Recently, director Wang Jing has become popular again.
On April 15, the day after the end of the 42nd Hong Kong Film Awards, Wang Jing posted on her personal social platform: "Goldfinger" is by no means Tony Leung's best performance, it is a bit excessive, and it is far from the restraint of "2046".
If I were him, I would follow the example of Alan Tam and Leslie Cheung back then and announce that they would no longer accept awards and give opportunities to the younger generation.
In other words, Hong Kong's middle-level actors are about to break, how can the younger generation come?
Netizens said well, it's not that Tony Leung needs the Academy Award, but that the Academy Awards need Tony Leung.
Wang Jing's post put the Hong Kong Film Awards in a very embarrassing position.
In just the past two days, the General Administration has announced a number of new films, including Liu Weiqiang's "Kashmir Princess", Liang Lemin's "Cold War 1994" and "Cold War 1995", Guan Hu's "A Man and a Woman", etc.
Among them, Wang Jing (Wang Rixiang is his real name) is on the list, and "New Across the Seas" is officially approved.
It seems that Wang Jing is going to challenge the classic "Across the Seas" in the Hong Kong film industry.
So, the question is, does Wang Jing pay tribute to the classics and surpass the classics, or touch the classics and destroy the classics?
1. Remake.
In the film and television industry, sequels and reboots have become the norm, and remakes of classic works are endless.
For example, among the latest online movies, Lou Yixiao remade Maggie Cheung's version of "New Dragon Gate Inn", and Peng Yuzhuo remade Stephen Chow's "Jiupin Sesame Official".
Wang Jing actually has a long time to catch the remake.
In 2022, the two "Heaven and Dragon Slayer" starring Louis Koo, Donnie Yen, and Lin Feng are both remakes, and the most famous is the 93 version of "Heaven and Dragon Slayer" starring Jet Li.
The film did not land in theaters, and the word-of-mouth hit the street directly after the streaming was broadcast, with a Douban score of only about 3.5 points.
In 2025, the new version of "Smiling Proud Jianghu: The Undefeated East" directed by Wang Jing will also be a remake of Lin Qingxia's version of the Undefeated East, and the actress she is looking for is Zhang Yuqi, ready to make this movie with Donnie Yen.
It is not clear whether it is a theatrical movie or an online movie.
Let's take a look at the plot synopsis of "New Across the Seas".
Ah Zhan and Hongdou were separated from their brother Azu when they were young, and Azu's life and death are uncertain.
More than ten years later, Ah Zhan was driven by his adoptive father to steal paintings for him, and valuable paintings were stolen one after another.
Ah Zhan met Ah Zu again in the process of stealing paintings, and Ah Zu, who was already an Interpol, pursued Ah Zhan relentlessly......
The names of the known characters fully correspond to John Woo's "Across the Seas" in 1991.
Among them, Ah Zhan, Ah Zu and Hongdou are played by Leslie Cheung, Chow Yun-fat and Zhong Chuhong.
It can be determined that this is Wang Jing's fourth remake.
2. Classics.
"Across the Seas" is a classic of film history.
This film not only won the fourth box office in Hong Kong that year, but also received a number of nominations for the Academy Awards, at that time the gold content of the Academy Awards was quite high, and the Hong Kong film industry was known as the "Oriental Hollywood".
After the test of time, "Across the Seas" received a score of 8.8 points on the Douban website, and rushed into the top 250 of Douban, becoming a widely recognized classic.
John Woo is a perfect interpretation of Hong Kong's romantic cop action film, with the acting skills of Chow Yun-fat, Leslie Cheung and Chung Chuhong bringing the characters to life.
The whole film covers many thematic elements such as friendship, love, betrayal, justice, etc., making people think about life, and the emotional resonance and values behind the story give the film a more far-reaching meaning.
Among them, Leslie Cheung stood on the Seine River and blew the wind, and the wheelchair dance of Chow Yun-fat and Chung Chuhong can be called a classic shot in Hong Kong film history.
And now that Leslie Cheung is gone, Fa Ge is old, and the red is palsed, think about the lines of the film: "It's really a spring dream without a trace!"
"Across the Seas" is the memory of many viewers when they were young, Wang Jing, if you don't remake well, you will be spurned by many fans!
3. Leslie Cheung.
Concerns about ruining the classics are understandable.
Classics are often deeply rooted in people's hearts, and the audience has a special emotion and memory for them.
If the quality of the remake is not comparable to the original, or even the original is inappropriately altered or loses its original flavor, it may have a negative impact in the minds of the audience, making the preciousness of the original work diluted or even destroyed.
Dillon once starred in the 1986 version of "The True Color of Heroes", and played classic roles with Chow Yun-fat and Leslie Cheung.
was once asked if he would remake "The True Colors of Heroes", but he firmly denied it, saying that he didn't want to fry cold rice, things are wrong, and the most important thing is where to find a Leslie Cheung?
This sentence is thought-provoking.
Similarly, there are iconic characters like Leslie Cheung in "Across the Seas", how can Wang Jing find an actor who can take on such an important role when remaking the work?
Leslie Cheung is a unique acting genius, and his existence lies not only in his acting skills and charm, but also in his unique temperament and personality.
To find an actor who can take on such a role, you not only need to have excellent acting skills and acting skills, but also need to have the personal charm and aura that are comparable to Leslie Cheung.
This is undoubtedly a very challenging task for today's actors.
Director Wang Jing chose to remake "New Across the Seas", and he will inevitably face the problem of "where to find a Leslie Cheung".
4. Casting.
The Si people are gone!
It can be said that it is almost an impossible task to find an actor who can compete with Leslie Cheung in the original film.
It can be seen from the project announcement that this is a co-production, that is, the product of the integration of the Hong Kong production team and mainland capital, which is equivalent to "Operation Red Sea".
In this case, I suggest that Wang Jing can follow the example of Tsui Hark and Chen Kexin.
Tsui Hark also had a blockbuster work last year, that is, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Great Hero", and the actors he invited were Xiao Zhan and Zhuang Dafei, who played Guo Jing and Huang Rong respectively.
Chen Kexin's "Sauce Garden Alley" follows the tactics of crowds, with an all-star lineup, which is very similar to Zhang Yimou's movies in the early years.
Wang Jing's "New Across the World" is a bit difficult to find actors in Hong Kong, after all, there are almost no actors of the younger generation, and the only ones in their 30s who meet the roles are Nicholas Tse, Wu Yanzu, Louis Koo and Lin Feng.
Who can play the role of Leslie Cheung?
If Wang Jing wants to find actors in the mainland, there are too many, including Wang Yibo, Xiao Zhan, Liu Yifei, Yang Mi, Zhao Liying and other actors can be competent, and the most important thing is that they have traffic.
When the time comes, as long as the word-of-mouth does not collapse, there will be no problems at the box office, and the word-of-mouth box office will not hit the street.
V. Conclusion.
I hope that Wang Jing's challenge to the classics this time will be successful.
It is also hoped that the essence and core emotion of the original work will be retained during the remake, and at the same time, the new version of the work will be given some unique highlights and creativity, so that fans can find both familiarity and freshness in the process of watching the movie.
It is only with such a balance and treatment that "New Across the Seas" can become a successful tribute rather than a "reproduction" that destroys the classics.
I hope that this new work can surpass the classics, continue the legend, and bring more surprises and touches to the audience.
Come on, Wang Jing!