The One turns 25 this week, and its star-vs-star multiverse action remains a fan favourite. The 2001 American science fiction action film, directed by James Wong and written by Wong and Glen Morgan, stars Jet Li, Delroy Lindo, Carla Gugino, and Jason Statham, with action choreography by Corey Yuen. The film deals with the concept of the multiverse and interdimensional travel. Here is the breakdown of how the production made Jet Li fight himself.
The Rock was nearly the One
Originally the film was to have starred Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, before Li assumed the lead role. Li’s character, Gabriel Yulaw, is a rogue agent who once worked for the MultiVerse Authority and travels to parallel realities to kill other versions of himself. By killing his other selves and absorbing their life energies, Yulaw believes he will become a super-powered, godlike being called “The One”.
Hospital scenes used a real medical center
The hospital scenes were filmed at the North Hollywood Medical Center. In the Charis Universe, the last known variant, Gabe Law, is a deputy sheriff who has been experiencing increases in strength, speed, and mental ability for two years. After he is injured and taken to hospital, MVA agents Roedecker and Funsch track Yulaw there before the identical men escape.
The DVD documentary explains two martial arts
The documentary Jet Li Is ‘The One’ in the special features section on the DVD explains that both Gabriel Yulaw and “Gabe” Law use martial arts that represent their personalities. The action choreography was by Corey Yuen.
Yulaw fights with Xingyiquan
Yulaw uses Xingyiquan (The Shape-Will Fist), characterized by aggressive linear movements. His personality is very direct, and he does not care whom he hurts.
Gabe answers with Baguazhang
Gabe uses Baguazhang (The Eight Trigram Palms), which uses subtle, circular movements. Gabe believes life goes in a circle, perfectly balanced. Gabe also “feels” Yulaw’s presence in time to avoid being shot, and realizes Yulaw is identical to him in every way.
A score was released but no album
The score was composed by Trevor Rabin, conducted by Gordon Goodwin and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony. It was released on December 11, 2001, but no soundtrack album was released.
Home video unpacked the making
The One was released on home video on August 19, 2002. The DVD contained audio commentary and interviews with James Wong, Jet Li and others. Almar Haflidason of the BBC reviewed the DVD release giving a score of 4 out of 5.
A UK Blu-ray added more features
A Blu-ray version was released in the UK by 88 Films in November 2022 with additional special features. As of April 2023, the film’s worldwide gross has boosted to $79.6 million.
Which bit of The One’s production trivia do you still remember? Tell us your favourite fact.
Facts from Wikipedia: The One (2001 film), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Film images from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.