In recent years, Hong Kong star Nicholas Tse, who has been collaborating with Zhejiang Radio and Television in China to film the food program “12 Feng Wei”, took on the role of action director and starred in the action film “Customs Frontline” last year. Due to the consecutive failures of Hong Kong films in the mainland market, Nicholas Tse recently announced on social media that he will hold a concert in 2025.
For Nicholas Tse, those born in the 80s may remember him as a singer, while those born in the 90s see him as an actor, and those born in the 2000s know him as a chef. However, in Nicholas Tse’s heart, he hopes that when people talk about him, they will say “he hasn’t changed in many years, he still gives his all for movies.”
After the release of the late Hong Kong director Benny Chan’s final work “Raging Fire” in August 2021, some netizens jokingly urged Nicholas Tse, who had been filming “12 Feng Wei”, to focus more on acting in movies rather than cooking, following the success of “Raging Fire”.
In the film, Nicholas Tse has a lot of action scenes. During interviews, he revealed that during filming, in order not to waste time, he would often eat with one hand while practicing with a butterfly knife with the other hand, even practicing while going to the restroom. He described his dedication to the film as “a bet on life”.
Nicholas Tse previously mentioned in an interview, “Many people ask me why I haven’t been making more movies in recent years and only focusing on cooking.” He said, “It’s not that I don’t want to, but I really want to be involved in what I feel is Hong Kong Action films.”
However, starting last year, several heavily invested Hong Kong action films with A-list stars had disappointing box office results after their releases in mainland China. For example, the high-budget film “Golden Finger” starring Andy Lau and Tony Leung only made a fraction of its investment back. Similarly, films like “Don’t Call Me ‘Gambling God'” and “The Legend” also underperformed at the box office.
The final straw that broke the camel’s back was the highly anticipated “Customs Frontline”, in which Nicholas Tse starred alongside Jackie Cheung. Sadly, despite its huge budget, the film only made a small portion of it back, dealing a significant blow to the production company.
Due to the declining popularity of action crime films in mainland China, many investors felt helpless, leading to the halt of some upcoming films, including Nicholas Tse’s “New Police Story 2” and “Endless Mission” in which he starred with William Chan.
Facing the continuous “failures” of Hong Kong action films in the mainland market, Nicholas Tse, who held a concert 20 years ago, plans to switch to holding a concert tour in 2025. On January 15, Nicholas Tse posted a concert poster on Weibo, along with a video of himself playing the guitar in a venue, announcing two concerts in April at the Kai Tak Stadium. Some netizens commented, “It’s so sudden, waited 20 years for this.”