Andrew Lau, Hollywood Maven?

Going to have to wait til the first film to see if it was a good deal. The results of John Woo coming to Hollywood to make Hong Kong style films were less than spectacular. At least it'll be cheaper to make a film there than in the US. It'll be interesting to see how American actors deal with the Hong Kong style of filmmaking.

(here comes a bit of my usual Weinstein bashing)

Wouldn't it simply be cheaper to do a better job or marketing and distributing and packaging HK films for an American audience?

I don't really see the benefits of this set-up apart from Hollywood snatching up Andrew Lau's talents.

I'm sick of American corporations seeking out stuff I like only to squirrel away the products.

This sounds like they simply want to go to the source and get global rights there and control the product rather than buy up what looks interesting (and then sit it on the shelf for 4 years...joking).

Are we on the cusp of another wave of HK films made (in significant part, or in whole) in English? Because the last wave of 'em sucked unholy ass. I expect to see something akin to the soul-murdering likes of THE TOUCH or GEN-Y COPS. If we're lucky we'll get something as good as NAKED WEAPON - not that NAKED WEAPON was in any way a good movie, but it was watchable and good for a couple of laughs, as opposed to GEN-Y COPS, which made me want to put a brick through my TV.

well everyone and their grandma in HK is crying over the slow extinction of HK-flavored films these days, chiefly being swallowed up by the necessity of catering to mainland where the market is. johnny to's ELECTION 2 may or may not be the last one to ask who the hell HK people are anymore onscreen. and if they don't get either chinese/korean/japanese/weinstein money, wong jing, milkyway proteges, ex-music video directors, gold label-teen idol vehicle rom-com/dramas don't exactly guarantee quality either -- even when they're more likely to ignore export potentials. but anyway, lau is better businessman than artist, that's fer sure.

What everyone else said.

p.s. if we look to anthony wong, who never stays quiet anyway, he's more likely to tell you any money from anywhere to fund HK films is good - for the dire condition it's in right now. the biggest problem is lack of talented new blood coming in, now that the best are all graying into their 50s. the torch is all about dropped for good, and there are more than enough MAINLAND people to pick it up or even make their own.

Well very interesting...............

This sounded sort of interesting:
"Andrew Lau has teamed up with 24 producer Tony Krantz to found a new film company titled Qi which will produce Hong Kong style action films, in Hong Kong, in the English language."

...that is until the "The Weinstein Company and Dragon Dynasty" were thrown in, then it became very, very sour. They will prob all be Direct To Video movies.

Agree with Rhythm-X and Wyman , the track record of American/Asian films are not so good. And that is porb because the American side had the most control over them (or not), or the Asian company was trying to hard to make it an internationl type of film.

Hope for the best, and figure for the Worst.