If SPL(or similar) was in U.S. theatres(Summer '07)

[Guest W Hong]

I know that SPL is already available on DVD from HK and also Dragon Dynasty, but here's a question. How well do you think that "Sha Po Lang" could or could've done at the U.S. box office if released during this Summer 2007? Or does that totally sound like a bad idea just because of these reasons:

1. some people have said SPL wouldn't go that well w/ U.S. audiences. based on what's been said, SPL is not exactly packed w/ the fight scenes. That would be one of the reasons that U.S. audiences wouldn't be that interested.

2. I remember some of you HK movie fans saying that some fight scenes in SPL have graphic or extreme violence. So Unless a cut version is shown, the uncut HK version is probably not likely to get a wide theatrical release here. maybe a limited release or film festival showings are more likely for the uncut version.

However, does SPL(or any of your HK movie suggestions) sound like a good idea just because:

1. People are tired of Summer movie sequels/remakes and want something different for a change.

2. hardly any HK movies are being shown in any U.S. theatres, you might have noticed. For the fans, It seems like the few HK movies that are shown are mostly in recent and upcoming film festivals. The film fests also seem to have strange and not-that-creative HK selection).

So what are your thoughts on this, especially if you want to shake things up?

[Guest kungfusamurai]

I doubt it'll do any better than the martial arts films have been doing in the last few years. They're just not attracting the mass audiences the way Jackies films did in the mid to late 90s (by 'mass' I'm thinking a longer run than 2 or 3 weeks).

It would be nice to see more Asian action films here in the USA, but I don't think they'll pack them in.

If Dragon Dynasty really wanted to throw caution to the wind and try something really cool, they would put one of the ols Shaw Brothers flicks on the big screen. And if they put them out there with the old school English dubs, I personally think they'd do better than Jet Li's Fearless did, or those Tony Jaa films. But I wouldn't but Five Venoms or 36th Chamber first. Those are great films, but they lack the wall to wall action newbies might be expecting to see.

Martial Club or Magnificent Ruffians would be my picks. Sorry for changing the subject.

KFS

[Guest reason108]

I think the ball was dropped already. Donnie had "Hero", "SPL" and "Seven Swords" in a row and too bad he wasnt able to use that as a launching pad for greater U.S. success. Now, people would just say "Donnie who?".

Also, most still see "CTHD" as a fluke. Neither "Hero" or "House of Flying Daggers" did the same kind of box office. So, I understand why they may have not wanted to release "Seven Swords" theatrically.

And, Jackie`s movies of the 90s really didnt do that well. The studio only made money on them cause it didnt cost that much to get the rights to them in the first place. But, Rumble in the Bronx was the highest grossing with around $32mil. Only the Rush Hour franchise has done over $100mil. Shanghai Noon didnt even do that well. I think it topped out around $45mil.

[Guest Beat TG]

I think the ball was dropped already. Donnie had "Hero", "SPL" and "Seven Swords" in a row and too bad he wasnt able to use that as a launching pad for greater U.S. success.

he's not interested in Hollywood anymore (at least not that much) because he's not getting the work he wants to do. I wouldn't care less if he had gone to Hollywood working his ass off trying to seek the breakthough. Famous or not famous, he's still one of the best in my eyes.

[Guest Robert Ian Teller]

"And if they put them out there with the old school English dubs, I personally think they'd do better than Jet Li's Fearless did, or those Tony Jaa films. But I wouldn't but Five Venoms or 36th Chamber first. Those are great films, but they lack the wall to wall action newbies might be expecting to see.

Martial Club or Magnificent Ruffians would be my picks. Sorry for changing the subject."

I highly doubt all the really strange ideas listed above. :b

[Guest W Hong]

If Dragon Dynasty really wanted to throw caution to the wind and try something really cool, they would put one of the ols Shaw Brothers flicks on the big screen.

I think that's what I already suggested in another post awhile back. I think that that old post had to do w/ the recent Grindhouse FilmFest at the Beverly Cinema. Maybe QT should've shown a Shaw movie or two in that Filmfest.

But I wouldn't but Five Venoms or 36th Chamber first. Those are great films, but they lack the wall to wall action newbies might be expecting to see

Then for wall to wall action, would "Crippled Avengers" be a good suggestion? I mean, Wasn't "CA"(AKA "Mortal Combat"?) known for having lots of kung fu action IIRC? For those who are interested, I remember seeing "CA" as "Mortal Combat" or something like that on the L.A. "Z Channel" back in the '80's. The Z Channel even showed, IIRC, "Fist of the White Lotus" as another Shaw movie back then. I might even have an old video recording of the Z Channel's showing of "Mortal Combat"(AKA "CA"). That was probably English dubbed, though. However, there seem to be quite a few of you who are still interested in those old dubbed versions.

If Linn1 or anybody else needs that English dubbed version of "CA", then I wouldn't mind helping out. Also, Please don't think that I was talking about the U.S. state instead. "CA" stands for the Shaw movie of course.

[Guest Tosh]

some people have said SPL wouldn't go that well w/ U.S. audiences.

Because that would require Americans to read, there it seems, to be a serious stick wedged up the bum when it comes to this in the US for some reason.

Another problem is marketing, which would have been zero to none for this film. Then as stated before, no big name actors (even cthd had Chow Yun Fat), there is no place as obsessed over their actors than the US, I can't even stomach the EChannel, big names does not equal good movies.

All and all this should be a movie that could have done good in the US, but there seems to be some kind of barrier put up by the suits to not let these movies get a theatrical release, they just assume remake them pg13 with the so called big US stars.

[Guest Dahnamics]

is the banquet scheduled for a us release?

[Guest Dion Brother]

SPL wouldn't do well in theaters because you have to have a marketing gimmick. RUMBLE did well, but Jackie's better movies did not because they looked like RUMBLE rehashes via the marketing (and in the case of SUPERCOP and FIRST STRIKE, they sucked). SPL is a decent crime thriller with great action...so what. The average ticketbuyer doesn't care. Most movies are seen on dvd these days anyway. Ticket sales aren't what they used to be, and it isn't worth it to put these imports in theaters unless you have a great gimmick for marketing. Home theater systems are superior to what you get in the average theater and I don't see people plunking down their cash for a solid action film with no recognizable stars. And a new generation is being raised to take all this stuff for granted. It wouldn't impress the youngsters very much because they're all jaded anyway. Be relieved SPL got a domestic dvd release, unlike the old days when I had to buy $25 tapes from Rainbow or NYUE.

Movie theaters are now the exclusive domain of tentpoles like THE TRANSFORMERS and LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD.

[Guest The Running Man]

SPL wouldn't do well in theaters because you have to have a marketing gimmick. RUMBLE did well, but Jackie's better movies did not because they looked like RUMBLE rehashes via the marketing (and in the case of SUPERCOP and FIRST STRIKE, they sucked). SPL is a decent crime thriller with great action...so what.

And that shows exactly why Harvey Weinstein is clueless when it comes to marketing Asian movies in the US.

Harvey has made his career basically leeching off the success already built for a director or star. He never actually discovered someone and then made them.

The closest exception to this would be Kevin Smith and Quinetin Tarantino, except it's well known that when he saw the movie of the former's first film and the script for Pulp Fiction from the latter...he didn't think anything special. It took someone else in the company to push him to nab them.

The gimmick in marketing SPL would have been simple: Donnie Yen. While you might think at first, "But he would just be seen as just another Asian action star" unlike Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Tony Jaa Donnie grew up in the US. Donnie's command of the English language is also far better than any of the above. And that can easily go a long way when promoting a film.

Also, if anyone bought the SPL DVD, there is a fantastic US trailer made for that movie that would get anyone interested in seeing the film. Had that been put in theaters it would have created buzz.

Trust me, if a piece of sh!t film like Tom Yum Goong can make decent business...SPL had more than a chance. Harvey Weinstein is just a fool.

But maybe in the end it was for the fim's best it went DTV, if only so that Harvey Weinstein wouldn't be tempted to tamper more with the film other than the title.

[Guest W Hong]

Because that would require Americans to read, there it seems, to be a serious stick wedged up the bum when it comes to this in the US for some reason.

Then how come CTHD and "Hero" were box office hits in the U.S.? Those were subtitled IIRC.

. Home theater systems are superior to what you get in the average theater and I don't see people plunking down their cash for a solid action film with no recognizable stars. .

Movie theaters are now the exclusive domain of tentpoles like THE TRANSFORMERS and LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD.

Maybe SPL should at least be shown during Midnight shows or whatever. I also read somewhere that while this Summer's movies have the blockbuster openings, their box office results have really gone down after the first week. I think that a U.S. distributor should at least give HK movies a chance again. A lot of recent and upcoming HK movies are actually starting to look good again. It seems like it's mostly Korean or Japanese movies which get any theatrical release here, although limited.

Maybe this willl get your interest:

If that recent news from Celestial is true about "5 ELEMENT NINJA" FINALLY coming out on DVD(HK R3), then could a 5EN trailer be a possibility? If that trailer can be put together pretty soon, then the trailer should be shown somewhere. After that, then how about some midnight showings of Celestial's restored 5EN in the U.S.? I know that 5EN is extremely bloody sometimes, but weren't there any similarly bloody movies shown here before, especially at midnight shows?

[Guest Tosh]

Then how come CTHD and "Hero" were box office hits in the U.S.? Those were subtitled IIRC.

I imagine the big names helped, cthd probably got a lot of word of mouth, it was a very romantic movie so the women would of wanted to see it, Hero probably ran that wave(years later thanks to the Harvster|I ), but the novelty of these movies for people that aren't into them will wear off.

[Guest Dion Brother]

CTHD was marketed as the "Star Wars" of kungfu movies to a new generation that did not grow up with the flicks on tv all the time. Old folks liked it too, because it reminded them of westerns. Just hit the right marketing niche at the time.

[Guest mits777]

It would do 2-4 million tops here in U.S.

tinyurl.com/pv8do

[Guest Johnnie freeze]

My 1st reaction when I saw SPL was "Damn, this is good! Why didnt they put this is the theatre?!"

but then thought it was because the actors didnt have a big enough name for the general American audiance. They should've done with Donnie what they did with Jet Li...1st they put him in Lethal Weapon IV to get his name and face "out there" and took it from there.

[Guest skulldugrey]

I long to see the day that HK films are released theatrically in the US the same time as in HK. obviously not all of them, but at least the really quality ones. unfortunately this will never happen because almost every Asian title gets picked up by the fu**ing Weinsteins and put on the shelf for several months before coming direct to video. even if it only has 5 minutes of action, I'll take Flash Point or any other quality HK action film anyday over the crap that Hollywood tries to pass off as action films these days. and besides, although it would be great to see people like Donnie Yen get more well known in the states, doing so by making a career in Hollywood probably wouldn't be a good idea. they'd likely give us some stupid crap like Bulletproof Monk. oh well, at least the new Jet Li movie War looks decent enough, probably will be the best summer action film out of the US.

[Guest SilentJay32]

If SPL was in US theatres, it would've been cut to shreds. It was a CatIII title in HK, after all, and the MPAA is far more conservative than the HK ratings board. It couldn't have been released in theatres without losing it's integrity as a film.

[Guest The Running Man]

Rating systems are different in the world. Nothing in SPL would've gotten a NC-17.

However, it would have probably have been cut by Harvey Weinstein for other reasons.