Chow's fat bank account

It has already been a prosperous New Year for Chow Yun-fat, thanks to a lucrative worldwide backend deal on Ang Lee's hit movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Chow (above) is said to have collected as much as US$2 million (HK$15.6 million) before the Lunar New Year, from the film's American box office. So far, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has grossed more than US$37.3 million at the US box office, making it the biggest Chinese-language foreign film in US history.

Without confirming the exact sum he has received from his percentage of the grosses, Chow admitted he received a cheque from distributors Columbia Tristar which was very satisfactory. 'It's like winning the Mark Six,' said the actor, who had taken a pay cut to appear in the movie in return for a percentage of the grosses. 'When I first agreed to do the movie, I didn't expect it to do this well in the West.'

The year is likely to get a lot more prosperous for the charismatic actor. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is already the highest-grossing foreign language film to open in the UK. It has grossed US$4.43 million in its first three weeks of release, beating Oscar winner Life Is Beautiful which took US$4.42 million. The film has so far taken more than US$65 million at the box office worldwide. Chow, who will be a guest presenter at the Academy Awards on March 25, passed up an earlier invitation to present an award at the Golden Globes because he wanted to spend New Year in Hong Kong with his family.