Tragedy struck on the set of the latest Jackie Chan film, Skiptrace, when a boat carrying several crew members capsized and one crew member drowned.
South China Morning Press confirms the fatal accident, revealing that 51-year-old cameraman Chan Kwok-hung drowned in the waters off Lantau Island after the boat carrying several crew members capsized. The newspaper said that “seven other crew members were able to swim back to shore after the accident,” but Kwok-hung's body was later discovered and pronounced dead. Jackie Chan was reportedly not on the boat, although THR adds that the legendary actor “was on land when the boat capsized and he reportedly jumped into the water to help rescue crew members.”
The on-set tragedy echoes the recent death of camera assistant Sarah Jones, who was struck by a train near Savannah, Georgia, while working on the Gregg Allman biopic “Midnight Rider.” This was also an accident that seemingly could have been prevented if more safety precautions had been taken to protect crew members. Jones' death on the set of “Midnight Rider” became a focal point and a call for the film industry to do more to protect crew members working on a particular shot on set. An investigation is underway to find out exactly what happened to the boat Kwok-hung was on. However, it will be interesting to see if this accident also inspires crew members and industry executives to tighten safety protocols to avoid similar tragedies in future film shoots.
Not that Jackie Chan has been known for using his own safety protocols in recent years. As you can see in the clip above, the resilient action star made a name for himself by putting his body in the most dangerous positions possible when it came to getting the right shot.
We started following Skiptrace when Jackie Chan was working with director Renny Harlin and then Seann William Scott. However, according to IMDB, Johnny Knoxville is now starring in this action comedy about a Hong Kong detective (Chan) who teams up with an American gamer to take down a Chinese criminal. Oh, so they want to do this again?
The film's theatrical release date is December 2015 for China and 2016 for other territories. We'll see if this new tragedy affects these dates.
Comments are closed.