Beijing East Light Film Co., Ltd. Oriental Fortune Culture Beijing Airmedia Film & TV Co., Ltd. Zhujiang Film & Media Corporation Limited East Light Film Limited One Cool Film Production Limited iQlYl Motion Pictures (Beijing) Co., Ltd
Distributed by
Bravos Pictures (Hong Kong) Distribution Workshop (International)
Ex-cop T-Man works as a bartender and one night brings a woman home with him when she is too drunk to drive. The next day she is locked out of her car so T-Man's half brother Siu-hung, a tow truck driver, comes to help, but at that moment a group of men kidnap her. Siu-hung and T-Man pursue them separately and save Yun. They discover that Yun is carrying money that was intended to be used for a bribe. T-Man returns the money, but the gangsters continue to pursue Yun and end up kidnapping Siu-hung's mother Mona. They make a deal to exchange her for Yun, and T-Man enlists the help of his former police associates to help rescue his stepmother.
In 2014, the Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily reported that director Ringo Lam would return to directing with an investment from the Mei Ah Entertainment Group with production set to being in June.[5]
On the first day of filming, Lam collapsed due to a heat stroke. He stayed with the project to keep filming.[6]
In 2014, the film's titled changed from HustletoWild City.[6]Louis Koo has stated that Lam insisted that the actors perform their own stunt work in the film to maintain realism.[7]
Variety reported that Lam was in post-production on the film by March 23, 2015.[8]
Lam described Wild City as belonging to a "City Trilogy" along with the films City on Fire and Full Alert.[6] Lam described them as films that "are all set in Hong Kong and are about people who are lost in the city. In Wild City the theme is about the temptation of money, and how it seduces the protagonists, but also forces them to challenge the plutocracy."[6]
The first trailer was released on 23 March 2015.[9] The film is distributed by Bravos Pictures locally, while international sales are overseen by Distribution Workshop.[8]
The film premiered at the 17th Taipei Film Festival on 10 July 2015.[10][11] On the film's release in China, it had had approximately 20.2% of all screenings over the weekend, and opened in third place, earning RMB57.4 million (US$9.25 million) from approximately 1.76 million admissions between Friday and Sunday.[12] The film made RMB88.0 million (US$14.2 million) over four days.[12]
The Hollywood Reporter stated that Wild City paled in comparison to Lam's films from the 1990s, noting that the "screenplay doesn't have the complexity and rich symbolism of Full Alert (1997) and Victim (1999)".[13] The review concluded that "the film is engaging enough to reignite interest in Lam".[13]
