Hong Kong-based Edko Films is rolling out international sales at Cannes for two highly anticipated prequels to the acclaimed Cold War franchise, with Daniel Wu (Love Hurts) and Terrance Lau (Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In) headlining both titles.
Titled Cold War 1994 and Cold War 1995, the films are produced by veteran industry figures Bill Kong and Ivy Ho, known for recent hits A Guilty Conscience and Anita. The first installment is slated for release in late 2025, followed by the second in 2026.
These prequels mark Daniel Wu’s return to Hong Kong cinema after several years in Hollywood, where he starred in projects such as Into the Badlands and American Born Chinese. Rising star Terrance Lau, fresh off his breakout in Cannes 2024 selection Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, joins him in the dual lead roles.
Set in the politically charged years preceding the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China, the two action-packed crime thrillers explore the early career of M.B. Lee—a central figure from the original Cold War films. The story follows Lee as he navigates a treacherous web of corruption, balancing the interests of triad gangs, colonial elites, and the British authorities while managing a sensitive kidnapping case he must keep hidden from the public eye.
“The films present a continuous narrative set just before the handover and delve deeper into the complexities of M.B. Lee’s character,” said director and screenwriter Longman Leung, who also helmed the original Cold War entries. Those films were record-breaking blockbusters in Hong Kong, dominating the box office in 2012 and 2016 with a combined gross exceeding HK$100 million (over US$13 million).
Shot back-to-back across more than 100 production days, the upcoming prequels primarily filmed in Hong Kong, with select sequences captured on location in London.
SOURCE: Screen Daily
