A legend in Hong Kong cinema, Donnie Yen has made his mark in Hollywood, but 2024 is set to take the martial artist and actor’s career to new heights. In 1984, Yen landed his first starring role in the martial arts action flick Drunken Tai Chi. From there, he rose to fame in Hong Kong, eventually making his directorial debut with 1997’s Legend of the Wolf. A few years later, he appeared in the Hollywood film Highlander: Endgame and, soon enough, played the antagonist in Jackie Chan’s action comedy Shanghai Knights. Decades later, Donnie Yen is now the new Jackie Chan.
If anything, 2024 confirms Donnie Yen’s status as the modern-day Jackie Chan — an action hero who’s dominating Hollywood films. Although the best Donnie Yen movies may not always see him playing the starring role, the actor is keeping busy in 2024, which is consistent with the type of schedule Jackie Chan had during the height of his popularity and fame. When Chan was the top martial arts movie star in the United States, he pumped out between three and five movies per year. That said, 2024 is poised to make Donnie Yen the same kind of household name.
While the John Wick spin-off Ballerina is tasked with carrying on the acclaimed action franchise, it isn’t the only entry in the series that’s premiering soon. Recently, it was announced that Donnie Yen will star in another John Wick spin-off, which means he has the chance to be the new face of the beloved franchise. With Keanu Reeves’ John Wick seemingly dying in chapter 4, it makes sense that the series would search for a new star, and Yen’s upcoming slate of other action flicks will only bolster his star turn in the John Wick spin-off.
Other upcoming Donnie Yen projects include The Prosecutor, a crime thriller based on a real-life Hong Kong-based case, and Flash Point 2, a sequel to Wilson Yip’s 2007 Hong Kong action film, which saw Yen starring and choreographing fight scenes. Additionally, Yen will reprise his role as the star of the Ip Man franchise. The first Ip Man film, which debuted in 2008, was based on the life of Ip Man, a Wing Chun grandmaster and Bruce Lee’s former teacher. The latest entry in the long-running series will be Donnie Yen’s Ip Man 5, cementing the franchise as one of the star’s most important projects.
Despite all of his blockbuster successes in both Hollywood and Hong Kong, Donnie Yen boasts plenty of underrated movies too. A highly skilled performer and martial artist, Yen dominated the martial arts genre during the 2010s. Now, his reach as an action star is greater than ever with roles in franchises like John Wick and one-off hits like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. All the buzz is contributing to one of Yen’s most ambitious years yet, which is a massive deal — not just for his career, but because Donnie Yen was discussing retirement up until very recently.