Will ‘The Foreigner’ trump ‘American Made?’

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‍Jackie Chan and Tom Cruise both have new films opening in theaters this weekend. Both are coming out swinging, but who will reign supreme?

Typically, this would not matter since the films are opening in different countries, but being that they both are superstars in their own right and their new films are reprising fan-favorite performances it does.

CGTN Digital‍

“The Foreigner” opened on Saturday in advance of China’s National Day marking Chan’s first entirely English language production since “The Karate Kid” in 2010. The thriller is the story of a former Chinese special agent attempting to uncover who killed his daughter (played by Katie Leung of the Harry Potter franchise). It opens in North America on October 13.

Movie trailer of 'The Foreigner':

Meanwhile, “American Made” is Cruise’s first non-action franchise since “Lions For Lambs” in 2007. This is a return to the kind of roles that made him a star.

Jackie Chan has been shattering box office earnings over the last few years, with movies like Police Story 2013 (86 million US dollars in China in 2014), Dragon Blade (116 million US dollars in 2015), Skip Trace (133 million US dollars in 2016) and Kung Fu Yoga (254 million US dollars in 2017).

He is doing huge business in China while barely making a peep elsewhere. The star system is alive and well for Chan, as is the notion of a film being so big in your native country that you don’t need overseas riches. Chan’s worldwide box office earnings is close to 2.5 billion US dollars.

Movie trailer of 'American Made':

While Tom Cruise has name recognition, he has depended heavily on overseas box office earnings for the last decade. That is due in part to his dwindling popularity in the US (outside of Mission: Impossible movies) and escalating film budgets.

Even so, Cruise still has managed to strike gold at the box office with his recent films like “Edge of Tomorrow” (100.2 million US dollars in 2014), “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” (195 million in 2015), “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” (58.6 million US dollars 2016), and “The Mummy” (80 million US dollars in 2017).

Love him or hate him, Cruise is one of the most bankable stars in the world. His worldwide box office earnings are nearly 8 billion US dollars.

Regardless of who reigns supreme this weekend, one thing is for sure both of these megastars are proven box office contenders.