How Infernal Affairs II and III tried to emulate the success of the original with Andy Lau and Tony Leung, but couldn’t

With Andy Lau as a triad who infiltrates the police and Tony Leung Chiu-wai as a cop undercover in a gang, Infernal Affairs was a box-office hit in Hong Kong

The 2002 film ended with Leung’s character dying, so the filmmakers had their work cut out when they were unexpectedly asked to make two follow-up films

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Andy Lau Tak-wah (front) and Leon Lai Ming in a still from Infernal Affairs III. This and Infernal Affairs II never lived up the original starring Lau and Tony Leung Chiu-wai, in part because the 2002 film didn’t leave much room for follow-ups. Photo: Media Asia Films

Published: 4:15am, 12 May 2024

Even though one of the key characters was killed in the finale, a follow-up to Hong Kong crime thriller Infernal Affairs was hardly a surprise.

The 2002 film was such a big hit that production company Media Asia asked the directing duo of Andrew Lau Wai-keung and Alan Mak Siu-fai, and screenwriter Felix Chong Man-keung, to prepare not one, but two more films.

The first of these, Infernal Affairs II, was to be a prequel, detailing the events that had forged the characters, friendships and alliances of the police and triads in the original.

The second follow-up, Infernal Affairs III, would be a sequel which followed directly on from the first film, and also backtracked in time to tie up some loose ends.

(From left) Andy Lau, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Kelly Chen, Leon Lai Ming and Chapman To Man-chat publicise the launch of Infernal Affairs III in Beijing in 2003. Photo: SCMP

The original Infernal Affairs was a taut psychological drama about an undercover cop, Chan Wing-yan (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), who had infiltrated the triads, and his gangster counterpart Lau King-min (Andy Lau Tak-wah), who had secretly embedded himself in the police force.

The film enjoyed massive success at the Hong Kong box office when it was released in 2002, and almost single-handedly set the city’s film industry back on track after the problems it faced arising from the popularity of Hollywood films in the city and the fallout from the 1998 Asian economic crisis.