Published 13:57 IST, February 23rd 2021
Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Andy Lau to reunite after 18 years for action film 'Goldfinger'
Hong Kong superstars Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Andy Lau are collaborating for a new action movie titled Goldfinger'' after "Internal Affairs" 18 years back.
Hong Kong superstars Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Andy Lau will reunite on the big screen for their upcoming Chinese tentpole action film titled Goldfinger. The film marks the duo's first project together since the Infernal Affairs film trilogy 18 years ago. Goldfinger is written and directed by Infernal Affairs screenwriter Felix Chong.
Lau (59) and Leung (58) were last seen together in the Infernal Affairs crime trilogy (2002, 2003), in which Lau played a mole in the police force while Leung played an undercover cop in the triad. The first part of the trilogy was later remade in Hollywood in 2006 as Departed by Martin Scorsese.
Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Andy Lau to star in Goldfinger
According to Variety, the Goldfinger story is loosely inspired by the fate of the Carrian Group, a Hong Kong conglomerate that grew rapidly in the 1980s before collapsing in scandal shortly thereafter. At a press conference of the film on February 20, Leung said he was looking forward to working with Tony Leung. He added he was happy and excited to be working with him as they have collaborated together previously on television shows and movies. He hoped that this time too it would be the same experience.
Apart from the Infernal Affairs films, Leung and Lau have previously worked on several TV series together such as The Duke Of Mount Deer (1984), a TVB adaption of the novel of the same name by the late Louis Cha. Leung played the illiterate but smart protagonist Wei Xiaobao, while Lau played Emperor Kangxi in the series. Leung will also make an appearance in the upcoming Marvel flick Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, while Lau stars in Chinese films Shock Wave 2 (2020) and Endgame (2021).
Goldfinger director Peter Chong recently won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director for the crime thriller Project Gutenberg (2018), starring Chow Yun Fat and Aaron Kwok. The Goldfinger cast also includes actors Simon Yam, Philip Keung, Charlene Choi, Alex Fong, Carlos Chan and Chin Ka-lok – some of whom also starred in the Infernal Affairs Trilogy.
More about Goldfinger cast and plot
While the overall plot of the film is still kept under wraps by the cast, director Chong would only reveal that it is an anti-corruption story set in the 1970s and 1980s, with Lau and Leung playing characters who are both friends and foes. Leung also hinted at his and Lau's characters stating that their roles of hero and villain in Internal Affairs respectively, will be reversed in this film.
Goldfinger will be produced by Emperor Motion Pictures and mainland Chinese partners. In the same February 20 press conference, Albert Yeung announced the company will invest HK$350 million (USD 60 million) for the film which is touted to be the most expensive budgeted Hong Kong film so far. According to Albert Yeung, the film is expected to boost the Hong Kong film industry during the pandemic, with all the scenes being filmed within the territory.
Updated 13:58 IST, February 23rd 2021