[2024.05.18] SOI CHEANG, LOUIS KOO LEAD THE WALLED IN GANG TO CANNES

Tony Wu, German Cheung, Louis Koo, director Soi Cheang, Raymond Lam and Terrance Lau visit Cannes to build momentum for their new film

Raymond Lam takes a selfie with fans and is very popular
courtesy of on.cc

courtesy of singtao.com

Louis Koo is very popular with fans, as they fight for photos with him

Cheuk Wan Chi, Stanley Kwan and Jun Li share their experience with film production grants

German Cheung, Raymond Lam, Tony Wu and Terrance Lau make kung fu poses at the press conference

The TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS team announces that they will finalize the preparation for the film of the prequel and the final chapter
 courtesy of mingpao.com

The 77th Cannes Film Festival opened a few days ago, attracting many movie stars to attend. The film TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN (GAU LUNG SING JAI JI WAI SING) was selected for the "Midnight Screening" segment as the Hong Kong representative, and director Soi Cheang Pou Soi recently led stars Louis Koo Tin Lok, Raymond Lam Fung, Terrance Lau Chun Him, Tony Wu Tsz Tung and German Cheung Man Kit to fly there to build momentum. In addition to attending the press conference, they even appeared at the premiere there yesterday and walk on the red carpet. They received an enthusiastic response, and the audience applauded for nearly 10 minutes after the "Midnight Screening". Cheang Pou Soi was happy about the success of Hong Kong-made action movies, which meant a lot to him. Louis Koo hopes that bringing the Kowloon Walled City back to life through the film would boost Hong Kong's tourism industry. The production team announced yesterday that it was preparing to shoot the TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS trilogy.

Actually Hong Kong films have been missing from Cannes for many years. The last Hong Kong film was selected for the "Midnight Screening" was the 2013 movie BLIND DETECTIVE (MAN TAM), so when a group of sharply dressed men stepped on the red carpet the flash bulbs flashed non-stop. Aside from Koo Tin Lok, who the media and the fans were asking for photos and autographs, Lam Fung who stepped foot in Cannes for the firs time was also very popular. All of his fan-spoiling acts like signing autographs, taking selfies and chatting were caught on the event's live broadcast. Even though earlier he was said to be swollen and old, he seemed to have successfully lost weight and beyond handsome on the red carpet. After the midnight premiere of TWILIGHT, the audience stood up and cheered one after another for 10 minutes of cheer and applause. Cheung Man Kit and Wu Tsz Tung were moved to tears. Cheang Pou Soi would like to thank the audience. "This film was very fortunate to have an awesome production team and actors, they are some of the best artists in Hong Kong. For me, this movie is very meaningful and significant, and I would like to thank them and the Cannes Film Festival for choosing this very domestic action film, and many thanks to the selection committee and the chairman. I also want to thanks Kinnie Cheung and Angus Chan; only because they persevered for 8 years this film came out. I hope I will have another film to show everyone in Cannes in the future." The audience gathered around the director and actors, asked for autographs, took photos and hug them. However, they still did not steal the spotlight like Koo Tin Lok did. Because he rarely broke his previously beyond cool image, when he put up his dukes to pose for pictures the result was unexpectedly cute.

Cheang Pou Soi admitted that he has never, ever fantasized about setting foot in Cannes. "Of course I was happy when I found out, and I am the happiest that a domestic action movie can be so successful." Koo Tin Lok joked, "It's only because you are talented!" Cheang Pou Soi responded, "Everyone has a share! I only got this talented when I found you!" Being able to bring a film full of Hong Kong nostalgia to Cannes, Cheang Pou Soi said, "I am very happy; I just talked to the reporters about this movie, and they felt it too." Koo Tin Lok also talked about the revival of the already demolished Kowloon Walled City. "The Kowloon Walled City has been demolished, and we hope to revive the Walled City, to a certain extent, in the hope of boosting Hong Kong's tourism industry." He also joked that coming to Cannes, he would have to get enough sleep and delicious seafood platters.

The "Four Sons of the Walled City" all expressed their deep feelings for their first visit to Cannes, and Lam Fung gave special thanks to the director, "I never imagined that we brothers could come to Cannes together and promote Hong Kong films to audiences all over the world. We will continue to work hard." Lau Chun Him also said, "Just like a pioneering act, I am able participate with the Master Class (referring to Cheang Pou Soi and Koo Tin Lok). I have never thought that I could come to such a big film festival, I am so happy." Wu Tsz Tung said frankly that he would like to thank the whole team, otherwise he would not have the opportunity to participate in a large-scale film festival. From the film being selected to everything else all felt fresh to him, and he often reminded himself to enjoy them. Cheung Man Kit smiled and pointed out that he felt that he was still dreaming and he didn't know if it was true. Koo Tin Lok who was next to him joked that that was why he told everyone to get enough sleep.

The team also attended the "Hong Kong Night" reception, during which Koo Tin Lok expressed his hope to introduce the film to the world, "Because the Kowloon Walled City has been demolished, we have the feeling of having been there firsthand. We hope to introduce it to everyone in the world through the film, for them to know that we used to have a Kowloon Walled City." Lam Fung said, "We four sons had a farewell scene with Koo Tin Lok, in which he gave us his trust. We have always thanked him for lending us a hand, cherishing and supporting Hong Kong films. As a part of Hong Kong film, we hope to continue to contribute." Lau Chun Him said, "We fight together in the film, but actually people rarely have the opportunity to do one thing without regret, so the scene in the movie is deeply and touching to me." Wu Tsz Tung found the reunion scenes of the four sons in the film unforgettable, pointing out that the story taught them to do what they thought they should -- just like doing his own jobs well and improving Hong Kong. Cheung Man Kit said that for the scene with Tornado and Wong Gau, they were very emotional and very heartbroken on the day of the filming. It was very profound to him.

The Hong Kong Film Development Council (FDC), Create Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) set up a Hong Kong Pavilion at the Cannes Film Market during the Cannes Film Festival, organizing 6 networking events, 5 industry networking events and 9 film screenings to showcase a wide range of outstanding Hong Kong films to filmmakers from around the world.

Koo Tin Lok and the film team, together with the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Kevin Yeung Yun Hung, attended the "Hong Kong Night" reception that was organized by the Hong Kong Film Development Council, Create Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council at the Cannes Film Festival. The event invited more than 600 industry professionals from all over the world to exchange views and discuss collaboration opportunities. Aside from the TWILIGHT team, many film directors and filmmakers like Stanley Kwan Kam Peng, Cheuk Wan Chi, Wing Shya, Sylvia Chang and the fresh out of the oven Hong Kong Film Awards Best Supporting Actress Rachel Leung Yung Ting were present, as well as Permanent Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Joe Wong Chi-jo, Assistant Director of Create Hong Kong and Secretary General of the Film Development Council Gary Mak Shing-hei, and members of the Hong Kong Film Development Council Angus Chan Lo-chiu, Mathew Tang Hon-keung, Tsui Kuan, Frankie Yeung Wai-shing and Cora Yim Ka-yin all attended the event to show their support for the development of the Hong Kong film industry. During the ceremony, the winners of the Hong Kong-Asian Film Collaboration Funding Scheme to promote the expansion of co-productions in Asia and international markets were announced. Kwan Kam Peng, Jun Li Chun Shek and Cheuk Wan Chi represented the two award winning projects in sharing their experience and photo opportunities. A number of Hong Kong films would be screened at the Cannes Market, including LOVE LIES, PEG O' MY HEART, AN ABANDONED TEAM, FIGHT FOR TOMORROW and VITAL SIGNS, none of which have been released in Hong Kong yet.

Since its release early this month, TWILIGHT's box office kept climbing. As of two day ago the Hong Kong box office was HK$ 55,187,318 and the mainland box office exceeded 500 million yuan. The "Four Sons of the Walled City" in order to thank viewers for their support last night went live from Cannes to share the joy with viewers and fans. The film's original novel author Yu Yi also shared good news on social media, citing that TWILIGHT would become a trilogy with TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: DRAGON THRONE (GAU LUNG SING JAI JI LUNG TAU) and TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: THE FINAL CHAPTER (GAU LUNG SING JAI JI JUNG JEUNG). In addition to the Koo Tin Lok and Aaron Kwok Fu Sing played "Tornado" and "Ah Jim" respectively, the internet has been looking forward to who will play the character "Lui Chun Tung", who has not yet appeared. The official social media of TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN later also announced that the team has confirmed the production of the prequel and final chapter of TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS, namely the "Tornado" mentioned DRAGON THRONE in the film; and the extension of the story of "The Four Youths of the Walled City" in THE FINAL CHAPTER. Reportedly the creative and production team would be the original team, but no casting has been revealed. Lau Chun Him became popular for playing Shun Yat in the film, and it is rumored that a movie about the character would start production. Some online discover on the Hong Kong Film Development Council's funding schemes website that UNDERWORLD (GAU LUNG SING JAI SHUN YUT JUEN) was selected for the "Content Development Scheme For Streaming Platform " and was approved to raise $1.2 million in February this year. According to the information, Cheang Pou Soi would produce, and Jonathan Li Tsz Chun would direct.