Got this report about the state of Hong Kong film (and HK filmmakers that have moved on) by our Hong Kong Detective... Tequila. Tequila kicks ass to find out what we need to know, he has hoods all over digging for info. So stay tuned for more updates from Tequila!!!
1.) John Woo has signed on the dotted line to direct Mission Impossible 2 next summer. In the same page, there was another less reliable report saying he signed, but had to rescind. It did say that he will work with Cruise in two years on "The Devil Soldier." (If you didn't know, this would be about the American who helped crush the Taiping Rebellion in the 1860's in China. It's based on the book of the same name." If Mission Impossible is made, it would be after "King's Ransom." Initially Mel Gibson was rumored to star with Chow Yun-Fat. Now it looks like Nicholas Cage will. It should start production in the Fall. Supposedly, Woo is making another TV pilot (like "Once a Thief") with Dolph Lundgren. There is another project in the works with John Travolta and Nicole Kidman that is a Phantom of the Opera remake. John Woo just finished filming commercials for Nike.
2.) Tsui Hark (Steven Spielberg of Hong Kong) will start his third Hollywood film sans Claud Van Dumb. Whoopi Goldberg and Steven Chow Sing Chi will star. I think it will take place in Las Vegas. Initially Jet Li was going to be in it. If you didn't know, Steven Chow is actually the biggest movie star, in Hong Kong. His comedies have consistently outgrossed better known stars such as Jackie Chan, Chow Yun-Fat, and Jet Li. It's questionable whether his brand of comedy which relies on the difficult word play of Cantonese will be popular in the US. In some ways he is like Jim Carrey, and Jim Carrey has stolen some of his gags, as he has been around for alot longer. You might find some of his comedies interesting as they are parodies of US films that are popular in Hong Kong. In "From Beijing With Love," he is a hick version of James Bond. "The Sixty-Million Dollar Man" is like Carrey's the Mask, and "Out of the Dark" is based on "The Professional." He became popular on his parodies of Chow Yun-Fat's God of Gamblers which you may have seen. (Actually there are rumors that God of Gamblers and the Killer will be re-made in the US). He also has made alot of period pieces that demonstrate his Kung-Fu.
3.) Jet Li will be the villain in the new Lethal Weopon film. He has flown in one of the world's four best fight choreographers to do the action. This man's name is Corey Yuen Kwai. He was a Peking Opera schoolmate of Jackie Chan. It was his movies "Yes Madam," "Royal Warriors," and "Righting Wrongs" that made Michelle Khan and Cynthia Rothrack the international superstars they are today. Many people also don't know that he directed Van Damme's "Bloodsport." His latest Hong Kong film might interest you because it stars none other than Shannon Lee, the daughter of Bruce Lee. It's called either "Now You're Dead," "Enter the Eagle," or "Guts all Over." It might play in US theatres. You can expect Lethal Weopon IV to be awesome if he's handling the action.
4.) Watch for the name Kirk Wong. I think he's finished one US film and is working on another. You might have seen him direct Jackie Chan in "Crime Story." Two other super-intense and brutal police movies you might like are called "Organized Crime and Triad Bureau" (a real bureau in HK) and "Rock and Roll Cop."
5.) Van Damme's next film might actually be "cool." It was filmed in Hong Kong by Tsui Hark during the handover. It is pretty much a no-holds-barred Hong Kong film, but with a Hollywood budget. Van Damme was only used in the close-ups of the action so was completely doubled for by HK stuntmen. The action was handled by none other than the world's #1 fight choreographer Sammo Hung Kam Bo. Sammo Hung is Jackie Chan's Peking Opera brother. In fact Sammo is the only one who is above Jackie in the Hong Kong stuntman pecking order. If you haven't seen him, you absolutely must have to check out "Project A," Wheels on Meals," and especially "Dragon's Forever." All three star Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, and Yuen Biao. They are know as the Three Dragons and were beat mercifully together for ten years in the Peking Opera as teenagers. All three then toiled as bit players during the kung-fu boom of the 70's until making it big in 1978. You have actually seen Sammo Hung fight Bruce Lee in the opening scenes of "Enter the Dragon" in front of the monks. He is working on multiple scripts in Hollywood right now. He was offered by George Lucas to be the action director for all of the new Star Wars movies, but turned it down as he didn't want to be attached to a project for so long.
