Tony Jaa made his silver screen debut in the 1992 action film ‘Singh Siam’ directed by Panna Rittikrai. He next starred in films like ‘Hard Gun’ (1996), ‘Mission Hunter 2’ (1996), ‘Mortal Kombat: Annihilation’ (1997), and ‘Nuk leng klong yao’ (2001). In 2003, he portrayed ‘Ting’ in the Thai martial arts film ‘Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior’ directed by Prachya Pinkaew. The film earned praise from critics and was a box office success. Jaa also won the ‘Star Entertainment Award’ for his performance in the film. After making a cameo appearance in the 2004 wire-fu action comedy film ‘The Bodyguard,’ he starred as ‘Kham’ in the 2005 Thai martial arts action film ‘Tom-Yum-Goong’ directed by Prachya Pinkaew.
The film was a decent commercial success and grossed over $27 million on a budget of $5 million. He next appeared in films like ‘The Bodyguard 2’ (2007), ‘Ong Bak 2’ (2008), ‘Ong Bak 3’ (2010), ‘Tom Yum Goong 2’ (2013), and ‘Skin Trade’ (2014).
In 2015, he played the role of ‘Kiet’ in the American action film ‘Furious 7’ directed by James Wan. The film was warmly received by critics and was a massive box office success, grossing over $1.516 billion on a budget of $250 million. The same year, he also starred as ‘Chai’ in the Cheang Pou-soi-directed Hong Kong-Chinese martial arts action film ‘SPL II: A Time for Consequences.’
The film received positive reviews from critics and performed well at the box office, grossing over $90.27 million on a $23 million budget. He continued to star in films like ‘Never Back Down: No Surrender’ (2016), ‘XXX: Return of Xander Cage’ (2017), ‘Paradox’ (2017), ‘Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy’ (2018), ‘Triple Threat’ (2019), ‘Jiu Jitsu’ (2020), and ‘Monster Hunter’ (2020). Jaa was last seen in the 2021 Chinese comedy-mystery buddy film ‘Detective Chinatown 3’ directed by Chen Sicheng. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and grossed over $686 million on a budget of $117 million. He will be next seen in the upcoming American action film ‘The Expendables 4.’
9. Ong Bak 2 (2008)
$8.936.663 million.
is a 2008 Thai martial arts film co-directed by Panna Rittikrai and Tony Jaa. Starring Jaa, it is a standalone prequel to the 2003 film Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior. Set in 15th century Thailand, the film revolves around Tien, the son of a murdered nobleman. Captured and sold into slavery, Tien is saved from death by Chernang, the leader of the Pha Beek Khrut, a group of martial artists specialising in various Asian combat styles. Chernang takes Tien under his wing and realizes unsurpassed physical potential in the boy by training him in all the different types of Asian martial arts. When Tien grows up, he goes on a lone mission of vengeance against the slave traders and the treacherous warlord who killed his family.RELATED:
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8. Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior (2003)
$20.112.926 million.
is a 2003 Thai martial arts film directed by Prachya Pinkaew, featured stunt choreography by Panna Rittikrai and starring Tony Jaa. Ong-Bak proved to be Jaa’s breakout film, with the actor hailed internationally as the next major martial arts star. In the village of Ban Nong Pradu in rural northeastern Thailand lies an ancient statue named Ong-Bak. The village falls in despair after thieves from Bangkok desecrate the statue and take the head with them. Ting, a villager extremely skilled in Muay Thai, volunteers to travel to Bangkok to recover the stolen head of Ong-Bak. His only lead is Don, a drug dealer who attempted to buy an amulet in Nong Pradu one day earlier.
7. Tom-Yum-Goong (2005)
$27 million.
is a 2005 Thai martial arts action film directed by Prachya Pinkaew and stars Tony Jaa in the lead role. Pinkaew also directed Jaa’s prior breakout film Ong-Bak. As with Ong-Bak, the fights were choreographed by Jaa and his mentor Panna Rittikrai. Kham is the last of a family line of guards who once watched over the King of Thailand’s war elephants. Following the tradition, Kham takes great care in raising the animals and grows up forming close relations to his elephant Por Yai and its calf Kohrn. During the Songkran festival, the animals are stolen by elephant poachers with the help from Mr. Suthep, a local MP and his son. Kham raids Mr. Suthep’s house and beats up the poachers. However, the elephants are now in the hands of Johnny, a Vietnamese gangster who runs Tom Yum Goong Otob, a Thai restaurant in Sydney, Australia.
6. Monster Hunter (2020)
$44.5 million.
film written, directed, and produced by Paul W. S. Anderson, based on the video game series of the same name by Capcom. The film stars Milla Jovovich in her fifth outing together with Anderson as director and herself as lead actor. The other cast members include Tony Jaa, Tip Harris, Meagan Good, Diego Boneta, Josh Helman, Jin Au-Yeung, and Ron Perlman. The film follows Artemis (Jovovich) and her loyal soldiers when they are transported to a new world, where they engage in a battle for survival against enormous monsters with powers.
5. Paradox (2017)
$80.84 million.
is a Hong Kong action film directed by Wilson Yip, co-produced by Soi Cheang, with action direction by Sammo Hung. Written by Jill Leung and Nick Cheuk, the film stars Louis Koo as a police inspector who travels to Pattaya to search for his teenage daughter and is aided by local detectives played by Tony Jaa and Wu Yue. Along the way, he encounters the mastermind of an organ trafficking gang (Chris Collins) who colludes with a local political aide (Gordon Lam), leading to a series of hot pursuit.
4. Kill Zone 2 (2015)
$90.27 million.
SPL II: A Time for Consequences (also known as Sha po lang 2 or Kill Zone 2) is a 2015 Hong Kong-Chinese martial arts action film directed by Cheang Pou-soy and produced by Wilson Yip and Paco Wong. The film stars Tony Jaa, Wu Jing, Simon Yam and Zhang Jin, as well as Louis Koo. The film was released on June 18, 2015 in both 3D and non-3D. While undercover officer Kit is taken prisoner by the syndicate, he befriends his keeper and discovers an organ trafficking ring. While undercover officer Kit is taken prisoner by the syndicate, he befriends his keeper and discovers an organ trafficking ring.
3. XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017)
$346.1 million.
is a 2017 American action thriller film directed by D.J. Caruso and written by F. Scott Frazier. The film stars Vin Diesel in the lead role, Donnie Yen, Deepika Padukone, Kris Wu, Ruby Rose, Tony Jaa, Nina Dobrev, Toni Collette, Ariadna Gutiérrez, Hermione Corfield, and Samuel L. Jackson. It is the third installment in the XXX film series and a sequel to both XXX (2002) and XXX: State of the Union (2005). Paramount Pictures released the film on January 20, 2017, in 2D, RealD 3D and IMAX 3D. Xander Cage, years later, returns from self-imposed exile and finds himself in a crazy maelstrom of events. He gathers a team of crazy thrill-seekers, with whom he will have to find the most powerful secret weapon – “Pandora’s Box”. You need to act quickly: dangerous thugs are hunting for development. The stakes in the deadly game are raised when it turns out that the world’s governments are involved in a bloody conspiracy, and the fate of the world is at stake.RELATED:
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2. Detective Chinatown 3 (2021)
$686 million.
is a 2021 Chinese comedy mystery buddy film directed and written by Chen Sicheng. The film set several box office records, including the biggest opening weekend ever in a single territory. Grossing over US$699 million, becoming the highest-grossing non-American R-rated film of all time. It is also the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2021 and the sixth-highest-grossing non-English film of all time. Tang Ren, Qin Feng and Noda Hiroshi go to find Kobayashi Anna, whom they think is the key to the case and whom Tang Ren has already fallen for. But they find she’s been kidnapped by Murata Akira (Sometani Shota), a notorious serial killer/rapist and member of the mysterious Q organisation.