# From Vegas to Macau (赌城风云)
**From Vegas to Macau** (赌城风云; also released as *The Man from Macau*) is a 2014 Hong Kong–Chinese action comedy about gambling directed by Wong Jing and starring [Chow Yun-fat](https://www.edgepedia.org/chow-yun-fat) as a retired gambling legend drawn back into a battle with a crime syndicate.[1](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/from-vegas-to-macau/) It opened the [Lunar New Year](https://www.edgepedia.org/lunar-new-year) season of 2014, became one of the biggest hits of the year in Hong Kong and a word-of-mouth blockbuster in mainland China, and spawned two sequels.[1](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/from-vegas-to-macau/) • [2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3444184/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | 赌城风云; international title *From Vegas to Macau*, also *The Man from Macau*[1](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/from-vegas-to-macau/) • [3](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/from_vegas_to_macau.html) |
| Director and writers | Wong Jing (with Billy Chung Siu-Hung as co-director); screenplay by Wong Jing[1](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/from-vegas-to-macau/) • [3](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/from_vegas_to_macau.html) |
| Lead cast | Chow Yun-fat (Ken), Nicholas Tse (Cool), Chapman To (Karl), with Jing Tian, Kimmy Tong, Gao Hu, and Philip Ng[3](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/from_vegas_to_macau.html) |
| Release | January 30, 2014 in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore; January 31, 2014 in mainland China[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3444184/) |
| Runtime and languages | 93 minutes; Cantonese, Mandarin, and Portuguese[1](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/from-vegas-to-macau/) |
| Box office | $93,864,936 worldwide, including $84,570,000 in China and $4,324,184 in Hong Kong[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3444184/) |
| Franchise | Followed by *From Vegas to Macau II* (2015) and *From Vegas to Macau III* (2016)[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Du-cheng-feng-yun-III-%28Hong-Kong%29) |
## Spoilers
### Story and cast
The story begins with small-time conman Cool ([Nicholas Tse](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicholas-tse)), whose undercover policeman half-brother Lionel ([Philip Ng](https://www.edgepedia.org/philip-ng)) is murdered by Ko (Gao Hu), the head of an illegal gambling syndicate. Cool seeks the help of "Magic Hands" Ken (Chow Yun-fat), a legendary gambler turned casino security consultant, to battle Ko.[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3444184/) In the version described by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, Cool and his cousin Karl (Chapman To) are members of a family of con artists who get drawn into Ken's plan to fleece a criminal of millions.[1](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/from-vegas-to-macau/) Ken's signature skill is a magic touch with cards that lets him "read" them with his fingertips.[1](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/from-vegas-to-macau/)
The film mixes action, comedy, romance, card duels, and song-and-dance interludes.[1](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/from-vegas-to-macau/) • [5](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/from-vegas-to-macau-review/71hmj82sg) Reviewers noted Wong Jing's habit of recycling motifs from his own earlier gambling films and from his other comedies, and the martial-arts choreography by Li Chung-Chi, performed by Philip Kwok, Zhang Jin, and Nicholas Tse.[3](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/from_vegas_to_macau.html) Chow's character hurls golden razor-sharp playing cards at foes instead of using guns.[3](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/from_vegas_to_macau.html)
### Sequels
The film's success produced *[From Vegas to Macau II](https://www.edgepedia.org/from-vegas-to-macau-ii)* (2015), which Screen Daily found a noticeable step down in quality despite Chow's popularity, and *From Vegas to Macau III* (2016), co-directed by Wong Jing and Andrew Lau Wai-keung.[12](https://www.screendaily.com/from-vegas-to-macau-ii/5083303.article) • [4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Du-cheng-feng-yun-III-%28Hong-Kong%29) The third film grossed $182,579,909 internationally, including $172,400,000 in China, even as Chinese critics and some theaters rejected it; one cinema publicly advised its subscribers not to spend money on the film.[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Du-cheng-feng-yun-III-%28Hong-Kong%29) • [13](https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/entertainment-from-vegas-to-macau-iii-rebuffed-by-critics-wins-box-office-battle.html)
## Relationship to God of Gamblers
The film is a semi-sequel to *God of Gamblers* (1989), Wong Jing's hit that made Chow Yun-fat's Ko Chun one of Hong Kong cinema's iconic characters.[1](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/from-vegas-to-macau/) Despite a post-credits cameo, it is not an official *God of Gamblers* sequel, and the story of Ko Chun (Do San) is not continued; Chow instead plays a new character, Ken, written as a lighter, more comedic spin on the Ko Chun archetype.[6](https://fareastfilms.com/review/from-vegas-to-macau/) • [5](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/from-vegas-to-macau-review/71hmj82sg) SBS's review noted that Chow voiced the role in [Cantonese](https://www.edgepedia.org/cantonese) for the first time in nearly two decades.[5](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/from-vegas-to-macau-review/71hmj82sg)
## Title change
Director Wong Jing said the film's earliest Chinese title was 《赌城风云》, and that it was changed to 《澳门风云》 (*The Man from Macau*) because the film was not selling gambling as its main attraction.[7](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E6%BE%B3%E9%97%A8%E9%A3%8E%E4%BA%91/4441623) The title 赌城风云 is also used in Chinese-language releases for a different film, Martin Scorsese's 1995 American crime drama *[Casino](https://www.edgepedia.org/casino-1995-film)*.[8](https://www.primevideo.com/-/zh/detail/0FFJSDM4A8JQSLQESXRGT8SW8A)
## Box office and reception
The film earned $93,864,936 worldwide, with China contributing $84,570,000 of that total and Hong Kong $4,324,184 from an opening of $1,454,846 in 85 theaters.[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3444184/) A Chinese-language source gives the mainland gross as 5.24 billion... specifically 5.24亿元 RMB, and a Taiwanese distributor page cites 5.27亿 RMB for the mainland.[7](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E6%BE%B3%E9%97%A8%E9%A3%8E%E4%BA%91/4441623) • [9](https://www.e-eagle.com.tw/products_detail_97.htm?pg=3) It ranked tenth among 2014's top-grossing films in Hong Kong at about USD 4.33 million, the only Hong Kong–Chinese production in that top ten besides *Golden Chickensss*.[10](https://rm.coe.int/focus-2015/168088dca9)
Critical response was mixed. The [Lincoln Center](https://www.edgepedia.org/lincoln-center) festival notes called it one of the biggest Hong Kong hits of the year and praised Chow's performance.[1](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/from-vegas-to-macau/) LoveHKFilm described it as a "kinder, mainland-friendly" film whose content adjustments for the mainland market distinguish it from genre classics like *God of Gamblers*, while calling it review-proof crowd-pleasing entertainment carried by Chow.[3](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/from_vegas_to_macau.html) Far East Films called it a half-hearted throwback flattened by Wong Jing's silliness but still an occasionally enjoyable action-comedy.[6](https://fareastfilms.com/review/from-vegas-to-macau/) A review at Asian Action Cinema was more negative, rating the film 4 out of 10 and criticizing its disjointed story and CGI card effects.[11](https://asianactioncinema.co.uk/from-vegas-to-macau-review)
## References
1. [From Vegas to Macau, Film Society of Lincoln Center](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/from-vegas-to-macau/)
2. [From Vegas to Macau (2014), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3444184/)
3. [From Vegas to Macau (賭城風雲) (2014), LoveHKFilm](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/from_vegas_to_macau.html)
4. [Du cheng feng yun III (2016), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Du-cheng-feng-yun-III-%28Hong-Kong%29)
5. [From Vegas to Macau Review, SBS](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/from-vegas-to-macau-review/71hmj82sg)
6. [From Vegas To Macau (2014) Review, Far East Films](https://fareastfilms.com/review/from-vegas-to-macau/)
7. [澳门风云（2014年王晶执导、周润发主演的动作喜剧电影）, Baidu Baike](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E6%BE%B3%E9%97%A8%E9%A3%8E%E4%BA%91/4441623)
8. [赌城风云 (Casino, 1995), Prime Video](https://www.primevideo.com/-/zh/detail/0FFJSDM4A8JQSLQESXRGT8SW8A)
9. [賭城風雲 產品介紹, 鴻聯國際開發股份有限公司](https://www.e-eagle.com.tw/products_detail_97.htm?pg=3)
10. [Focus 2015: World Film Market Trends, Council of Europe](https://rm.coe.int/focus-2015/168088dca9)
11. [From Vegas To Macau – Review, Asian Action Cinema](https://asianactioncinema.co.uk/from-vegas-to-macau-review)
12. [From Vegas To Macau II, Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/from-vegas-to-macau-ii/5083303.article)
13. ['From Vegas to Macau III' rebuffed by critics, wins box office battle, Macau Daily Times](https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/entertainment-from-vegas-to-macau-iii-rebuffed-by-critics-wins-box-office-battle.html)
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