Jet Li has spent many years working as an actor, and he finally landed the kind of paycheck that actors in the U.S. take for granted. Li worked hard to get where he is, and it’s nice to finally see an Asian actor finally get properly compensated. There is a movie, music, and entertainment renaissance occurring in Asia right now that will soon affect the entertainment industry in the U.S. Yahoo reports:

Chinese action star Jet Li is set to rake in 100 million yuan ($13 million) for his latest movie, a record for an actor in a Chinese-language film, state media reported on Sunday.

Nearly half of the $40 million budget for "The Warlords" went to the cast, among whom were Hong Kong heartthrob Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Beijing-based actress and director Xu Jinglei, in addition to Li.

"Without Jet Li, we would not dare to invest $40 million in a Chinese-language film," Xinhua news agency quoted director Peter Chan as saying. Li was a "guarantee" for global sales, Chan said.

Chinese-language movies have registered a string of hits in the past few years, from Ang Lee’s martial arts tale "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," to Zhang Yimou’s ancient history epic "Hero."

The earlier salary record was held by Li himself for his role in "Hero," for which he earned 70 million yuan.

Li, 44, a childhood martial arts champion, has also broken into English-language films, featuring in action pictures such as "Romeo Must Die" and "Lethal Weapon 4."

"The Warlords," a war epic based on a Qing Dynasty story, is slated for release in Asia in mid-December and in North America from next March.

In addition to Chinese movies and dramas, are Korean movies and dramas (aka soap operas series). Many are available online through YouTube, and other sites. Not long ago I wrote a brief article on one Korean drama called Hyang Dan which combines martial arts, drama, comedy, and special effects for a Korean television soap opera, which is displayed with English subtitles. Once you get used to reading the subtitles you’ll find Asian movies and dramas have uniques stories that promote family values, cultural values, and are very entertaining in their own unique way. The best part is they don’t fit the Hollywood model for entertainment we see all the time. Asian film makers are much more willing to break the mold and explore their creative side to entertain an audience. From time to time I will report on Asian actors and actresses, and on movies, and dramas to keep an out for. Once you get used to entertainment from Asia you will realize Hollywood could benefit by embracing Asian creativity.

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