Hong Kong action film “The White Storm: Heaven or Hell” will have its North American premiere at the New York Asian Film Festival, where it is a late addition to the line-up. The festival runs July 14–30, 2023 at Film at Lincoln Center (FLC).
Directed by Herman Yau, the film sees Louis Koo, Aaron Kwok and Sean Lau (aka Lau Ching-wan) appear together for the first time. It is set in the ‘Golden Triangle’ region famous for drugs production and trafficking. Kwok plays an undercover cop who infiltrates a drug cartel led by a notorious Thai drug lord (Lau). In classic heroic bloodshed fashion, the two develop a bond of brotherhood. The cop’s only hope of escaping the treacherous jungle region and his ambiguous morality is to somehow contact the superintendent of the Hong Kong Narcotics Bureau, who has solemnly sworn to demolish the cartel once and for all.
The predecessor film “The White Storm 2: Drug Lords” played at the NYAFF in 2019. The festival selection of the threequel aligns with its updated commercial release date in mainland China.
AMTD, the Hong Kong-based digital and financial services conglomerate behind the movie through its AMTD Digital Media and Entertainment, said Wednesday that the release in China had been brought forward by three weeks to July 6.
CMC Pictures has picked up the rights to the film for North America, but it has not yet confirmed a U.S. release date.
Calvin Choi, chairman of the New York Stock Exchange-listed AMTD, is executive producer and executive manager of the film. He described the company as a “one-stop digital solutions platform [that] operates four main business lines including digital financial services, SpiderNet ecosystem solutions, digital media, content and marketing, as well as digital investments. It is the fusion reactor at the core of the AMTD SpiderNet ecosystem and empowers and integrates the various digital businesses within its ecosystem.
