Edko Films revealed at Filmart today that ten award-winning actors – including major Hong Kong stars Chow Yun Fat, Aaron Kwok, Tony Leung Ka Fai and Louis Koo – have joined the cast of its highly-anticipated upcoming action thriller Cold War 1994.
International stars Aidan Gillen (Game Of Thrones) and Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) have also joined the cast as the head of MI6 Asia-Pacific and a British Cabinet Minister.
The prequel to hit police procedurals Cold War and Cold War 2, which together grossed over $13M (HK$100M) at the Hong Kong box office, was presented to Filmart guests by executive producer Bill Kong, producer Ivy Ho and director Longman Leung, along with the main previously-announced cast of Terrance Lau, Tse Kwan Ho and Louise Wong.
Daniel Wu also stars in the film, making a much-anticipated return to Hong Kong cinema after a six-year absence. Golden Horse Best Actors winners Wu Kang Ren and Tse Kwan Ho are playing a powerful father-and-son duo, while Louise Wong and Fish Liew play key female roles.
Tony Leung Ka Fai also attended the press conference for an emotional on-stage reunion with Terrance Lau – Lau plays the younger version of Leung’s character M.B. Lee, a senior officer in Hong Kong’s Organized Crime and Triad Bureau (OCTB). Chow Yun Fat and Aaron Kwok are also reprising their roles from the previous films. Louis Koo is making his debut in the franchise playing Chief Executive-elect Adrian Yip Shun-ting.
Edko noted that the ensemble cast marks one of the biggest gatherings of acting talent in Hong Kong cinema history.
While a release date has not been announced, two prequels were shot back and back – Cold War 1994 and Cold War 1995 – and are currently in post-production.
Kong described the film as more than just a prequel: “While sequels move the story forward, this prequel goes deeper. We are returning to the very source of the Cold War universe, revealing how the power reshuffle in 1994 planted the seeds for everything that followed.”
Leung added that clues to the 1994 storyline had been carefully planted since the first film: “Beneath the surface calm of that era lay treacherous undercurrents. Through a grander narrative canvas, audiences will finally witness the true origins of the Cold War world and uncover answers to many long-standing mysteries.”