WHO'S RICH AND FAMOUS?

Bless the Chinese media. Instead of just clogging up the end of the year issues with what their underpaid critics think are the best 10 films of the year, they also clog up the end of the year issues with things everyone cares about, like who makes the most money.

Jackie Chan tops the list with takings of 230 million yuan (US$28 million) even though his movie, THE MYTH, only really did well in China. Most of his income comes from his investments, particularly in real estate.

Andy Lau is holding the number two spot with 107 million yuan (about US$13 million) and six Hong Kong stars hold most of the remaining slots.

Jay Chou however did come in at number four (he's the number one earner in Taiwan) with 59.6 million yuan (about US$7.3 million) and Zhang Ziyi came in at number nine despite all her Hollywood work, earning just 38 million yuan (approximately US$4.7 million).

Wong Jing, Hong Kong's evil genius of the cinema and King of Bad Taste, was named the most profitable director in a ceremony at the UA Cinema Circuit which also named the highest grossing Hong Kong actors (Andy Lau, beating out Stephen Chow by a huge margin; Jackie Chan came in fourth) and Hong Kong actresses - SYMPATHY FOR LADY VENGEANCE's Lee Young-Ae may be the Hong Kong Woman of the Year but Sandra Ng is the most profitable actress in Hong Kong, beating out Maggie Cheung by a nose. The top ten highest grossing movies of all time are:

1     Kung Fu Hustle                             $ 61,278,697
2     Shaolin Soccer                              $ 60,739,947
3     Police Story 4: First Strike             $ 57,518,795
4     Rumble in the Bronx                     $ 56,912,536
5     Infernal Affairs                             $ 55,063,646
6     God of Gamblers' Return               $ 52,610,308
7     Justice My Foot                             $ 50,212,947
8     All's Well, Ends Well                     $ 48,992,188
9     Thunderbolt                                 $ 45,675,610
10     Mr. Nice Guy                              $ 45,420,457

This might not mean much when you adjust for inflation (I refuse to believe that MR. NICE GUY was a bigger hit than DRUNKEN MASTER) but Wong Jing had some heartening words for young directors:

"Wong Jing lamented that the popular Hong Kong directors nowadays are all over 40 years old, as young directors are not courageous enough to face the box office figures. 'Whenever the box office is not doing well, they say they are making an art film,' said Wong. He encourages young directors to make more creative movies."