Chapter 246: The Curtain Falls on Hong Kong Cinema
After spending two days in Tokyo, Aaron flew on to his next destination—Hong Kong. Norika Fujiwara remained in Tokyo for the moment and would join him in Hong Kong a few days later.
This year, Hong Kong cinema truly felt the force of Hollywood's dominance.
Jurassic Park grossed an astonishing HK$62 million in Hong Kong, breaking both the HK$50 million and HK$60 million box office records to claim the year's top spot.
Speed followed with HK$46 million, ranking second.
Only in third place came Flirting Scholar starring Stephen Chow, with HK$40 million.
It marked the first time in history that a foreign film had taken the annual box office crown in Hong Kong.
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Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Hong Kong
Sitting together on a sofa at the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong, Joey Wong handed Aaron a folder.
"That's everything," she said. "I bought six standalone villas for you—each between 4,000 and 5,500 square feet."
"They're in Deep Water Bay, Mid-Levels, Shek O, and Kadoorie Hill—prime luxury neighborhoods. And near your previous villa in Repulse Bay, one happened to go up for sale, so I bought that too."
She couldn't hide a trace of envy.
"It cost over HK$300 million. That's around 40 million US dollars."
Aaron smiled, lifted her chin gently, and kissed her.
"Do you like them? You can stay in any of them."
She leaned into his shoulder.
"I really like the house in Vancouver. Hong Kong is mainly for filming. If I have time, I'd rather stay long-term in Vancouver."
"There are too many paparazzi here."
Aaron understood perfectly. Once actors reached a certain level of fame—like Nicole Kidman—constant media attention became unavoidable.
"You were right," Joey continued with a faint smile. "This year's Hong Kong box office top two were both foreign films."
"That's never happened before. Even Ghost only managed third place at best."
She sighed.
"Hong Kong films are suffering from excessive imitation and increasingly rushed production quality."
"And it's getting worse," she added. "Recently, Taipei—Hong Kong cinema's biggest overseas market—saw several distributors band together to pressure Hong Kong studios."
Aaron chuckled softly and kissed her cheek.
"I know. In the end, Taipei lifted its import quota restrictions on Hollywood films."
For years, Taipei had enforced strict quotas on imported Western films. Since Taiwan's own film production was relatively limited, Hong Kong cinema had dominated the market.
This year, however, one of Taipei's major distributors, Lung Hsiang Film Company, spent NT$30 million acquiring The Mad Monk starring Stephen Chow. The box office performance was disappointing.
Lung Hsiang joined forces with seven other major Taipei distributors to pressure Hong Kong studios—demanding lower actor salaries, reduced production costs, and ultimately lower licensing fees. They even proposed setting a maximum price cap.
Hong Kong studios, accustomed to years of profitable dominance, naturally refused.
As negotiations stalled, Taipei distributors escalated the matter—successfully lobbying the government to loosen Hollywood film import quotas.
And just like that, Hollywood reaped the rewards—without lifting a finger.
For Aaron, the trend was unmistakable.
The golden era of Hong Kong cinema was beginning to dim.
The Mad Monk was merely the spark. The real problem lay in the past few years: Hong Kong studios had been rushing dozens upon dozens of productions into filming every year—formulaic, repetitive, and increasingly careless. Innovation had taken a back seat to speed and profit.
For a while, though, it made everyone rich.
Even second- and third-tier actors were juggling multiple productions at once. As for the A-list stars, they were booked solid, racing from one set to another without pause.
Some so-called "all-star" ensemble films were even more absurd. It was nearly impossible to gather every major cast member at the same time, so directors relied heavily on stand-ins to piece scenes together. Take The Heroic Trio 2—a project that reportedly left Andy Lau deeply frustrated. The four leads were only physically present together in a single scene.
In many other sequences, especially the action scenes, stunt doubles handled most of the work. Even dialogue-heavy scenes were often shot using stand-ins, stitched together through shot–reverse-shot editing to create the illusion of shared screen time.
And it wasn't just the actors.
Crew members—lighting technicians, prop masters, even assistant directors—were "double-booking" themselves across productions. The entire industry was overextended.
This frantic pace led to a third and more dangerous consequence: skyrocketing salaries. Actor fees ballooned year after year.
All of it—overproduction, declining quality, inflated costs—formed the foundation of Hong Kong cinema's gradual fall from its pedestal.
Joey Wong nodded.
"I almost forgot," she said lightly. "You'd definitely be paying attention to all this."
"By the way, when is Golden Harvest planning to release Rumble in the Bronx?"
"Oh, the Lunar New Year slot," she replied. "It'll premiere during the Spring Festival holiday—late next month, so late January."
She glanced at him.
"When will Hollywood release it?"
Joey had previously worked with Jackie Chan on City Hunter, which earned HK$30.87 million and ranked fifth at the annual Hong Kong box office. Naturally, she had even higher expectations for Rumble in the Bronx, the new action film co-produced with Hollywood.
"August next year," Aaron answered. Dawnlight Pictures would wait for the film to explode in Asia before rolling it out in North America.
"By the way," Aaron added, "how has Hong Kong's other action superstar, Jet Li, performed this year?"
He had previously acquired the overseas rights to Jackie Chan's Operation Condor and Police Story 3: Super Cop, along with two installments of Jet Li's Once Upon a Time in China series.
"Very well," Joey replied. "Jet Li left Golden Harvest this year and formed his own company, Eastern Production. He made Fong Sai-yuk, which grossed HK$30 million and ranked sixth for the year. The sequel, Fong Sai-yuk II, made another HK$23 million."
"I also heard that Lung Hsiang Film Company in Taipei has already bought the Taipei rights to his next three films—for a total of HK$36 million."
In addition to the Fong Sai-yuk films and Tai Chi Master, Jet Li also released Last Hero in China and The Kung Fu Cult Master this year.
"Eastern Production…" Aaron tightened his arm around Joey thoughtfully. He knew what was coming next—The Bodyguard from Beijing, Fist of Legend…
Joey leaned in and kissed him.
"Jackie Chan's Crime Story, released this summer, just won him Best Actor at the Golden Horse Awards in Taipei. It's a gritty crime action film. Aren't you interested in acquiring it?"
Aaron smiled and nodded.
"Hollywood is mainly interested in martial arts films right now—or action comedies."
"The key is this: the action has to be spectacular. The stunts have to be dangerous and thrilling."
As for Jackie Chan winning Best Actor?
That, Aaron found far less compelling.
The real currency was spectacle—and global market appeal.