If you’re in love with martial arts, Jackie Chan, Jet Li or all three together, then your dream will come true, as Lionsgate’s release “The Forbidden Kingdom” will run in the U.S. theaters this weekend.

“The Forbidden Kingdom” is a total surprise for the fans of the two action heroes as this is their first appearance onscreen together. Talking about this, director Rob Minkoff (“The Lion King,” “The Haunted Mansion,” “Stuart Little”) told The Vancouver Sun: “They’re huge stars around the world, but in China they’re like mega-superstars. But that was also the tricky thing, because Jet and Jackie have not been together in a movie for a reason. They are very different in their personas — not only in their martial arts styles but in their acting styles. That was a big part of the job — creating a movie in which they could coexist and that presented them in the same universe.”

The movie, a martial arts fantasy, is likely to sweep away the number one place at the American box office this weekend with up to $20 million during its first three days.“We’ll be very happy with a gross of $15 million or beyond, but tracking certainly indicates that we have a shot at doing in the high teens or better,” said Steve Rothenberg president of distribution at Lionsgate, which is partnered on the project with the Weinstein Co., Reuters reports.To make the story short, the subject of the movie is silly and the characters seem like hand-me-downs from kung fu classics. The concept for “The Forbidden Kingdom” is essentially, “What if you got to live a kung fu story?” Filmed in China and based on the Chinese legend of the Monkey King, the movie tells the story of Jason (Michael Angarano), a nerdy Boston teenager who loves kung fu movies. He has become friends with an elderly pawnshop owner in Chinatown who has a great collection of Tsui Hark and Shaw Brothers DVDs, as well as a mysterious staff.When the owner gets shot in a robbery, he tells Jason to return the staff to its rightful owner. Chased by the robbers, Jason falls off a roof and passes away. He wakes up in the Middle Kingdom and his pursuers are replaced by the minions of the tyrannical Jade Warlord.Rescued at the last second by the deceptively deadly drunk Lu Yan (Chan), Jason learns that the staff belongs to the Monkey King (Li), who was tricked by the Warlord into parting with it. Along the path to the Jade Warlord’s castle, they meet a fighting monk (also Jet Li) with long, whip-like sleeves, and a beautiful young assassin, Golden Sparrow (Yifei Lui).“The Forbidden Kingdom” is nothing like the other movies that jump between two worlds like “The Wizard Of Oz,” “Back To The Future” or “The Terminator.” Novelty doesn’t seem to be a top priority on its screenwriter’s list. John Fusco indulges in a number of clichés from different genres, such as teen movies (the bullies who mock Jason for his kung fu interests), kung fu movies (his “master” is shot early) and revenge movie (soldiers raze a village for no apparent reason, leaving one survivor to seek vengeance).The movie struggles to keep interest whenever Li and Chan aren’t onscreen or someone isn’t fighting. However, one thing is for sure: Chan and Li acting and fighting together in a film will likely never happen again. In fact, this is what producer Case Silver relied on when he first thought about making the movie.“The Forbidden Kingdom” takes the insane fight choreography from “Crouching Tiger”/ “Matrix” trilogy’s Woo-Ping Yuen and transforms it into an athletic ballet. Too bad these scenes take only half an hour while the remaining 90 minutes are mere mediocrity.However, Chan and Li will likely bring “The Forbidden Kingdom” supremacy over other movies scheduled to appear this weekend such as Universal’s R-rated comedy “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” Sony’s thriller “88 Minutes” starring Al Pacino and the creation-theory documentary “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.”

“The Forbidden Kingdom”

Released by: Lionsgate

Cast: Michael Angarano, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Collin Chou, Liu Yifei, Li Bing Bing

Director: Rob Minkoff

Screenwriter: John Fusco

Producer: Case Silver

Running Time: 113 minutes

Rating: PG-13 for violence, language, racism

Where: Bay Area Theaters