Interesting. Interesting to me. The lights, the money, pizazz, fancy cars, black silk underwear, the allure of being a global star with the freedom to make films one wants to make. These were the ideas of three of the greatest (in my opinion) Hong Kong directors. Each one would coincidentally work with Jean-Claude Van Damme upon arriving to Hollywood. Each would also see moderate to small returns on their films and watch their careers die. What's interesting is that even when one failed the next would follow and receive the same fate. What provoked this?
Well, during the mid-1990s the Hong Kong film industry underwent a severe decline. Ticket sales were on the decline in the late 80s, but by the 90s they were in free-fall. What caused this? There were several factors, which included a financial crisis, a rise in ticket prices from the construction of costly multiplexes, rampant video piracy all over Asia, Hollywood aggressively pushing their films into the Asian markets, and also a rising middle-class society that looked down upon Chinese films because they were cheap and tasteless. The environment was bad in Hong Kong and directors were desperately trying to get out. Unfortunately, they weren't given much of an opportunity. They were required to make commercial films, Woo wasn't allowed to use his own crew, and all had to work with Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Are you a well-respected Hong Kong director? Do you have a cult fan base spanning the entire globe? Are you looking to transition from Hong Kong to Hollywood and advance your illustrious career with bigger budgets and bigger stars? |
