| TVB Moves on Without Dicky Cheung Wai Kin for Sequel to Journey To The West |
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| June 25, 1997 TVB's production assistant chief supervisor Tsang Lai Chun pointed out on June 25th the sequel to Journey To The West (Sai Yau Gei) will follow the original schedule as the crew will head to China in October, even if Dicky Cheung Wai Kin changes his mind the show won't want him back. "I absolutely wouldn't take 'Chan Dai Man' when there is no one and kick someone out when someone else returns. That wouldn't be fair to Chan Ho Man!" Chun Je insistently said there is no room for change. Reportedly TVB is dissatisfied with Kin Jai's high asking price and thus released him as an example. "First, let's not talk about money, let's talk about contracts and promises. In May, Kin Jai said he didn't want to fly back and forth and asked his little brother manager to turn down his work in Taiwan, but in June we found out Kin Jai never signed the contract. After further questioning, he wants to take 3 days per week during production to do a variety show in Taiwan. I, of course said no, he gave in and said 2 days, I still said no because he knew early on after October, he would do Journey To The West. He even had the synopsis and gave a lot of suggestions during meeting. We never would have guessed it would be like this at the last minute." Chun Je expressed, she has already compromised a lot with Kin Jai by saying December/Christmas is the golden time to make big money and letting him go on tour and she would bear all responsibilities. On the day Kin Jai's brother expressed TVB couldn't adjust to the Taiwan shows, she was so mad she had to sit in the office for 2 hours to calm down and consider whether to continue on. In the end she thought of Kong Wa, Lai Yiu Cheung, and Mak Cheung Chung having agreed to the October date early on and the million dollar TVB special effects team having spent a year in preparation and decided to recast. Chun Je stressed Kin Jai was the one who gave the October period to TVB. The other department and artists had to adjust, not expecting Kin Jai would be so unreliable. Chun Je also expressed Chan Ho Man while working on Demi God and Semi Devil (Tin Lung Bat Bo), producer Lee Tim Sing greatly praised him. When she asked Chan Ho Man if he has a chance to play Suen Ng Hung how would he react, he said he would react in 3 different ways, first is joy, then he would concentrate and thirdly, he would go to the zoo to imitate monkeys. Chun Je also expressed disappointment for Kin Jai. Since this show is a million dollar production, perhaps it would take his career further, unfortunately he abandoned this opportunity. Kin Jai's contract with TVB ends in 1998, originally the company could force him into the role with the old salary, but the company has already offered him a raise. When asked if their relationship has taken a turn for the worse, she expressed she wouldn't say that because each has it's own standpoint. |
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| Courtesy of "Wolverine's News of the Week" |