THE Hollywood honeymoon is over. Three years ago, it appeared Hong Kong's best talents had eloped to Tinseltown. Now they are back - and bursting with big ideas for big movies. But the future didn't always look bright. Back in the 1990s Hong Kong's film industry was on a shaky ledge, compounded by the problem of video piracy. The money dried up, the exodus began.
Even now, some Hollywood-bound talents, such as John Woo, Ronny Yu Yan-tai and Jet Li Lianjie, have decided to stay and develop their careers in the United States. But others have chosen to return to Asia to help lift the industry out of the doldrums.
Stanley Tong Kwai-lai, director of Jackie Chan hits such as Supercop and Rumble In The Bronx, is one who still has great hope in the future of the Chinese film industry. After four years in the US - directing Mr Magoo and producing the CBS hit TV series Martial Law - Tong has been spending the past few months in Hong Kong preparing for his new action movie, China Strike Force.
'My intention had always been to go over to Hollywood, learn from them and come back to Asia to make Chinese films,' he says.
'Over the past few years, it has been very sad that many people have been so biased against Hong Kong films. But the truth is there are also bad Hollywood films, bad Korean or Japanese films. Some are good and some fail, I don't understand why people only say that Hong Kong films are bad.
'Rumble In The Bronx was very successful in the US and Southeast Asia and yet it was a Hong Kong production. I still have confidence in Chinese films. I think there are still good prospects. Once China gets into the World Trade Organisation, market demand will rise.' Tong's Rumble and Supercop star, Jackie Chan, whose latest film Shanghai Noon is now showing in Hong Kong, has been the SAR's most successful export to Hollywood when it comes to salaries. Although he will earn $20 million plus, a percentage of the profits for his next Hollywood movie, Rush Hour 2, Chan is currently busy shooting his latest Hong Kong film, The Accidental Spy.