Look, let’s be real. If you mentions the 2004 version of Around the World in 80 Days, most film nerds will start talking about "tax write-offs" and "the end of an era." It’s famous for all the wrong reasons. It cost a fortune—roughly $110 million—and then basically tripped over its own feet at the box office. But if you’re like me and grew up watching Jackie Chan jump off buildings and hit people with ladders, this movie occupies a very weird, very specific corner of your heart.
It wasn't just a movie; it was a chaotic, high-budget fever dream that tried to mash Jules Verne’s classic Victorian adventure with Hong Kong slapstick.
The Passepartout Problem (or Solution?)
In the original book, Passepartout is a French valet who just wants a quiet life. In the movie, Around the World in 80 Days Jackie Chan turns that character into Lau Xing, a Chinese warrior who steals a Jade Buddha and hides out as Phileas Fogg's servant.
It’s a huge departure. Purists hated it. Honestly, though? Steve Coogan as the eccentric, socially awkward Phileas Fogg is kinda perfect. He’s neurotic and brilliant, which balances out Jackie’s high-energy physical comedy. The chemistry is there, even if the script feels like it was written by five different people who weren't allowed to talk to each other.
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You've got a plot that moves at 100 miles per hour. One minute they're in a steampunk London, the next they're in a village in China fighting the "Black Scorpions." It's definitely not the book your English teacher told you to read.
The Cameos Are Absolutely Out of Control
One thing nobody talks about enough is the sheer amount of random celebrities shoved into this film. It’s like the producers just called everyone in their contact list.
- Arnold Schwarzenegger shows up as Prince Hapi, a narcissistic Turkish prince with a wig that should have won its own Oscar. It was his last role before he went full "Governator" of California.
- The Wilson Brothers (Luke and Owen) play the Wright Brothers. Because sure, why not?
- Macy Gray is a sleeping woman in France.
- Rob Schneider is a hobo in San Francisco.
- John Cleese pops up as a grumpy sergeant.
It’s distracting, yeah. But it’s also sort of the charm. It feels like a giant party that someone spent $100 million on, and we were all just invited to watch the footage.
Why it tanked (and why that's okay)
The movie grossed about $72 million worldwide. Against a $110 million budget, plus marketing, that is a disaster. Disney basically took a $100 million loss on this one.
Why did it fail? Well, it came out at a weird time. The market was crowded with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Shrek 2. You can't fight a swamp ogre and a wizard boy at the same time and expect to win. Plus, critics were brutal. They called it "manic" and "identity-less."
But here’s the thing: Jackie Chan was 50 years old when this came out. He was still doing most of his own stunts. The fight in the art gallery with the paint? Classic Jackie. The fight in the Statue of Liberty workshop? It's creative, fast-paced, and genuinely funny. While it's not Police Story, it has that "action-choreography-as-dance" quality that only he can pull off.
What people get wrong about the 2004 version
Most people compare it to the 1956 Best Picture winner. That’s a mistake. The 1956 version is a travelogue. The 2004 version is a kung-fu comedy.
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If you go into Around the World in 80 Days Jackie Chan expecting a faithful adaptation of Verne, you’re gonna have a bad time. But if you view it as a live-action cartoon—sort of a big-budget version of the Jackie Chan Adventures animated series—it’s actually a blast.
What you should do next
If you haven't seen it in twenty years, or if you only remember the bad reviews, give it another shot on a rainy Sunday.
- Watch for the Sammo Hung cameo. Jackie’s real-life "big brother" shows up as Wong Fei-hung, and seeing those two legends on screen together is always worth the price of admission.
- Look past the CGI. Some of the green screen hasn't aged well, but the practical sets are actually quite impressive.
- Check out the "making of" clips. Unlike many of Jackie’s other US films, this one didn’t have the classic blooper reel during the credits, but the behind-the-scenes footage of the stunt team working in Thailand and Berlin is incredible.
The movie is a relic of a time when studios would take massive, insane risks on weird genre mashups. We don’t really get movies like this anymore. Everything is a franchise or a gritty reboot now. Sometimes, you just need a movie where a guy in a top hat and a martial artist travel the world in a hot air balloon while fighting off ninjas and Arnold Schwarzenegger.