The movie “Detective Tang 1900,” starring Mainland Chinese actors Wang Baoqiang and Liu Haoran, with special guest appearance by Chow Yun-fat (Fat Gor), premiered in Hong Kong on February 10. The entire creative team appeared for promotion. Chow Yun-fat expressed sadness about the poor performance of Hong Kong’s Lunar New Year films this year, stating that if he receives an invitation to a Hong Kong film, he would consider it as long as the script is suitable and the remuneration is negotiable.
For “Detective Tang 1900” to become the box office champion of the Lunar New Year films in Mainland China this year, while Hong Kong Lunar New Year films performed poorly, Chow Yun-fat expressed his hope that audiences would show more support by going to the theaters. Addressing claims by many industry insiders that the Hong Kong film industry has entered a winter season, Chow Yun-fat reminisced about the 1980s golden era of Hong Kong films, where Southeast Asia was a box office stronghold that could support the production of large-scale local films.
Chow Yun-fat recalled, “Later on, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, all produced their own films, no longer needing Hong Kong style foreign language films. The production quantity decreased from over 300 films to just dozens now, I feel a bit sad. The market is very real and brutal, with less funding and subjects, naturally, it will become narrower. Many times, without government funding, it’s very difficult to start filming.” He encouraged those in the industry, saying, “This path is tough, it takes a lot of time to build step by step.”
Director Chen Sicheng of “Detective Tang” stated that Mainland Chinese films usually perform averagely in Hong Kong, so having Chow Yun-fat on board this time, he hopes for good results. Chow Yun-fat responded by saying that he participates only when the script is good, and he recalled back in 1994 when he went to the US for development, director John Woo had invited him to film “A Better Tomorrow in America” which did not happen. Later, John Woo passed away, “I didn’t expect 30 years later, director Chen Sicheng invited me with such a similar theme, it feels like fulfilling the dream I had with director Woo.”
Chow Yun-fat revealed that the role he portrays requires a large amount of English dialogue, which is a big challenge for him. Having ventured into Hollywood in the past, he stated, “I shot a few western films in America, and they don’t add up to as much English as in this film.” Regarding the sequel to “Detective Tang,” Chow Yun-fat jokingly said he will consider an invitation when received, but currently, no one has approached him for it.
As for when he will return to filming Hong Kong movies, Chow Yun-fat mentioned that no one has invited him yet. However, he stated that he would consider it if the script is suitable and the remuneration is definitely “negotiable.” He added that he does not reject foreign language dialogue, but humorously mentioned that he cannot handle the Indian language.