Wu Jing’s Wolf Warrior 2 is only the second movie in history to reach $800 million in box office collections in a single territory
Action thriller Wolf Warrior 2, has become only the second movie in history to reach over $800 million in box office collections in a single territory. Wu Jing, an Executive MBA student at Beijing’s Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB), directed, co-wrote, and produced it.
Hugely popular in China, the martial arts movie tells the story of a disgraced military man who becomes China’s only hope in extraditing its citizens from an African civil war.
Released in late July this year, its earnings have far exceeded the $89 million of its 2015 prequel. Only Star Wars: The Force Awakens has attracted more, with over $936 million in cumulative box office collections in North America alone.
Wu Jing—also referred to as Jacky or Jing Wu—was born into a Manchurian martial arts family and started training at the Beijing Sports Institute at Shichaihai at just six years old.
Like Jet Li before him, he trained under legendary Kung Fu master Wu Bing and competed with the Beijng Wushu Team. Aged 12, he was winning martial arts competitions nationwide. For the past two decades, he’s been a mainstay on the Hong Kong martial arts movie scene.
Despite his physical prowess, Wu Jing’s direct business experience in the business of movies is limited. So, following the footsteps of his trusted friend Michelle Ye, an actress from the Hong Kong movie scene who also expanded her acting career into productions and business through a CKGSB EMBA, in 2016, he joined the two-year Executive MBA program at CKGSB. His low-key demeanor and serious attitude earned her high regards from his business magnate classmates.
On the CKGSB EMBA, students learn how to apply Western management theories in the Chinese business environment, covering topics like globalization, emerging markets, humanities, and leadership.
EMBA elective courses include: The Globalization of Chinese Business; Business Leadership and Entrepreneurship; Cross-Cultural Management; and Sun Zi: the Art of War.
CKGSB has over 40 full-time professors who’ve earned PhDs or held faculty positions at top b-schools like Harvard, Wharton and Stanford. And CKGSB EMBA students meet with professors once a month for four consecutive days of lectures, case studies, group work, and business visits.
Wu Jing is not the only high-profile figure to attend CKGSB since the school’s founding in 2002. Jack Ma, inspirational entrepreneur and founder and CEO of Alibaba, completed the China CEO program at CKGSB in 2006.
In May, Li Na, a two-time Grand Slam tennis champion and former women’s world number two, enrolled on a two-year program for senior management executives.
In fact, more than half of CKGSB’s 10,000-plus alumni are at CEO or Chairman level and, together, they lead one fifth of China’s most valuable brands.
With great success comes great responsibility. CKGSB is the first Chinese business school that requires students to complete at least 48 hours of philanthropic service prior to graduation.
It’s something that Wu Jing—who volunteered for the One Foundation helping victims of the Sichuan Earthquake in 2008—should be well suited to.
A mega-rich movie star, armed with an Executive MBA, and ready to take on the business world—Wu Jing is one to look out for.
*Written by Marco De Novellis, first appeared in www.BusinessBecause.com
