On March 22, 2000, I went to see Russell  in "Romeo Must Die". The movie wasn't the greatest, but his presence made it awesome.

  I know this isn't very clear, but they are some pics from interviews regarding RMD.

Russell has been busy this year.  He just finished filming the movie, "The Tracker" due for release sometime in the fall of 2000.  He is now filming the made-for-tv movie "The Monkey King", in which he is the star.  The movie is being made by Hallmark Hall of Fame and is being filmed in Singapore and Malaysia.  He is pictured here with his co-star, Bai Ling.

"Monkey" Business in Prague
By Army Archerd, Daily Variety Senior Columnist
Wednesday, May 31, 2000

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - All the world's a stage -- as I've observed over 55 years of covering the biz. I've seen the action from the giant stages of Hollywood studios to England and Pinewood and Elstree to Italy and the historical boards of Cinecitta.

But this was a first: the stages at the Barrandov Studios in Prague. I arrived at a stage so huge it was divided in two. Both sections were being photographed for the two-part miniseries "The Monkey King" for Robert Halmi and Hallmark Entertainment to air in February on NBC.

At the end of one half of the stage was the tallest blue screen I've seen. In front, Russell Wong was flying; he's "The Monkey King." In the other half of the stage, the miniseries' leads, Thomas Gibson, Bai Ling and characters including Big Demon, Spectacles Demon, Nine Inch Nail Demon, Pointy Head Demon, Confucius, Jade Emperor, Shu, Wu and Pigsy were awaiting their calls to action in a set duplicating a mountain pass.
Action, shmacktion -- the real thrust of "The Monkey King" is romance. That's what director MacDonald and producer Harding assured me. After seeing a rough cut of assembled footage between Gibson and Bai Ling, it was obvious that's what they were capturing. In "Anna and the King," Bai Ling was the beautifully tragic Tuptim, whose waist-long tresses were shaved off for her execution. Now she is once-again crowned with her own hair, and her cut hair further adorns her head as a crown. Her costumes are exotically revealing and she is further glamorized with three-inch long nails (but breaks in them have been extremely painful). She told me Malaysian jungle scenes for "Monkey King" were on the same site as in "Anna."

While most of the cast spends hours in special makeup for their roles, Gibson wears none and is ready to work, he says, in 10 minutes. His costume look very much like "Indiana Jones"' -- minus the hat, that is. Gibson told me one of the factors attracting him to this role was its "Indiana"-like charisma. Gibson, on screen in "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas," also had the weekend off "Monkey King" to appear with his feature "Stardom" in Cannes. In August he returns to his series, "Dharma and Greg."

The movie "Takedown" started filming in July 1998, in Wilmington, North Carolina.  The movie was scheduled for release, sometime in 1999. He is playing in the starring role of Tsutomo Shimomura, pictured on the left. The movie is a true story about the pursuit and capture of Kevin Mitnick - America's most wanted computer outlaw - by the man who did it, Mr. Shimomura. Finally, he is playing the good guy and he doesn't die at the end!!!  Due to a defamation of character lawsuit filed by Kevin Mitnick, it is not known if this film will ever be released in this country.