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HOLLYWOOD - He can wrestle on burning coals, jump off rooftops, even water ski behind a hovercraft, but Jackie Chan has yet to find an audience in America.
It's been a decade since Warner Bros. distributed the flop "The Protector," which paired the Hong Kong action star with Danny Aiello.
But today, a slew of Hong Kong actors and directors - including Chan - are ready to add some Eastern spice to Americans' steady diet of action movies.
Although Hong Kong action films - mind-bendingly violent but laced with slapstick - trace their roots to the mainland Chinese cinema of the 1930s, they are the antithesis of the upscale mainland art-house films currently gaining worldwide critical acclaim.
While not the darlings of Cannes, the Hong Kong action filmmakers have nevertheless developed an influential cadre of supporters in the United States - among them director Quentin Tarantino, Miramax Co-chairman Harvey Weinstein and New Line Cinema Chairman Bob Shaye.
Meanwhile, the commercial success of Hong Kong director John Woo in the United States has helped break down barriers at the major studios.
In January, New Line Cinema will release Chan's "Rumble in the Bronx" on a whopping 1,000 screens nationwide. And in the second half of 1996, Miramax Films will follow with platform releases of two classic Chan titles, "Drunken Master II" and "Crime Story."
Quentin Tarantino will launch his Miramax imprint, Rolling Thunder, with Wong Kar-wai's "Chungking Express," a tale of Hong Kong cops dumped by their girlfriends.
And John Woo's follow-up effort to "Hard Target" is Fox's big March action movie, "Broken Arrow."
Few speak English well
There are plenty of obstacles for Hong Kong filmmakers in the United States. Few of them speak English well enough to direct Western stars. And...