via KFC
Golden Harvest, the once mighty Hong Kong film studio that produced dozens of classic martial arts and action films from Bruce Lee’s FIST OF FURY (1972) to Tsui Hark’s THE BLADE (1995) is making a comeback, at least in name. Beijing-based Chengtian, known in English as Orange Sky, has completed a takeover of Golden Harvest, now called Orange Sky Golden Harvest Entertainment Holdings, with plans to begin producing new movies under the Golden Harvest Motion Pictures subsidiary.
Golden Harvest began as a small upstart Hong Kong film studio founded by disgruntled, former Shaw Brothers executives Raymond Chow and Leonard Ho in 1970. They quickly scored a major coup over their bigger rival when they offered recently arrived Hollywood actor Bruce Lee a more lucrative two-picture deal. The mammoth success of Lee’s second film, FIST OF FURY, made Golden Harvest.
Despite Lee’s subsequent death, the studio only gained momentum by using ENTER THE DRAGON as a launch pad to invest in Hollywood productions and by attracting and keeping emerging mega talents such as Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan and Tsui Hark.
As Shaw Brothers faded away in the ’80s, Golden Harvest emerged as Hong Kong’s last great film studio with phenomenal output over the course of 33 years in the moviemaking business. They dominated the ’80s and ’90s with hits like MY LUCKY STARS, POLICE STORY, ROUGE, NAKED KILLER, and ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA.
Widespread apprehension, an exodus of talent and a steep decline in Hong Kong’s box office power amid the territory’s 1997 handover from British rule to mainland China took its toll on the studio and Golden Harvest’s film studio closed its doors in 2003. They continued to operate as a film financier and manager of a chain of cinemas in Hong Kong and mainland China.
According to chief financial officer Winnie Chan the new Golden Harvest is expected to produce two to four small to medium-sized films per year and co-produce and co-finance big budget productions. The company will also continue in its focus on the development of cinemas on the mainland.