''Breaking News'' () is a 2004

Hong Kong action film Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. Action films from Hong Kong have roots in Chinese culture, Chinese and Culture of Hong Kong, Hong Kong cultures including Chinese opera, storytelling an ...

produced and directed by

Johnnie To Johnnie To Kei-fung (born 22 April 1955) is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter and film producer. Popular in his native Hong Kong, To has also found acclaim overseas. Intensely prolific, To has made films in a variety of genres, though in ...

, and starring

Richie Jen Richie Jen Hsien-chi (, born 23 June 1966) is a Taiwanese singer and actor. He graduated from the Chinese Culture University's physical education department. His hits include "Too Softhearted" (), "Look Over Here, Girl" (), "The Sad Pacific" () ...

Kelly Chen Kelly Chen Wai-lam (born Vivian Chen Wai-man on 13 September 1972) is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer and actress. She has been referred to as a "Diva of Asia" (). Chen has great success in the East Asian entertainment industry with nearly 20 mi ...

Nick Cheung Nick Cheung Ka-fai (; born 2 December 1964) is a Hong Kong actor, singer and director. Background He was formerly a Royal Hong Kong Police officer for four years, but he left the job after his request to be transferred to the criminal investigat ...

Eddie Cheung Cheung Siu-fai (; born 4 February 1963), also known as Eddie Cheung, is a Hong Kong actor. He is best known for his many supporting or everyman roles similar to Liu Kai-chi. Filmography Television series References External links * * ...

Simon Yam Simon Yam Tat-wah (; born 19 March 1955) is a Hong Kong actor and film producer. He received international acclaim for his performances in international film festival and box office hits such as ''Naked Killer'', '' SPL: Sha Po Lang'', ''Election' ...

and

Maggie Shiu Maggie Shiu (born February 27, 1965) is a prominent Hong Kong actress. Career Her career began in 1985 when she joined Hong Kong TVB. As her career developed, she took on variety of roles in TV series and movies. Hong Kong audiences still remember ...

. The film premiered out of competition at the

2004 Cannes Film Festival The 57th Cannes Film Festival started on 12 and ran until 23 May 2004 in film, 2004. The Palme d'Or went to the United States, American film ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' by Michael Moore. The festival opened with ''Bad Education (2004 film), La mala educa ...

Plot

The

Hong Kong Police The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest disciplined service under the Security Bureau of Hong Kong. The Royal Hong Kong Police Force (RHKPF) reverted to its former name after the t ...

finds itself in a

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

crisis after a disastrous shootout and the scene of a police officer surrendering in apparent fear to the mobsters was captured and telecast by the local media. Inspector Cheung and his crew are assigned to the task of catching these mobsters, led by the intelligent and resourceful Yuen. In the meantime, Superintendent Rebecca Fong leads an effort on the part of the Hong Kong Police to mislead the media and salvage the reputation of the police team. She sees the chance in a raid on the mobsters hiding out in an apartment, while Inspector Cheung leads his own team to search for the mobsters, with many gunfights breaking out in between. Yuen hides out in the apartment of Yip, a bumbling taxi driver and single father of two. With the reluctant help of Yip's computer whiz son, he plays an intricate cat and mouse game with the police, releasing suspicious images of the police being defeated to the media. Superintendent Fong thwarts the effort with tricks of her own, including releasing a sumptuous

packed lunch A packed lunch (also called pack lunch, sack lunch or brown-bag lunch in North America) is a lunch which is prepared before arriving at the place where it is to be eaten. Typically, it is prepared at home or at a hotel, or produced commercially ...

to the numerous squads on duty. After PTU officers were defeated in the first raid attempt, SDU operators were called in to flush out Yuen and his fellow mobsters. Inspector Cheung successfully tracks down Yuen, though he is defeated only after a high-octane chase and gunfight sequence, with Fong held hostage.

Cast

as Yuen *

as Superintendent Rebecca Fong *

as Inspector Cheung *

as Eric Yeung *

Benz Hui Benz Hui Shiu-hung (born 4 November 1948) is a Hong Kong film and TV actor. Hui is credited with over 165 films. Hui is a currently a TV actor with TVB. Early life and family Hui comes from an influential family in Canton. His great-grandfather ...

as Hoi *

Lam Suet Lam Suet (; born 1964), or Lin Xue, is a Hong Kong film actor. Life and career Lam was born in Tianjin, and came to Hong Kong as a youth in 1979 to receive inheritance money left by his grandfather. Soon after, all the money had been squander ...

as Yip *

You Yong You Yong (born 13 December 1963) is a Chinese actor. He enrolled in the Xi'an Drama School (西安话剧院) in 1979 and joined the Shanghai Theatre Academy Shanghai Theatre Academy () is a public university in Shanghai, People's Republic of ...

as Chun * Ding Haifeng as Lung * Li Haitao as Chung *

as Asst. Commissioner Wong (special appearance) *

Alan Chui Chung-San Chui Chung-San (often known as Shu Zhong Xin, Hsu Zhong-Xin or Alan Hsu; 16 August 1952 – 2 November 2022) was a Hong Kong actor, director, choreographer, martial artist and stuntman. He was known for being an action director and stuntman. Ch ...

as Chun's target *

as Grace Chow (special appearance) * Wong Chi-wai as Wang * Wong Wah-wo as White Hair

Awards and nominations

Remakes

A remake called '' Goryachie Novosti'' (international title: ''

Newsmakers ''Newsmakers'' (russian: Горячие новости, Goryachie novosti) is a 2009 Russian action thriller film directed by Swedish director Anders Banke. It is a remake of the Hong Kong film ''Breaking News'' by Johnnie To. Plot Moscow police ...

'') has been shot in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. It is produced by Moscow-based Tandem Pictures and

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

's Illusion Film and helmed by young

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

director

Anders Banke Anders Banke (born 2 August 1969) is a Swedish director. He was born and raised in Ystad and developed an early interest in film. He was trained as a director at VGIK in Moscow and learned to speak Russian. There he met his friend and future collab ...

. The Russian/Swedish version of ''Breaking News'' was theatrically released in Russia and ex-USSR on 7 May 2009.

References

External links