To Hollywood, the hip-hop kung fu movie was a short-lived fancy.
To me, it was a phenomenon.
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Romeo Must Diecontains the blueprint of a Shakespearean text chopped and screwed into a nearly unrecognizable object.
The classic tale of star-crossed lovers becomes a mobster movie spiked with racial politics and inventive ass-kicking.
Sparks seem to fly anyway.
But the union was hardly the result of a shotgun wedding.
At the same time, Hollywood was courting talent from a thriving Hong Kong film industry.
At this point Lis English skills were nonexistent, Bartkowiak notes.
Spike Lee regulars Delroy Lindo and Isaiah Washington were tapped as ODay patriarch Isaak and his scheming No.
The owner of a record store in the city, Trish keeps her distance from the family business.
The first act ofRomeo Must Dieplays out mostly as a showcase for Li and his footwork.
Corey Yeun, the renowned Hong Kong director and choreographer, signed on to directRomeosfight scenes.
According to Bartkowiak, it was Lis idea to incorporate X-ray vision into the fight scenes.
In fact, he says Silver invested some of his producing fee into making it happen.
(Consider the cost of such novel technology on the films slim $25 million budget.)
The fights are glorious.
Casting director Lora Kennedy remembers how naturally Aaliyah slipped into character: She just blew us away.
We were overwhelmingly devastated when she passed away.
Wed all been there at the start and had such big plans for her.
Otherwise, their romance is blinkered, with Hans masculinity getting the short end of the stick.
Aaliyahs Are You Feelin Me?
In the films closing scene, our Romeo and Juliet dont die, but they dont kiss either.
Pos body is later found hanging from a telephone pole as if he were lynched.
Going legit may very well take a toll on a mans dignity.
Romeo Must Dieultimately grossed $91 million, debuting at No.
2 at the U.S. box office, behindErin Brockovich.
Frankly, I dont think I ever approached my work with an agenda, Kennedy explains.
We couldnt just have all these white men.
We had to make it more interesting, but there was never a political mandate.
Perhaps for good reason.
Everything goes through cycles and phases.
I want to believe it will come back.
