Breaking News () is a 2004 Hong Kong action film produced and directed by Johnnie To, and starring Richie Jen, Kelly Chen, Nick Cheung, Eddie Cheung, Simon Yam and Maggie Shiu. The film premiered out of competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.
Plot
The Hong Kong Police finds itself in a public relations crisis after a disastrous shootout and the scene of a police officer surrendering in apparent fear to the mobsters was captured and telecast by the local media. Inspector Cheung and his crew are assigned to the task of catching these mobsters, led by the intelligent and resourceful Yuen.
In the meantime, Superintendent Rebecca Fong leads an effort on the part of the Hong Kong Police to mislead the media and salvage the reputation of the police team. She sees the chance in a raid on the mobsters hiding out in an apartment, while Inspector Cheung leads his own team to search for the mobsters, with many gunfights breaking out in between. While the police were evacuating the apartment, Yuan accidentally rescued another team: the killer Chun and his companions. Yuan and Fong used the media to wage a propaganda war.
Yuan and Chun finally decided to create chaos. They escaped from the apartment after freeing the remaining residents of the apartment, having a gunfight with the police during the chaos with the death of their companions. Cheung and Fong saw through their trick and followed Yuan. Yuan took Fong as a hostage and went to the place where Chun was going to assassinate the target, and acted in his place, but Cheung and other police officers followed Fong's tracker and rushed to the scene, which made the assassination impossible. Fong said that she would not let this "show" be messed up in her hands. Yuan knew that the defeat was doomed, so he decided to expose himself and was shot dead by the police. The police promoted Cheung and Fong as the heroes of this "show".
At the end of the story, the killer Chun took Yuan's place in hijacking the cash withdrawal vehicle and was also shot dead.
Cast
Richie Jen as Yuen, an intelligent criminal
Kelly Chen as Superintendent Rebecca Fong
Nick Cheung as Senior Inspector Cheung of District Crime Squad
Eddie Cheung as Chief Superintendent Eric Yeung
Benz Hui as Sergeant Hoi, subordinate of Inspector Cheung
Lam Suet as Yip, hostage
You Yong as Chun
Ding Haifeng as Lung
Li Haitao as Chung
Simon Yam as Asst. Commissioner Wong (special appearance) Alan Chui Chung-San as Chun's target Maggie Shiu as Inspector Grace Chow, Police Public Relation (special appearance) Wong Chi-wai as Wang Wong Wah-wo as White Hair
Awards and nominations
Remakes
A remake called Goryachie Novosti (international title: Newsmakers) has been shot in Russia. It is produced by Moscow-based Tandem Pictures and Gothenburg's Illusion Film and helmed by young Swedish director Anders Banke. The Russian/Swedish version of Breaking News was theatrically released in Russia and ex-USSR on 7 May 2009.