The Box office income of The Promise in Mainland China keeps skyrocketing and has exceeded RMB 100 millions. Besides Mainland director Chen Kai-ge and two stars from South Korea and Japan, the remaining production team members of this blockbuster are mostly Hong Kong filmmakers, including Cinematographer Peter Pau, Art Director Tim Yip, Action Director Tung Wei and Dion LAM, SFX director John CHU Ka Yan of Centro Digital Pictures Ltd, as well as the main actor and actress Nicholas TSE and Cecilia CHEUNG. They all contribute much to the success of The Promise. Though there is no Hong Kong film company involved in the investment of this film, the advertisements in the Guang Zhou cinemas has listed it as a "Hong Kong Production". In the eye of most people, The Promise is a Hong Kong film. This shows how Hong Kong filmmakers contribute to the success of Mainland films, especially when all the visual effects are made and enhanced by talents from Hong Kong. There is a saying that, if the contribution is being quantified by dollar sign, Hong Kong filmmakers account for at least RMB 80 millions of the RMB 100 million in the box office.
(hkfilmart January 4, 2006)