Jackie Chan shoots “Armour of God 4: Ultimatum” in Kazakhstan with Salem Entertainment
As Salem Entertainment announced online today during the Mid-Autumn Festival (Moon Festival), Jackie Chan’s next film will be shot with them in Kazakhstan. The filmmakers are drawing on a recipe for success from the 80s and 90s: ARMOUR OF GOD. Can it work? And what additional title will German distributors give the film?
For decades, German film distributors have had a habit of adding an explanatory subtitle to the main title of some Jackie Chan films. This has led to the development of a unique Jackie Chan film series in Germany that only exists in this country – and makes absolutely no sense:
The “GOD’S ARMS” series
I already wrote about the “God’s Arms” series when A LEGEND (2024) was released for home cinema over a year ago.
With today’s announcement by Salem Entertainment in Kazakhstan that Jackie Chan will indeed be filming ARMOUR OF GOD 4: ULTIMATUM there, we can already speculate about an addition to my self-proclaimed “God’s Arms” series (if anyone has a better suggestion for this hypothetical film series, please let me know).
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The “God’s Arms” series consists of these films:
1986: Der rechte Arm der Götter
OT: Armour Of God
1991: Mission Adler – Der starke Arm der Götter
OT: Operation Condor
2017: Kung Fu Yoga – Der goldene Arm der Götter
OT: Kung Fu Yoga
2024: The Legend – Der Arm der Götter schlägt zurück
OT: A Legend
So what could the fourth instalment of the “Armour of God” series be called in Germany to maintain the continuity of the discontinuity of the German title confusion? Here is my suggestion:
ARMOUR OF GOD – DER ULTIMATIVE ARM DER GÖTTER *
Translated as “The ultimate Arms of the Gods”.
This may all sound like satire, but in this case, my nerdy fan heart would actually beat faster if the German label that wins the bid for the film pays tribute to the whole theme. And so far, no one officially knows what the film will be about, let alone whether “Armour of God 4” will even be acceptable as the original title.
After all, there was already a legal dispute in 2012 over “Chinese Zodiac”, which was actually the third part of the “Armour of God” series. Will this finally be resolved with part 4? Will Jackie Chan return as Asian Hawk or just as Jackie?
The fact is that the Kazakh film industry has been growing almost unnoticed by the West for years and has maintained close political and economic ties with China since 2025. A Jackie Chan film from Kazakhstan could give the domestic film industry a massive boost. It would also be nice if the Kazakh Jackie Chan, Timur Baktybayev, finally got his chance to shoot with his big brother. In his film “Kung Fu Rookie” (2024), he already shows what he has learned from the master.
Timuchin greets German Fans
Jackie’s connections to Kazakhstan go way back. Did you know that Jackie used a stand-in and body double from Kazakhstan for “Shanghai Knights” (2003), who happened to be studying near the film set in Prague at the time? Read all about it in my interview with Ramazan Amirgaliyev here: Shanghai Knights revisited: An Interview with Jackie Chan’s Double and Stand-in.
* The adjective ‘ultimate’ would not only be appropriate if the title were to remain “Armour of God 4: Ultimatum” as originally announced. Depending on when the film is released, it would correspond perfectly with my “Ultimate Jackie Chan Film Guide” which is already in the planning stages.
