Hong Kong action hero Jackie Chan said he wanted to make a film about the massive earthquake which hit China earlier this month to raise money for victims.

Chan is best known for action-packed blockbusters like the Rush Hour series but said the new project would represent a change of tone because he had been so deeply affected by what happened in his homeland.

The official death toll from the quake, which hit Sichuan province on May 12, is now over 55,000. It is China's worst disaster in a generation.

"Tomorrow we have big meeting with some directors, some scriptwriters - why? I want to make the movie about the earthquake because there's so many touching stories," an emotional Chan told a press conference in London.

"Every story I've seen just makes me cry ... I believe there's so, so many touching stories so tomorrow we're going to have a big meeting to see what happens.

"I want through the movie to show the whole world, I really want to salute the whole army of China, really."

He added that the movie would "raise money for charity".

Chan has donated $US1.5 million ($A1.57 million) dollars to help earthquake victims and vowed to help rebuild schools affected by the disaster.