Patrick Kong Tests Streaming-First Path for Hong Kong Film
SingTao · 1 SOURCESabout 3 hours ago4 MIN
Summary
Hong Kong director Patrick Kong (葉念琛) has chosen to bypass cinemas for his new romance film Battlefield of Love, selling the streaming rights directly to Disney+ instead of following the usual theatrical-first release model. Kong said the approach locks in cost recovery for investors and serves as an experiment on whether small- to mid-budget Hong Kong films can perform better on streaming platforms.
Key Points
- Kong, who entered the industry in 1997 and will mark 30 years in film next year, said he no longer assumes old formulas still work in a rapidly changing market.
- He said Battlefield of Love cost more than the HK$3 million spent on UFO Mysterious Case but remained below HK$10 million, which he described as reasonable for a modestly scaled film.
- Instead of opening in cinemas first, the production sold its screening rights directly to Disney+, a move Kong said had already protected investors from taking a loss.
- Kong said theatrical release now carries heavy uncertainty because box-office revenue must be split with cinemas and reduced by marketing costs, leaving producers with only a fraction of gross takings.
- Citing industry contraction, he noted Hong Kong had 109 cinemas in 1969, while 35 have closed or suspended operations since the Covid-19 period began in 2020, leaving 53 cinemas citywide.
Why It Matters
For Hong Kong audiences, Kong's release strategy points to a possible split market in which event films remain cinema attractions while smaller local productions move online for longer shelf life and lower financial risk. If the Disney+ experiment works, it could offer producers another way to finance and distribute Cantonese films without relying so heavily on volatile box office returns.