One question has been asked frequently in Hong Kong film circles during the past week: who is this Antoine Fuqua, the director of Chow Yun-fat's Hollywood debut, The Replacement Killers ? The name sounds Japanese? An American derivation of an Asian name, perhaps? One person insisted it was a common moniker in Bolivia. But Antoine Fuqua is American, the exotic name coming from his father's side of the family, which is French Creole.
Learn it well because 32-year-old Fuqua, who hails from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is already inextricably linked with Hong Kong. His first film stars Chow Yun-fat and as soon as it wrapped in Los Angeles, he was on a fast plane over here for the handover to shoot footage for his next feature, Entrapment.
And it all started in a video shop. 'I was looking for something different so I went to the foreign film section,' Fuqua says. 'I took out a movie with this guy holding a gun on the cover. I watched it four times - that night.
'The next day, I asked around. But I found out The Killer was already being remade.' That was four years ago. A year later, he ran into Chow at Oliver Stone's Christmas party (as you do, when you're on the Hollywood fast-track). 'I told him I had to work with him,' Fuqua says. 'And two years ago, I got the call to make The Replacement Killers.'
Fuqua had already carved out an impressive reputation at Propaganda, the home of Seven wunderkind David Fincher, where he has directed television commercials and videos - including the award-winning Gangsta's Paradise for Coolio.
Propaganda placed Fuqua at the heart of Hollywood's cutting edge and it is not surprising that he linked up with Chow. The pair blended East-meets-West coolness for The Replacement Killers which saw two debuts: Chow grappling with his first English-language role and Fuqua directing his first feature film.