Director Larry Yang and producer Victoria Hon are considering a sequel to Jackie Chan‘s “The Shadow’s Edge” as the action thriller makes its international festival debut at the Busan International Film Festival‘s Open Cinema section.
The crime thriller, which has held the No. 1 position at the China box office for four consecutive weekends, represents a reimagining of the Hong Kong classic “Eye in the Sky” for contemporary audiences. Director Larry Yang, whose debut feature “Mountain Cry” served as the closing film of the 20th Busan festival, collaborates again with Chan following their 2023 success “Ride On.”
“The challenge didn’t come from shaping the story into today’s tech-driven world, but from fitting into today’s audiences’ cinematic tastes,” Yang tells Variety. “I wouldn’t mind tell the same story again if the audiences today could appreciate it, but I guess that would not be the case. Finding the right tone – a combination of right characters, rhythm and emotional flow – for today’s audiences is more important than finding the right story settings.”
The film features 85-90% new material while drawing inspiration from the original story. “My respect for the original come from my willingness to buy the remake right even if it’s just 1%, because that 1% is the idea of a film,” Yang explains. “A great idea always comes before a story. There can be countless ways to tell that idea, but a great idea is a great idea.”
Yang’s approach to the remake prioritized creative freedom over strict adherence to the source material. “My opinion of a remake doesn’t necessarily have to be an exact scene-by-scene reboot of the same story, but instead a new breed of the same idea,” he says. “Therefore, I didn’t worry too much about balance. I primarily focused on what would be good for my story and my tone surrounding this great idea.”
In “The Shadow’s Edge,” Chan plays a veteran surveillance expert pulled out of retirement to investigate a high-stakes heist in Macau. Tony Leung Ka-fai reprises his villain role from the original “Eye in the Sky,” though Yang reimagined the character for the contemporary setting.
Yang approached Leung’s character as a “simple speculation of ‘what if,’ like in a parallel universe. What if that guy didn’t die? What if he survived, was saved by a bunch of kids, raised them, trained them, and teamed up with them two decades later? What if, by spending years with these boys, this ruthless guy began to grow a bit of something called love in him? And, what if, due to some misunderstanding or miscommunication, the boy betrayed his love?”
The film blends surveillance technology with character-driven action sequences. “The idea of a covert surveillance team on foot searching for a ghost came from the original story,” Yang notes. “Technology serves as obstacles and opportunities on both sides, giving new twists to the story. I made sure this part never exceeded the flow of intensive energy while telling the story. It’s still a ‘human story,’ never tech-driven, but wit-driven.”
Yang emphasizes that action sequences serve narrative purposes beyond spectacle. “Action served as a continuation of a dialogue, a continuation of a quiet and covert surveillance mission, and a continuation of the evil-fighting barrier which technology alone couldn’t reach,” he explains. “We built sequences that ‘speak’ through character by always holding on to the human factors.”
Regarding Chan’s performance capabilities, Yang remains confident: “Jackie can still fight, and this movie is far from reaching his limit.”
Producer Victoria Hon emphasizes the film’s thematic exploration of generational dynamics. “We bought the remake rights for ‘Eye in the Sky’ a few years ago and have been developing a story for years,” Hon says. “How to make the story work with today’s audiences has always been an interesting discussion internally. At the same time, we see how AI plays a more and more significant role in modern society. So we wanted to incorporate this element into the story. The idea of old and new became the theme we wanted to discuss and explore.”
The challenging production required convincing investors that action films could succeed in the current Chinese market. “I think the biggest challenge was to make this film and this genre itself,” Hon explains. “In the recent China film market, action films were not doing very well at the box office. To make investors believe in this genre, we worked hard on the script and building the characters.”
Hon credits the strong screenplay with attracting top talent. “I believe the script is always the first milestone of a project – being able to talk to masters like Jackie and Tony and convince them there’s something different and unique in their characters,” she says. The production also featured young actors with extensive wushu training and “young and talented crew members who are very creative and energetic.”
Balancing industry veterans with emerging talent became a key production strategy. “This is just like the theme of our film,” Hon notes. “I think it is also one of the key to success – that we respectfully learned from the masters and added young energy and creatives into the film.”
Hon describes the collaborative process with Chan: “In all the action scenes, Larry and action director Su Hang had many creative ideas they wanted to try. They shot action demos and showed them to Jackie. With Jackie’s experience, he gave advice on parts that could escalate the tension, or parts that could be dangerous and needed preparations. Other than that, he gave us all his trust, which meant a lot and allowed us to try new things.”
The complex action sequences required extensive preparation and significant budget allocation. “Action scenes are very costly and time consuming,” Hon explains. “Even so, we shot the actions scenes with one single crew to keep the action and actor performance consistent. Pre-production time was about 5 months and we shot 84 days. Most of the action scenes were storyboarded, and action demos were filmed during pre-production.”
Macau’s distinctive cultural backdrop proved essential to the film’s atmosphere. “Macau is a city with mixed cultural elements. It has very fancy luxurious hotels, and also very old town almost next to each other,” Hon notes. “We loved that atmosphere, and we felt the story and character could blend into the city well.”
The production team spent eight months scouting locations, with some sequences emerging organically from the geography. “The script’s locations were based on routes we walked ourselves and felt reasonable to include,” Hon explains. “For example, when the robbers flew from the Macau Tower, they needed to find the nearest platform to land. We stood at the edge of the tower and saw the platform of Wynn Macau. That’s how we first approached the hotel and asked for their support.”
With Golden Network Asia handling international sales, Hon expresses optimism about overseas performance. “This time most of the sales were made in Cannes earlier this year, and many buyers were confident to promote the film after seeing our demos and reels,” she says. “I look forward to the theatrical release in all the regions and hope for strong box office results.”
Looking toward future projects, Yang indicates sequel discussions are underway while he develops additional action projects. “We’re considering the idea of a sequel, but right now we’re unsure what direction it will take,” Yang says. “I don’t want to repeat myself so I will very likely find a new approach. We’ll see how that goes.”
The director remains committed to genre exploration. “I love telling a good story, and I will continue searching for great movie ideas and compelling stories to tell, no matter the genre,” Yang explains. “I’m interested to try different genres, including sci-fi or historical stories in the future.”
Hon sees continued opportunities for Asian cinema in global markets. “Commercial genres like action and thrillers are probably the most popular ones for reaching global audiences,” she says. “We will keep working in action, and I also hope to do more co-production that can target both local and international audiences.”
