Acclaimed Hong Kong director Benny Chan dies at 58, celebs Donnie Yen, Nicholas Tse and others pay tribute

Hong Kong showbiz has lost one of its greats. Accomplished action-film director Benny Chan died yesterday (Aug 23) at the age of 58.

According to Hong Kong Apple Daily, Benny — known for his films like New Police Story, Gen-X Cops, Shaolin, Who Am I?, and the award-winning Big Bullet — suffered from nasopharyngeal cancer.

He was working on his crime thriller film Raging Fire when he fell ill and was diagnosed with it. Hence, he was unable to complete post-production work even though he finished directing it.

The movie began production last year, and is now set to be released posthumously sometime this year.

After news of his death broke, many celebrities including Donnie Yen, Nicholas Tse, and Daniel Wu took to social media to pay tribute to him.

Action star Donnie, who is in Raging Fire, said Benny was a "positive, strong, happy, inspiring director and friend". He added: "I will miss your smile, our creative exchanges and fatherhood stories."

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Raging Fire co-star Nicholas, who was also in Gen-X Cops, posted a picture of Benny with the Gen-X cast and mentioned how much the late director influenced him as an actor and person.

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Actor-director Stephen Fung said he was "shocked to hear" of Benny's death and called him "a strong force behind Hong Kong cinema".

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Actress Jeana Ho said that she felt Benny's "professionalism" and "ability" during her time on Raging Fire. She described his passing as a huge blow to Hong Kong cinema.

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Actor Daniel Wu, who has starred in several of Benny's films, called him "the best in the game".

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And actor Eddie Peng also spoke about how much he'll miss the director.

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ALSO READ: Remembering Benny Chan: Action director's top 5 films

bryanlim@asiaone.com