New York: Director Paul Feig describes Jackpot as “the Lost Jackie Chan movie”, drawing inspiration from the renowned Hong Kong actor and martial artist’s distinctive style.
“Jackie Chan’s characters are always someone who didn’t want to be in the situation, in over their head, trying to get out of it, not being aggressive, just trying to fight their way out of something,” Feig explained. “And that just checked every box for me. His movies are really funny too, but they also have danger and art. So, there it was.”
Jackpot, an action-comedy from Amazon MGM Studios, stars Awkwafina and John Cena as Katie and Noel, who navigate a dystopian Los Angeles where winners of a “Grand Lottery” can be legally murdered before sundown by anyone aiming to claim their multibillion-dollar prize. The film hits U.S. theaters on Thursday.
Cena, who is also a professional wrestler, contributed significantly to the film’s action scenes by performing many of his own stunts. “I’m not taking anything away from our stunt team or my tremendously talented double, Spencer Thomas, but the action in Jackpot involved a lot of skills I can offer,” Cena told Reuters. “This one was throwing big haymakers and tossing people around, a lot of the stuff I do in WWE as well as stunt driving, which I love.”
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Although Cena and Awkwafina didn’t have time to bond before filming, they developed a strong rapport during the shoot. “We did not have time to build rapport before filming, but we actually ended up building great rapport while we filmed,” Cena shared.
Awkwafina echoed the sentiment, praising Cena’s professionalism. “I loved working with John Cena. He’s really one of the most professional guys I’ve ever worked with,” the Crazy Rich Asians star said.
