January 27, 2026
HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s latest hit flick, Back To The Past, has made history, smashing the city’s box-office records and giving its struggling film industry a fresh glimmer of hope.
The time-travel comedy starring actors Louis Koo and Raymond Lam has become Hong Kong’s highest-grossing Chinese-language film debut of all time – not just on opening day alone but also for the whole of its first week of screening.
The blockbuster – which raked in HK$10.9 million (S$1.8 million) in Hong Kong when it debuted on New Year’s Eve, and HK$45.4 million that week – beat previous records set in 2024 by actor Dayo Wong’s The Last Dance and Lam’s Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In, as well as a 2023 record by Wong’s A Guilty Conscience.
With distribution to over a dozen countries, including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia and the Netherlands, the 107-minute movie’s global takings have totalled US$8.2 million (S$10.4 million) so far.
But is one or two blockbuster hits a year enough to save Hong Kong’s film industry, which appears to be headed towards terminal decline?
Back To The Past’s strong showing comes after a disappointing year for the industry at the box office, which saw 2025 ticket sales drop 16 per cent from 2024 after having fallen 6 per cent from 2023.
At least 10 cinemas have shut since 2024 as operators struggle to stay afloat after coming out of prolonged closures during the Covid-19 pandemic to audiences who now prefer to wait to get their movie fix on streaming platforms in the comfort of their homes instead.
Some 52 cinemas remain in operation as at January, compared with 72 in 1999 during the industry’s heyday, despite the population having risen by 8 per cent to over 7.5 million in the same period.
Against this backdrop, it is no mean feat that Back To The Past has managed to draw so many people back to the theatres to catch the film.
The historical science-fiction comedy is a sequel to broadcaster TVB’s wildly popular 2001 drama series A Step Into The Past, based on late local martial-arts novelist Huang Yi’s book Xun Qin Ji, or The Chronicles Of Searching For Qin.
It follows the escapades of Hong Siu Lung (Koo), a 21st-century policeman tasked to travel back in time to ancient China to record the coronation of Qin Shi Huang (Lam), the emperor who unified China.
Mayhem ensues when Hong is forced to insert himself into the political power struggle to ensure that Qin makes it to the throne and stays there, or risk changing the course of history.
Aside from Koo and Lam, the film also reprised the ensemble cast of TVB household names who starred in the drama series, including Jessica Hsuan, Sonija Kwok and Michelle Saram.
Nostalgia was probably the biggest factor for the movie’s success.
It took its viewers “back to the past” – not just to the ingenuity of the original series, but also to the golden era when the popularity of Hong Kong productions was at its peak.
“The most attractive part of the movie is the familiarity we feel with the return of the original cast… Just seeing them together is enough to bring old fans to tears,” the Taiwanese writer behind popular film critic website Lessons From Movies wrote in a Jan 16 Facebook post that garnered some 5,300 likes.
“For us long-time fans, this is a grand trip back to our youth. Even for new viewers, it’s an easily understood historical action flick with a core message… You may think you can control your destiny, but every move you make will effect a change in yourself as well.”
It is not uncommon for well-received TVB dramas to be spun off into movies.
The 2014 crime thriller Line Walker starring Lam, Charmaine Sheh and Benz Hui was adapted into film two years after the series’ release on TV. The 2003 aviation drama Triumph In The Skies, starring Francis Ng, was remade for the big screen in 2015.
Coincidentally, Koo also starred in both movies.
Lessons From Movies’ review of Back To The Past may shed some light on what could work for other Hong Kong films that choose to take their inspiration from hit local drama series.
It noted: “It wasn’t just about the protagonists, but also the many well-loved side characters. In the film, they were allowed the screen time to finish their unspoken words and once and for all close the plot gaps that were never properly accounted for in the original series.”
But Koo himself pointed out in 2025 that Hong Kong’s cinema scene suffers from a “generational gap”, in which moviegoers would pay only to watch familiar faces, effectively shutting out newer actors from taking lead roles in local films.
The phenomenon – which erects a high entry barrier for newcomers – does not bode well for the future of the city’s film industry, already bogged down by issues including limited funding, stricter censorship, plunging ticket sales and fewer theatres.
Even taking inspiration from the small screen has become harder as local TV drama producers struggle to create fresh content and attract new blood amid declining viewership and rising competition from streaming platforms.
It was in part for this reason that veteran actor and director Eric Tsang announced on Jan 5 that he was stepping down as TVB’s general manager.
“I plan to return to film-making,” Tsang told reporters. “Seeing how poorly Hong Kong’s film industry is doing right now, I feel bad that I haven’t contributed to it while at TVB for the past five years. My entertainment career began in the movies after all.”
“I hope to work with the industry’s new directors and producers, mentor them, perhaps share some new ideas that can give our audiences fresh experiences and get us back in touch with them.”
Koo and Tsang allude to the same thing: To move forward, viewers and film-makers alike cannot keep looking back to the past – to the same old faces, shows and plot lines – and hope for success to repeat itself as the world moves on.
Back To The Past has earned its place in Hong Kong’s cinematic history, but the film industry needs more than yet another trip down memory lane to save it from a bleak future.