Hong Kong Infernal Affairs II returned 25.7× its production cost, earning $3.2M against a $125K budget — one of the highest-return Hong Kong films in our catalog.
Synopsis
無間道II
“The Birth of a Legend.”
In this prequel to the original, a bloody power struggle among the Triads coincides with the 1997 handover of Hong Kong, setting up the events of the first film.
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #78 of 836 Hong Kong films indexed here (91st percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is +0.9 points above the Hong Kong average of 6.3/10.
Among Hong Kong Action productions specifically: #39 of 516 (top 8%).
Audience Engagement
358 audience reviews — more than 92% of Hong Kong films in our index.
Popularity sits at the 93th percentile among Hong Kong films.
Budget & Box Office Efficiency
At a 1h 59m runtime, production spent $1K per minute on screen and earned $27K per minute back.
Titles With Overlapping Themes
Films and series that share thematic tags with Infernal Affairs II. Number on each card indicates how many keywords overlap.
Other Titles From Media Asia Films
Action + Thriller in Hong Kong
121 Hong Kong titles in our catalog blend the Action and Thriller genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding Infernal Affairs II itself).
The 2002–2004 Hong Kong Window
Among 50 Hong Kong films we catalog from this window, Infernal Affairs II places #4 — near the top of its class.
The 2000s Hong Kong Landscape
Catalog density by release year across the 2000s in Hong Kong, 146 titles in total. Highlighted year (yellow) is when Infernal Affairs II premiered alongside 16 others.
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 16 other Hong Kong films in 2003.
The 553rd Hong Kong title from Hong Kong we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1955).
Our Hong Kong catalog contains 836 titles in total (828 films).
Thematic Fingerprint
Tags on Infernal Affairs II, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.
- triade · 1
- undercover · 13
- chinese mafia · 7
- murder · 155
- police · 105
- gangster · 85
Production Details
| Primary Country | Hong Kong |
|---|---|
| Original Language | Cantonese |
| Spoken Languages | Cantonese, English, Thai, Mandarin |
| Production Companies | Media Asia Films, MediaCorp Raintree Pictures, Eastern Dragon Film Co., Basic Pictures |
| Runtime | 1h 59m |
| Release Date | October 1, 2003 |
| IMDb | tt0369060 |