Is 2013 The Year Of Jackie Chan?

Jackie Chan has always flown under the radar, as far as Hollywood goes. Despite a gaffe here and there, the Hong Kong action star usually keeps a low profile.

But 2013 has been a big year for Jackie Chan. What, with the whole dying thing and all. Mr. Chan has died no less than three times in 2013, a very productive year for celebrity hoaxes. And it’s not even over yet! As busy as dying has kept Jackie Chan, it’s likely even more time-consuming doing the whole resurrection thing.

This of course comes after Jackie Chan un-retired from action films to make Skiptrace and Police Story 2013, the latter of which had a trailer released recently. It’s cool that Jackie wants to branch out for more dramatic roles and being typecast sucks for anyone in Hollywood, but you must stick with what works, sir.

“Six more months and I’m going to be 60,” Chan said via Reuters. “And I (will) see how far I can go until my body tells me, ‘Stop.'”

That sounds like dangerous fuel for the Jackie Chan death rumor mill, with a direct quote and everything.

Then there was the time that Jackie Chan, famous for his fancy footwork, had to pretty much have one of those feet surgically removed after appearing to stick it all the way in his mouth, figuratively speaking. Saying he likes seeing nations get hit by natural disasters isn’t Chan’s first gaffe, but it was taken out of context with the best of them.

“I should not say this, but sometimes I really like to see a country having a disaster, or a big tsunami, or a big earthquake,” were Jackie Chan’s famous words.

These, of course, were followed up with the proper context, in which he explains that such events inspire greater international cooperation and good will. Jackie’s unfortunate word choice took place during his promotion for Chinese Zodiac, which saw a mid-October U.S. release. According to the man himself, Jackie Chan’s highlight of that press jaunt was meeting director James Cameron. The two discussed potential future collaboration, according to Chan’s blog.

Maybe that’s the break Jackie Chan needs to make the jump to more serious cinematic endeavors.