HK martial arts choreographer-director Corey Yuen died in 2022
The prolific Hong Kong martial arts film star and director Corey Yuen died in 2022, the Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers confirmed on Aug 12.
His death was due to Covid-19, but the news was kept private in accordance with the wishes of his family. Though the date of his death was not revealed, he would have turned 72 in 2022.
The confirmation follows Hong Kong actor-director Jackie Chan’s Weibo post on Aug 12, celebrating the 65th anniversary of Yuan Jia Ban, a martial arts film troupe formed by disciples of gongfu artist Yu Jim Yuen who trained at the Peking opera school China Drama Academy in Hong Kong.
The troupe’s members included Chan, Hong Kong actor-director Sammo Hung and Yuen. Near the end of his post, Chan named Yuen in a list of Yu’s late disciples.
Yuen was a member of Seven Little Fortunes, a travelling performance troupe made up of China Drama Academy’s best students, along with Chan, Hung and martial arts stars Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah and Yuen Qiu.
Chan, 70, said in his post, which was accompanied by a photo of the surviving members of Yuan Jia Ban: “Many of us from Seven Little Fortunes were beloved by audiences and many became excellent action choreographers, actors and directors with their own defining works.
“Decades passed just like that, and all of us have wrinkles on our faces and white hair now. There are many moves we can no longer pull off, but, as Sammo says, after a lifetime of fighting and stunts, the fact that we are healthy and can even get together is a miracle.”
One of Corey Yuen’s early performances on film was as an extra in the Bruce Lee-led movie Fist Of Fury (1972). Yuen also acted in and served as action choreographer on Tsui Hark’s 1983 fantasy movie Zu: Warriors From The Magic Mountain.
Yuen’s debut directorial feature was Ninja In The Dragon’s Den (1982), and from there, he began directing a string of movies, most of which were martial arts films.
These included action comedy Dragons Forever (1988), which Yuen co-directed with Hung and starred Chan, and the gambling-themed comedy All For The Winner (1990), which starred Stephen Chow. The latter film, which was Hong Kong’s first movie to surpass HK$40 million at the box office, was Chow’s breakout film role and cemented his status as Hong Kong’s go-to funnyman.
Yuen went on to helm its sequel Top Bet (1991), which starred the late Hong Kong singer-actress Anita Mui.
He also directed Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh in Yes, Madam (1985), one of the earliest Hong Kong action movies featuring a female protagonist, and made English-language movies such as No Retreat, No Surrender (1985), which was Belgian martial arts star Jean-Claude Van Damme’s first significant film outing.
In the 1990s, Yuen began collaborating with China-born movie star Jet Li.
He directed Li in films such as The Legend Of Fong Sai-Yuk (1993), The Bodyguard From Beijing (1994) and My Father Is A Hero (1995). He also served as action choreographer for Li’s Hollywood ventures such as Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), Romeo Must Die (2000), Kiss Of The Dragon (2001) and The Expendables (2010).
Yuen’s last directing credit was for the 2006 video game film adaptation DOA: Dead Or Alive.
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