How Emperor Motion Pictures became the biggest film producer in Hong Kong

The past three years have seen a period of prolific production for Hong Kong’s Emperor Motion Pictures (EMP), even exceeding its output pre-pandemic.

The studio has released 27 features since 2020, including box-office hits Raging Fire, Detective Vs Sleuths and Cliff Walkers, and filmed 26 upcoming productions such as The Goldfinger, Customs Frontline and Under Current, making it the biggest producer in Hong Kong.

“The pandemic may have triggered delays in some of our releases and productions, but overall the impact on us has not been that significant,” says Jason Siu, Hong Kong-based general manager of production and project development at EMP. “What Covid did to the industry was to shake our confidence, making us more cautious and conservative. But EMP has not slowed down because of our chairman Albert Yeung’s unwavering confidence.”

Long before the launch of EMP in 2000, Yeung made his first film investment in 1980’s Encore, starring the young Danny Chan and Leslie Cheung, and his family business has a rich history that dates back to 1942 when his late father Yeung Shing opened a watch shop. The Emperor Group has since grown into a conglomerate, with six companies listed on the main board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, encompassing property, financial services, watches and jewellery, home living and entertainment.

The entertainment business covers the entire industry chain from production and distribution through EMP to music publishing and artiste management via Emperor Entertainment Group, and exhibition through Emperor Cinemas Group.

EMP is best known for blockbuster action thrillers with A-list cast such as 2004’s New Police Story, 2008’s The Beast Stalker and 2011’s Shaolin. “Such action-packed thrillers, which provide an adrenaline rush for audiences, are a signature of Hong Kong cinema — the most successful export from Hong Kong to international markets,” says Siu.

In recent years, many of its action thrillers with cop or crime themes have been lucrative tentpole co-productions with China. Raging Fire, the final feature of late filmmaker Benny Chan starring Donnie Yen and Nicholas Tse, and Detective Vs Sleuths, directed by Wai Ka Fai, with Lau Ching Wan and Charlene Choi, were the highest-grossing Hong Kong films in China over the past two years, respectively recording box office of $192m (rmb1.33bn) in 2021 and $103m (rmb712m) in 2022.

Several highly anticipated films in these genres, filmed during the pandemic, are already in the can. These include Herman Yau’s Customs Frontline, starring Jacky Cheung, Karena Lam and Tse; Alan Mak’s Under Current, starring Aaron Kwok and Francis Ng — both of which are in post-production; and Felix Chong’s The Goldfinger with Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Andy Lau, which aims to release this year.

“The shoot for Customs Frontline was delayed for a month when Covid cases surged in Hong Kong,” says Siu. “We were planning to film scenes on location in Africa. With the travelling restrictions, we ended up building the set of an African fishing village in Hong Kong. That we can’t shoot overseas is probably the biggest inconvenience for us during Covid.”

Upcoming titles

Announcing at Filmart are a string of brand new titles led by New Police Story 2, which marks the directorial debut of actor Tse and is produced by Jackie Chan who also stars alongside Tse, and a Hong Kong cop thriller by Operation Red Sea director Dante Lam, starring Tse and William Chan. Also on the new slate are a 1940s drama by The Goldfinger director Felix Chong, an action film by Antiques In Schemes director Derek Kwok and a crime drama featuring a trio of pop idols from boyband Mirror.

EMP will serve as the principal producer for Hong Kong-driven co-productions that feature strong creative and production elements from the territory. Mainland Chinese companies such as Lian Ray Pictures, Beijing Super Lion Culture Communication and Tencent Video will come on board as co-investors and also as theatrical distributors to help EMP release the films on the mainland.

On the other hand, EMP will reverse its role as co-investor for mainland-driven productions, which are set mostly in China with a local cast and crew and local subject matters. The two Battle At Lake Changjin films, My Country, My Parents, Zhang Yimou’s Cliff Walkers and most recently The Wandering Earth 2 are some of the notable successes. As a co-presenter, EMP will usually handle their distribution for Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.

A third category of films for EMP is small- to medium-sized productions, which aim to offer opportunities to emerging filmmakers and rising actors. Such smaller films are primarily for the Hong Kong market and Southeast Asia, but recent titles such as Kearen Pang’s Mama’s Affair, with Keung To and Jer Lau from Mirror, and Ying Chi Wen’s Everything Under Control, with Jeffrey Ngai, Joey Hung and Bonnie Wong, have found international distribution, including mostly day-and-date releases with Hong Kong in the US, Canada and UK.

“Theatrical release in China may not be viable for smaller Hong Kong films as the P&A cost can run up to $1.5m (rmb10m) but they can do well on OTT,” says Siu. “We put them on streaming platforms like Tencent Video, iQiyi and Youku.”

While production continued despite Hong Kong’s pandemic restrictions, the same cannot be said for cinemas. The lights in cinemas went out for 267 days between 2020 and 2022. Even when cinemas were permitted to open for business, social-distancing measures saw seating capacity capped to between 50% and 85% for 732 days. These restrictions were finally removed on December 22, 2022.

It proved a dark period in the history of Hong Kong cinema. In 2021, UA Cinemas shut down its chain after operating for 36 years in the territory.

“We are in a very passive position and there is nothing much we can do apart from receiving some government subsidies and rental waivers to tide things over,” says Timothy Yuen, general manager of Emperor Cinemas Group, which operates eight cinemas in Hong Kong and one in Macau. “Restaurants can switch from dine-in to takeaways to cut down on their losses, but cinemas are a different case. We work with Food Panda to deliver hot dogs and popcorn to people watching streaming services at home, but the revenues are minimal.”

Miraculously, the Hong Kong box office experienced a sudden rebound in the second half of 2022. For the first time since 2004, four local films — sci-fi Warriors Of Future, ensemble family comedy Table For Six, pop idol-driven drama Mama’s Affair and courtroom drama The Sparring Partner — ranked among the top 10 titles at the box office last year.

The strong momentum has continued with A Guilty Conscience becoming the first local film ever to cross hk$100m ($12.7m), a milestone only achieved by Hollywood blockbusters such as Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way Of Water.

“When people can’t travel because of Covid, they still need entertainment,” says Yuen, who is also the chairman of the Hong Kong Theatres Association. “Last year, several quality local films caught audience interest and they started to pay more attention to local films. Local audiences can’t be fooled. They will go and support only when the film is good. Meet-and-greet sessions, with directors and actors in attendance before or after the screenings, also help drive the crowd back to cinemas.”

After holding out during the pandemic, Emperor Cinemas Group is now expanding its footprint. Two new cinemas will be opened in Hong Kong this year, with another four in China. That will bring the number of cinemas in mainland China to 12 across nine cities. “One good opportunity coming out from Covid is that property rental has dropped, which makes it more affordable,” Yuan explains.

The beginning of the pandemic saw the worst period of cinema closures in China, when theatres shuttered from early 2020 for about six months nationwide. Yuen believes that such widespread shutdowns are unlikely to happen again. “Business is picking up, but there is still a long road to a full recovery,” he adds. “The box office is not expected to return to pre-Covid levels this year. It will take until 2025.”

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