The White Storm 2 - Drug Lords

On 15 March 2018, Universe Entertainment announced a sequel to The White Storm, will start shooting during the summer and unveiled its teaser film poster, as well as announcing and unveiling the teaser poster of the sequel to the 2017 film, Shock Wave, on the same day. The sequel to the former, titled The White Storm 2 - Drug Lords, will be a thematic sequel to the first film with a new storyline and will feature Louis Koo returning in a different role as well as being the only returning cast member from the first film. Andy Lau, who produced and starred in Shock Wave, joins the cast as well as serving as the film's producer, receiving a reported salary of HK$40 million,[16][17] while Herman Yau, who directed Shock Wave, will replace Benny Chan as the director for the sequel. According to Universe Entertainment, filming for The White Storm 2 - Drug Lords will take place in Hong Kong and the Philippines, while the budget for the sequel will increase from the first film's budget of US$16 million to US$25 million to intensify the action sequences.[10][4] A week later, the film was promoted at the 2018 Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (Filmart), which ran from 19 to 22 March 2018.[10]

Principal photography for The White Storm 2 - Drug Lords began on 23 June 2018 in Hong Kong. Photos from the production set featuring stars Lau and Koo, along with various crew members were released.[7][8]

On 17 July 2018 at around 8:00 PM, filming of an action scene involving a gun fight and auto chase took place in Fenwick Pier, where cast members Lau and Carlos Chan was present. Filming for that scene lasted until early morning of the next day.[16]

On 22 July 2018, the film held its first press conference in the form of a drug sweep ceremony at a 1:1 replica set of the Central MTR Station at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal which took over five months to construct with a cost of over HK$10 million. The promotion event was attended by director Yau along with cast members Lau, Koo, Michael Miu, Cherrie Ying, Chrissie Chau, Michelle Wai and Cheung Kwok-keung. During the event, Lau and Koo were driven to the MTR station in a police cruiser, while Miu, who portrays a chief superintendent officer, leads a drug raid operation in the set where director Yau and the cast swept away prop cocaine on the ground with brooms.[18][19]

As filming was coming to an end, a production wrap up ceremony for the film was held on 31 August 2018 at the Marco Polo Hongkong Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui attended by director Yau and cast members Lau, Koo, Miu, Lam, Cheung, Kent Cheng and Jimmy Au.[20][21][22]

Filming for The White Storm 2 - Drug Lords officially concluded on 12 September 2018 after shooting its final scene on location at the actual Central MTR Station with Lau, Miu and director Yau present.[9][23]

On 18 March 2019, a press conference for the film attended by the cast and crew was held at the 2019 Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (FILMART), where it also unveiled its first teaser trailer and a new poster, displaying a release date in July 2019.[11]

On 29 May 2019, Universe Entertainment released a second trailer, displaying a theatrical release date of 16 July 2019.[12]

On Rotten Tomatoes, The White Storm 2 - Drug Lords has an approval rating of 67% based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 5.31/10.[24]

Elizabeth Kerr of The Hollywood Reporter and praises the film's finale action sequence and Louis Koo's performance for making up the shortcomings in narrative logic and editorial and describes the film as "a leaner entertainment-for-entertainment’s-sake exercise that's ideal for the summer season" compared to its predecessor.[25] Richard Kuipers of Variety praised the film's shootout and car stunt sequences staged by Gobi Ng with minimal special effects and other technical aspects such as Joe Chan's cinematography and Renee Wong's production design as well as performances by Andy Lau and Koo, referring to the former's as "charismatic" and the latter's as "enjoyable."[26] Derek Winnert of the London Film Critics' Circle gave the film a score of 3/4 stars and praises the stunt work and action choreography as "the real star of the movie" and the film's execution as "more original and impressive than the story, plotting and characters."[27] Andrew Chan of Film Critics Circle of Australia gave the film a score of 7.5/10 on his blog, praising Lau's understated performance of displaying internal turmoil and Koo's impactful performance as the villain and concludes it as "an enjoyable ride with all that is happening in the reality of Hong Kong today."[28]

Edmund Lee of the South China Morning Post gave the film a score of 3/5 stars and praises the film's exhilarating action, particularly its finale, and describes the film as "thoroughly thrilling."[29] Gabriel Chong of Movie Xclusive gave the film a similar score of 3/5 and complements director Herman Yau for keeping the film's fast and frentic pace while keeping coherence was a "100-minute continuous action-packed sequence" but notes its flaws in character depth.[30] Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com gave the film a score of 2.5/4 stars and calls it "a satisfying dramatization of reluctant maneuvering" while also praising Lau and Koo's performances and their characters' clashing personalities as compelling forces that keep the film interesting.[31]

Leslie Felperin of The Guardian gave the film a score of 2/5 stars and praises the film's inventively staged action but notes the film's lack of subtlety in preaching the negativity of crime.[32] John Tan of The New Paper gave the film a score of 2/5 and praises Koo's entertaining performance but describes the action scenes as over the top and criticizes the film's editing.[33] Jamie Healy of Radio Times gave the film a similar score of 2/5 stars and notes director Yau's favouring in overemotion, which undermines the suspense and tension, but credits the stunt team for the film's impressive action.[34] David Aril of The Star notes the lack of consistent and compelling antagonism between the two main characters, but credits the action unit and stunt team who "outperform those on scripting duties."[35]

The White Storm 2 - Drug Lords has grossed a total of US$191.47 million worldwide, combining its box office gross from Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam.[1][2]

Opening on 5 July 2019 in China, The White Storm 2 - Drug Lords grossed a total of ¥135.67 million (US$19.7 million) on its opening day, ranking No. 1, accounting for over 52 percent of the daily total box office in the country.[36] It also set the record as the biggest opening day for a Hong Kong film in China.[37] During its opening weekend, the film has grossed a total of US$62.4 million (¥432.28 million), ranking No. 1 at the Chinese box office and No. 3 at the international box office.[38]

The film remained at No. 1 during its second weekend, where it grossed US$76 million and accumulating a total gross of US$135.8 million by then.[39]

After 12 days of release on 16 July 2019, the film has passed the ¥1 billion mark in China, grossing a total of ¥1.013 billion (US$149.85 million) by then.[40]

On its third weekend, the film grossed US$33.4 million, placing at No. 3, while accumulating a total gross of US$169.3 million by then.[41]

During its fourth weekend, the film grossed US$12.3 million and was placed at No. 4, accumulating a total gross of US$181.7 million by then.[41]

On its fifth week, the film grossed US$3.1 million and ranked at No. 6, accumulating a total gross of US$184.8 million by the end of the weekend.[41]

The White Storm 2 - Drug Lords grossed a total of ¥1,312,541,000 at the Chinese box office after ending its theatrical run on 13 September 2019, making it the highest-grossing Hong Kong film in China.[42]

Released on 12 July 2019 in Taiwan, the film grossed NT$1.72 million in its capital, Taipei, setting the record for the biggest opening for a Hong Kong film in the city. By the end of its opening weekend, the film had grossed NT$4.98 million in the city, making it the biggest opening week for a Chinese-language film in 2019. On the other hand, the film grossed NT$10 million throughout Taiwan in its first two days of release and grossed a total of NT$17 million by the end of its opening weekend in the country, also making it the biggest opening week for a Chinese-language film of 2019 in the entire Taiwan.[43]

By 22 July 2019, the film has reached a gross of NT$30 million in Taiwan so far.[44]

Opening on 16 July 2019, The White Storm 2 - Drug Lords debuted No. 1 with a gross of HK$2.2 million on its opening day, despite strong competition from Hollywood blockbusters.[45] By the end of its opening weekend, the film grossed HK$13,797,840, ranking at second place.[46]

During its second week, the film grossed HK$6,792,460 and was ranked No. 2 at the weekly box office, accumulating a total gross of HK$20,590,300 by the end of the weekend.[46]

On its third week, the film grossed HK$3,103,331 at the weekly box office and was placed at No. 5, accumulating a total gross of HK$23,693,631 by the end of the weekend.[47]

During its fourth week, the film grossed HK$871,632 at the weekly box office and was placed at No. 9, accumulating a total gross of HK$24,568,576 by the end of the weekend.[47]

The White Storm 2 - Drug Lords grossed a total of HK$24,813,706 at the Hong Kong box office after ending its theatrical run on 4 September 2019, making it the second-highest domestic film of 2019 in the territory.[48]