{"id":37729,"date":"2025-12-10T08:05:04","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T08:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/?p=37729"},"modified":"2025-12-10T09:19:29","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T09:19:29","slug":"bridge-summit-abu-dhabi-how-stanley-tong-and-jackie-chan-mastered-the-box-office-formula","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/10\/bridge-summit-abu-dhabi-how-stanley-tong-and-jackie-chan-mastered-the-box-office-formula\/","title":{"rendered":"Bridge Summit Abu Dhabi: How Stanley Tong and Jackie Chan Mastered the Box Office Formula"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Hong Kong filmmaker Stanley Tong shared a humorous yet revealing anecdote at the Bridge Summit, highlighting the challenges of his early career.<\/p>

\u201cYou buy cars from a junkyard\u2026 One side has a door, the other doesn\u2019t,\u201d he recalled, laughing. With just $200 for a paint job, Tong would transform battered vehicles and \u201cpretend it\u2019s an international movie.\u201d Back then, Hong Kong\u2019s small film market forced directors to be extremely resourceful, finding creative ways to make every dollar count.<\/p>

Tong explained that the wild stunts and comedic sequences in his early films \u2014 which often worried his mother \u2014 were driven by necessity. The local industry couldn\u2019t sustain directors for long, so he had to strategize how to appeal to international audiences to survive.<\/p>

This approach eventually shaped the action-comedy formula that became the hallmark of his work with Jackie Chan. \u201cIn America, action is boom, boom, boom, and comedy is more like Jim Carrey,\u201d Tong said. \u201cThey don\u2019t have our unique combination of the two.\u201d By blending high-energy action with humor, shooting efficiently with quick lighting setups and tight budgets, Tong and Chan created films that broke box office records, culminating in one of their most successful Chinese New Year releases ever.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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A new film inspired by the Silk Road<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Four decades into his career, Stanley Tong remains motivated by cross-cultural storytelling, a theme that continues to influence his upcoming work. The filmmaker \u2014 who also serves as producer, stunt coordinator, and screenwriter \u2014 revealed that he is currently developing a movie centered on the Silk Road, exploring \u201chow Chinese people connected with the wider world.\u201d The project draws inspiration from the shared values Tong has observed during his international shoots, including respect for family, elders, and community.<\/p>

\u201cThe world is becoming smaller, and communication is easier thanks to the internet,\u201d he said. His experiences working overseas made him realize that audiences beyond East Asia resonate with universal emotions. \u201cWe all share the same feelings\u2026 fundamentally, we are peaceful,\u201d Tong added, emphasizing the common humanity that underpins his storytelling approach.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/article>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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AI can\u2019t replace the heart of the story\n\n<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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It was only after reflecting on both his past achievements and upcoming projects that Stanley Tong addressed the role of artificial intelligence in filmmaking, suggesting that AI affects production processes rather than the core of storytelling.<\/p>

He recognized AI\u2019s efficiency, noting that it can generate content \u201cjust like that,\u201d and mentioned that he now employs it to assist with scriptwriting and creating artwork. However, Tong emphasized that the essence of cinema remains rooted in human collaboration. \u201cUltimately, you still work closely with writers, directors, and actors\u2026 and you experience the entire creative journey,\u201d he explained, underscoring the irreplaceable value of hands-on human involvement in filmmaking.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/article>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Janet Yang: Art is still a connector\n\n\n<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Producer Janet Yang, who spoke alongside Stanley Tong, acknowledged the industry\u2019s current challenges amid significant political divides but stressed that art remains a unifying force. \u201cArt is the most powerful way to connect people,\u201d she said.<\/p>

Yang described the present moment as simultaneously difficult and full of potential for emerging talents. She highlighted that younger filmmakers today have \u201cfar greater opportunities\u201d than before, even though navigating the industry often remains complex and demanding.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/article>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Advice For The Next Generation\n\n<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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When asked what he might do differently if beginning his career today, Tong said that even after 45 years, he still considers himself a lifelong learner. He emphasized that the one unchanging principle is the importance of thinking globally from the very start, as stories now reach audiences faster than ever.<\/p>

Yang ended on a pragmatic note, acknowledging that challenges are unavoidable, yet careers can take surprising turns. \u201cYou never really know what\u2019s around the corner,\u201d she remarked.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/article>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the Bridge Summit in Abu Dhabi, Stanley Tong and Jackie Chan shared insights into their strategies, revealing how they consistently achieve blockbuster success at the global box office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[78,9],"tags":[],"post_template":[],"top_category":[],"class_list":["post-37729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-uae","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37729"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37738,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37729\/revisions\/37738"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37729"},{"taxonomy":"post_template","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_template?post=37729"},{"taxonomy":"top_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/top_category?post=37729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}