(Los Angeles, February 27, 1997) -- Having earned more than $50 million at the box office on Jackie Chan's two most recent films, New Line Cinema has acquired worldwide distribution rights excluding the Far East to Chan's latest fare, the highly sought-after Mr. Nice Guy, it was jointly announced today by Mark Ordesky, Executive Vice President of Acquisitions and Co-Productions for New Line, and Tom Gray, Senior Vice President of Golden Harvest.

The deal for Mr. Nice Guy further solidifies New Line's multi-picture relationship with Golden Harvest and the venerable action star. Since 1995, the companies have partnered together on Rumble in The Bronx and First Strike, which successfully introduced Chan into the North American marketplace as an action hero with unparalleled skills and talent. Golden Harvest has produced Chan's films since 1980.

In Mr. Nice Guy, Chan plays the host of a beloved television cooking show who is caught in a criminal conspiracy when he mistakenly finds a videotape that documents incriminating evidence against a group of thugs. New Line International will begin pre-selling the film immediately to overseas territories at AFM, which opens today in Santa Monica.

"No one can deliver action like Jackie Chan," Ordesky said. "He is truly a global phenomenon whose work just gets better and better. Investing in Jackie Chan is smart business and we hope to continue our association with him and Golden Harvest for a long time to come."

American interest in Chan's career has surged since last February's debut of Rumble in the Bronx. Among his many projects in development, he was tapped to star in the upcoming high profile Joe Eszterhas project An Alan Smithee Film. But his inevitable success in the United States should come as no surprise to anyone knowledgeable about this icon of action-comedy.

A writer, director, and producer, Chan has starred in more than 40 films since he burst into the action-adventure film scene in 1976 following Bruce Lee's untimely death. A one-man industry, he often uses equipment rented from companies he created to improve the technical quality of Hong Kong filmmaking. He was also instrumental in forming a stunt professionals union and he hires actors supplied by his own casting and modeling agency.

New Line and Golden Harvest first teamed in 1990 for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the most successful independent film ever released. The collaboration continued through two Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sequels.