Shanghai Noon screenwriter Alfred Gough sheds light on the unmade third movie, what its story would have entailed, and why it ultimately fell apart. The 2000 action-Western starred Jackie Chan as a Chinese Imperial Guard who joins forces with Owen Wilson’s outlaw in order to rescue a kidnapped princess. A sequel titled Shanghai Knights was released in 2003, taking the duo on a quest to recover a priceless artifact. A Shanghai Noon 3 was also announced in 2015, but few updates emerged after.
While Gough is currently known for his collaborations with Tim Burton on Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Wednesday, the writer reflected on his early collaboration with Miles Millar, his co-writer on Shanghai Noon, while talking to Collider. Gough recalled how far development on a third movie had progressed before things fell apart, admitting it had reached the script stage and had partial involvement from Chan and Wilson. He said:
We came very close. Oh my gosh, COVID always makes my timeline wonky. I think it was like 2017, 2018, we had a script and Jackie [Chan] and Owen [Wilson] had verbally kind of committed.
Then, at a certain point, Jackie just decided he didn’t want to do it.
That’s all I really know. There was a moment probably six or seven years ago where it looked like it was starting to come together. We weren’t writing it, we were working with some younger writers, but we helped break the story, and they were writing it. So, that’s where we are.
Within the script, Chon Wang (Chan) was making a name for himself in early Hollywood as an actor, once more having parted ways with Roy O’Bannon (Wilson). However, when his partner found himself entangled with Mexican revolutionaries, Wang went to aid his friend. Gough recalled:
I think the story was the Jackie character, was now working in silent movies — it was kind of the Tom Mix era. That’s where they had gotten to. Then Owen was down in Mexico, and I think it was something about him being with revolutionaries, and Jackie had to go save him. I honestly don’t remember, but
I do remember it was that kind of era, the early silent movie era of Hollywood, which we thought was a lot of fun.
Shanghai Noon 3 No Longer Seems Likely
Though the second Shanghai Noon movie received a less enthusiastic response when compared to the original, the series overall has earned positive reactions. Praised for its action and chemistry, Chan and Wilson’s dynamic helped win critics and audiences over across both movies, and was celebrated as a key selling point. On top of that, both Shanghai movies are also considered financially successful, making a third a safe bet.
Furthermore, the movie had also found a director back in 2016. Napoleon Dynamite‘s Jared Hess had been signed on to direct. It was also expected that Fann Wong would reprise her role of Chon Lin from Shanghai Knights. However, Gough’s new comments indicate Shanghai Noon 3 won’t happen. That Chan was reportedly the one who initially pulled out shows that it wasn’t studio interference that stalled the project, but that it was the loss of a key creative voice. Without Chan’s support, it does not seem like the third movie can continue.
Our Take On Shanghai Noon’s Scrapped Movie
A Shift In Focus May Be Behind The Cancellation
Gough’s description of Shanghai Noon‘s third movie is one that will be very familiar to viewers, as it follows a similar formula to how the original movie led into the second. Shanghai Knights concluded with Wang and Roy returning to America to get involved in the emerging motion picture industry, complete with a young Charlie Chaplin (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) stowing away with them. Not only does the proposed plot for the third movie perfectly carry over from the sequel, but Chan’s talents as an action star could enhance any silent movie-inspired sequences.
However, the plot involving revolutionaries may be where the production fell apart, as Gough’s description contradicts one star’s hopes for a third movie. As the writer revealed in 2016, Chan had hoped for the sequel to be set in China and provide a greater focus on its culture when compared to the first two movies. As such, despite a positive working relationship between cast and crew, Shanghai Noon‘s third movie may have been a casualty of creative differences.
Source: Collider
