''The Heavenly Kings'' (四大天王) is a 2006

Hong Kong film The cinema of Hong Kong ( zh, t=香港電影) is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China and the cinema of Taiwan. As a former British colony, Hong Kong had a greater degree of pol ...

directed by

Daniel Wu Daniel Ng Neh-Tsu (, born September 30, 1974) is an American actor, director and producer based in Hong Kong. He is known as a "flexible and distinctive" leading actor in the Chinese language film industry. Since his film debut in 1998, he has ...

Background

In 2005, Chinese media began to report that Daniel Wu had formed a boyband, Alive, with

Terence Yin Terence Yin Chi-wai (, born 19 May 1975) is a Hong Kong film actor, singer, producer, and media relations specialist. Yin has starred in over 30 movies, released one solo album and resides in Hong Kong. Early life May 19, 1975, Yin was born ...

Andrew Lin Andrew Lin Hoi () is a Hong Kong-based Taiwanese actor and visual artist. Originally working as a special effects makeup artist in the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S ...

and Conroy Chan. Wu and his band mates posted information, updates, personal thoughts (including slamming Hong Kong Disneyland, for which they were spokespersons) and the band's music, at their official website. In 2006, Wu made his writing and directorial debut with ''The Heavenly Kings'', which chronicles Alive's formation and exploits. After the film's release, however, it was revealed that ''The Heavenly Kings'' was actually a

mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...

of the Hong Kong pop music industry and Alive was constructed purely as a vehicle to make the movie; the film's characters represented only 10-15% of their real-life counterparts and much of the footage blurred the line between fiction and reality. Wu admitted his own singing voice "sucked really bad," and the band had their voices digitally enhanced for its music, to prove that "it's easy to fake it."

Cast and roles

* Conroy Chan Chi-Chung - Himself *

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

- Cameo (''uncredited'') *

Jaycee Chan Jaycee Joming Chan (, born 3 December 1982), known professionally as Jaycee Chan, is an American singer and actor. In 2004, he released his first Mandarin CD album in Hong Kong. He later went to Taiwan to continue his music career. He is the son o ...

- Cameo *

Jacky Cheung Jacky Cheung Hok-yau (born 10 July 1961) is a Hong Kong singer and actor. Dubbed the " God of Songs", he is regarded as one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Hong Kong pop music. Cheung is known for his technically skilled vocals, lengthy tours, and ...

- Cameo * Stephen Fung - Cameo *

Josie Ho Josephine "Josie" Ho Chiu-yi (; born 26 December 1974) is a singer and actress from Hong Kong. She is the daughter of the Macao casino magnate Stanley Ho. Acting career She has played many roles, including portraying the parts of prostitutes, whic ...

- Cameo (''uncredited'') * Tony Ho *

Ella Koon Ella Koon Yun-na (born 9 July 1979) is a former Hong Kong Cantopop singer and semi-retired actress. Biography Ella Koon was born in the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, and is of Hakka descent. She was raised in Hong Kong and attended high sc ...

- Cameo (''uncredited'') *

Jo Kuk Jo Koo Cho-lam (谷祖琳; born 16 May 1977), sometimes credited as Jo Koo is a Hong Kong actress and singer. Personal life In 2010, Koo married businessman Andrew Lau Wing-hang (劉穎恆), whom she met while studying in Australia. The couple h ...

- Kei Kei (as Jo Koo) *

- Himself *

Candy Lo Candy Lo is a Canto- rock singer-songwriter and film actress from Hong Kong. Formerly the lead vocalist of the band Black and Blue, Lo launched her solo career in 1998 and is best known for the singles, "Trash" () and "Please Break Up" (). C ...

- Cameo *

Karen Mok Karen Mok (born Karen Joy Morris (), 2 June 1970) is a Hong Kong pop diva who is one of the leading Asian pop singers and actresses with a career spanning three decades. She is the first female Hong Kong singer to win the Golden Melody Award and h ...

- Cameo *

Jason Tobin Jason Tobin, credited in Chinese as To Jun Wai (杜俊緯), is a Hong Kong-British film and television actor best known for his work in the lead role of Young Jun in the Cinemax series ''Warrior''. Early life and education Tobin was born in Hon ...

- Sandy * Nicholas Tse - Cameo * Paul Wong - Cameo *

- Himself *

Miriam Yeung Miriam Yeung (born 3 February 1974) is a Hong Kong actress and Cantopop diva. As of 2020, she has released more than 35 albums and has starred in more than 40 films. In 2012, Yeung won the Award for Best Actress at the 32nd Hong Kong Film Awards ...

- Cameo *

- Himself

Reception

Despite some backlash from the media over being intentionally fed false information in the movie about illegal downloads of the band's music, Wu won the best new director award for the film at the

26th Hong Kong Film Awards Ceremony for the 26th Hong Kong Film Awards was held on 15 April 2007 in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and hosted by Bowie Tsang, Nick Cheung and Lam Chi-chung. Twenty-six winners in nineteen categories were unveiled, with film '' After This Our ...

, an achievement he called "a group effort." The film has also been nominated for Best Original Film Song at the same Awards ceremony: Composer: Davy Chan; Lyricist: Li Jin Yi and Singer: Alive.

References

External links

*
''The Heavenly Kings''
at HK Cinemagic

* Interview with Terence Yin
"Heavenly Kings: Revealing the Entertainment Industry"
28 December 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Heavenly Kings, The 2006 films Hong Kong films 2000s mockumentary films 2006 directorial debut films