Jackie Chan’s self-imposed U.S. exile after a contract dispute with Lo Wei — and a Triad-linked intervention

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Jackie Chan’s self-imposed U.S. exile after a contract dispute with Lo Wei — and a Triad-linked intervention

Jackie Chan / 1980s

In his autobiography I Am Jackie Chan, Chan recounts a dramatic episode that sent him to America and directly shaped the making of The Big Brawl. After breaking with director-producer Lo Wei — a dominant figure in Chan’s early career who was widely believed to have Triad connections — Chan says he was threatened for breaching his contract. Rather than risk an immediate return to the Hong Kong system, Chan went into a self-imposed exile in the United States, where he pursued American projects such as The Big Brawl (1980). According to Chan, the standoff was ultimately defused not by studio lawyers but by the intervention of actor Jimmy Wang Yu, himself alleged to have Triad links, who negotiated an end to the dispute. Only after that intercession did Chan feel safe enough to resume his Hong Kong career in 1982. The story underscores how, in late-1970s/early-1980s Hong Kong filmmaking, contractual control, personal networks, and the shadow of organized crime could directly redirect a star’s career, forcing Chan into unfamiliar foreign productions at a pivotal moment in his development.