A 2006 newspaper clipping that has recently resurfaced claims that Stephen Chow was in talks with Wong Kar-wai and Jeffrey Lau to star in the 1990 film "Days of Being Wild," but the studio boss deemed Chow's requested fee of HK$270,000 too high, causing the collaboration to fall through. This story comes from an old clipping cited by HK01 in its retrospective on "Days of Being Wild," titled "Price Too High to Fly Out of 'Days of Being Wild,'" written by Jeffrey Lau under the pen name "Ji An."
In the clipping, Jeffrey Lau expressed regret over failing to assemble this cast. He recalled that he and Wong Kar-wai had already agreed on terms with Stephen Chow, but the studio boss felt Chow's asking price of HK$270,000 was too high, ultimately preventing the deal. Lau bluntly stated that if Stephen Chow had been in the film, it would have been a dream team, lamenting that the studio boss must now deeply regret missing out on such a golden opportunity by not hiring "Sing Jai."
The final main cast of "Days of Being Wild" included Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Andy Lau, Carina Lau, Jacky Cheung, and Tony Leung Chiu-wai. Had Wong Kar-wai's artistic sensibility truly collided with Stephen Chow's mo lei tau style in the same film, the movie might have looked entirely different. This old anecdote once again draws attention to the many unrealized possibilities that often accompany the birth of a classic work.