’s highest paid actors (#2 at $61 million, behind only Dwayne Johnson). The man will never not be a legend, and it’s about time he got his own little golden buddy.
You can see Chan team up with Johnny Knoxville for the action flick SKIPTRACE in theaters today.