Sammul Chan Invited by TVB to Film “Triumph in the Skies 2”

Sammul Chan (陈键锋) had once expressed his dissatisfaction with TVB, noting that the company gave more promotional opportunities to its managed artists. This was one of the reasons that prompted Sammul to leave the company in 2011. Losing its talent pool to competitors recently, TVB was willing to pay top dollar to have Sammul  film Triumph in the Skies 2 <冲上云霄II>!

TVB’s heavy-weight drama, Triumph in the Skies 2 was scheduled to film in July. The “dream cast” included Francis Ng (吴镇宇), Chilam Cheung (張智霖), Myolie Wu (胡杏兒), Flora Chan (陳慧珊), Kenneth Ma (馬國明), Ron Ng (吳卓羲), Fala Chen (陈法拉), Kate Tsui (徐子珊), and Rebecca Zhu (朱晨麗). The return of Sammul Chan will make the 40-episode drama have an even more impressive cast, guaranteed to pull up ratings!

Charles Chan Singled Out Sammul Chan

It was reported that TVB’s majority stakeholder, Charles Chan (陈国强), had brought in new managers since taking over control of the company in March 2011. Mr. Chan’s Chief Financial Officer turned out to be Sammul’s cousin. Mr. Chan had stated that he wished to have Sammul Chan act in Triumph in the Skies 2, in which TVB was willing to pay Sammul $25,000 HKD per episode to film the sequel.

TVB Favored Its Own Artists

Sammul Chan was often given less opportunities than artists that had management contracts with TVB. Despite his acting talent and rising popularity after Survivor’s Law <律政新人王> and The Academy <學警雄心>, he received only supporting roles in recent years. After refusing to sign a TVB management contract in 2009, Sammul was forced to dress in drag in A Bride for a Ride <王老虎搶親 > and received little screen time in Relic of an Emissary <洪武三十二>.

Although grateful that TVB had cultivated his career, Sammul decided to leave the company in 2011. This decision turned out to be a blessing in disguise. His market value increased several-fold due to the popularity of 2009’s Palace <美人心计>. With City Telecom (CTI) also interested in recruiting him, TVB was eager to clinch Sammul Chan first.

On May 22nd, Sammul took a flight from Shanghai to Hong Kong to rest for three days. He was spotted meeting two male friends  at a French restaurant. The 34-year-old actor has not confirmed that he has agreed to film Triumph in the Skies 2 yet. Hopefully, fans will not have to wait long for a positive confirmation!

Source: 21CN.com

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Jayne: Even if Sammul agrees to film “Triumph in the Skies 2,” his screen time may be limited due to the star-studded cast. Everyone has to make way for Francis Ng, who will still be the main lead. However, Sammul’s absence has been missed. So it would be great if he decides to film for TVB.

“Triumph in the Skies 2” is a great marketing vehicle for its cast, even if the ensemble cast means that the actors will all have to share limited screen time. Or engage in creative geometric love relationships (pentagon? octagon?) How many men will love Myolie Wu? How many will love Chilam Cheung? Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to have some “bishonen” action either. Maybe some pilot trainee will decide to pose in his uniform and briefs for a Mr. Lau, rocking the airline industry….

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Responses

  1. I HOPE SAMMUL WILL NOT GET BACK TO TVB SO EASILY.. TVB ALWAYS NEGLECTED THE TALENTED ACTOR AND ACTRESS.. PITY THEM..

  2. I hope Sammul won’t go back to TVB so easily as well… BUT I MISS HIM!! I wanna see him on screen again! =P

    1. I could not agree more. TVB does not deserve to have Sammual Chan. But it has been long since we last saw him. Excited for this drama and if he could be in it, that would be amazing!

  3. So who will be paired with who? Since Bosco is no longer in this drama, can Kate be paired with Ron? If that happens, it’ll be really funny cause in the sequal of The Academy, Ron meets Kate and then in this sequal, he meets Kate too.

    1. Probably Francis and Myolie and Chilam and Fala. I’m sure there will be a lot of triangles/squares.

      And, Kate is no longer in the sequel. I guess more screen time for Myolie and Fala. Also, it’ll give room for Rebecca and other supporting actresses.

      1. Ooooh Fala and Rebecca will be in the same drama and let’s see if they really do look alike like most people say. Looking forward to Fala’s acting too!

      2. Fala and Myolie will be the female leads. Rebecca might be supporting

    2. Kate won’t act in this one, so I guess Rebecca will be with Ron as it was in the trailer.

      Personally, I hope Rebecca will pair up with anyone else out of MM and Ron :).

  4. Sammul was forced to dress in drag in A Bride for a Ride and received little screen time in Relic of an Emissary .

    But he was the highlight in of A Bride for a Ride! And his character in Relic of an Emissary was by far my favorite character in the show, and one of my favorite characters of all time. It’s a pity, really.

    1. I don’t think anyone can force Sammuel. He have a choice to dress in drag or not.
      And dress as a woman is not a big deal. He is an actor, and actor sometimes just have tougher roles. It is all about professional of doing his work as acting.

      1. Yes, I don’t know why this article mentions as “forced”, Sammul likes that role so much and he was happy to choose that role. He’s never said he was “forced to dress in drag”.

      2. Well, I don’t think dressing in drag is that big of a deal the first place. It’s just acting, and quite good on Sammul’s part too. This article made it sound like it was demeaning, but it’s not.

        I was and still am, however, bothered at how the editors cut off a lot of Sammul’s scenes in Relic – he was by far the only interesting character, as well as Kate Tsui’s terrific Sam-leung before the writers forced her into the boring twin sister. If the writers kept these characters, they probably could have saved the show.

      3. lol, obviously Jayne is a very straight woman 🙂 I’m pretty sure that Sammul is more than happy to ‘dress in drag’.

  5. Since I was mentioning the sequal of The Academy, come to think about it, Joey would look good as a flight attendant. Why not put Samuel, Ron, Kate, and Joey into the sequal of Triumph in The Skies. Then it’ll be just like the sequal of The Academy.

    1. There is a sequel to The Academy. Also, TVB will only use big names for a high budget series.

  6. There are still limited TV stations in HK. I don’t think Sammul is ready to give up filming in HK completely. TVB dramas still receive immense exposure. So the ideal ratio would be to film 1 TVB series every two years or so.

    I am very interested to see what Ace cards (artists) TVB manages to pull out, who they manage to persuade to come back and film for them. I would love to see Deric Wan!

    1. Deric Wan! Wow, its a long time since I have heard of him.Almost completely forget him! Wonder why he just disappear! Yeah, wish he will come back to act in drama series again.

      1. Deric has been filming in Mainland so I suggest you watch mainland series if you want to see him. I think Sammul is still interested in filming Hk series, but not sure if he wants to film for TVB though..

  7. ” Sammul was forced to dress in drag in A Bride for a Ride “

    Sammul was not forced to dress in drag in ‘A Bride for A Ride’. Sammul can choose to not accept this series since he’s not managed by TVB. Patrick Tang was initially casted in Sammul’s role. But, Stephen Chan suggested Sammul instead because Sammul has a pretty face. Sammul most probably agreed to this role because it’s a challenge.

    Also, crossdressing is a crucial element of this series. This series is adapted from an opera play and the premise of the play is indeed about Tiger Wong ‘snatching’ a crossdressing Chow Man Bun as a bride.

    One thing I’m really disappointed is Sammul not even nominated for the TVB award when he’s the highlight of the series.

    1. I’m glad Stephen Chan recognized sammul would be a better choice than his pet Patrick. He’s already ugly enough as a guy, even worse in drag (gun metal grey). Most likely scare children and make adults lose their appetite.

  8. TVB should really pay Sammul more. How much did he get before?

    1. If i rmb correctly, it was 10,000HKD/eps.

  9. I’m initially not interested in this sequel. But, if Sammul is in it, I’ll watch it.

    Maybe Sammul will take the offer as a favour to his cousin.

    1. I’d rather he not take the series because he most probably end up a 2nd 2nd (not a typo) supporting character since it’s obvious TVB would give priority to the bigger names and their own biological children. A guest starring appearance, instead will be very nice.

      Still, find it a bit hard to believe that TVB managed to get 2 bigger stars in this series. The last time this have this variety of movie/singer cast was… ATE1 & ATE2?

      1. Yeah, he will be the supporting actor’s supporting actor’s best friend’s girlfriend’s brother’s best friend.

        Sehseh, money can do a lot of things, but TVB’s wide publicity PR machine can do much better.

        Like I said, Sammul, SAY NO!!!

      2. But yes, a special guest starring role will be good.

      3. I’d rather they replace Ron w/ sammul. Sammul could play chilam’s brother- talk about a handsome pair!

  10. i wish him all the best of luck. he’s very talented! miss him lots. now TVB know what they are missing. the company kept casting the same people over n over again and they also get lead roles. do something different. then there might be more ratings.

  11. His former salary at TVB is irrelevant here as his market value has risen quite a bit since he left.

    I doubt that TVB can even come close to his mainland fee (anyone how his mainland fee?) and if he wants to get exposure to the HK market then CTI might be a better choice as TVB isn’t really a sign of quality series anymore.

    Besides the “battle field” have changed dramatically in the few years i.e. HKers do watch series from other countries so actually no need to act like a slave for TVB again when they left him wounded in the battlefield to die, LOL.

    1. Good points Exoidus, but then we will never know since TVB has contributed to Sammul’s growth as an artist and all, so he may film for them. Time will tell and I hope that we will all find out if he does or not. The fact that TVB still approached him even after what he said shows how desperate TVB is. Lets see what happens…

    2. exoidus, are you the nickname Exodus in spcnet.tv site? Do you post in spcnet.tv ?

  12. i love sammul and would love to see him in Truimph in the skies 2. TVB has always neglected sammul when he’s so talented and it’s not fair.

  13. having so may stars is a bad idea. Not everyone is going to get good character development.

  14. Sammul does not need TVB. He is too busy filming multiple series in China nowadays anyway. Don’t go back Sammul, don’t be a cow eating past grass!!!

  15. Oh yeah Jane, great suggestion. Let’s have a side plot involving some of the young pilots stripping for dirty old men!

  16. I don’t think he will take the offer. Why come back to TVB when he has mainland in his hands and CTI offering better offers?

    1. I think he may if he still remembers that even though TVB may not have treated him that well, they do deserve some credit for making him who he is now. IF he considers that then he may take the offer. However, I wonder if he even has time to if he has other series to film and other things to do??

  17. This guy seems to be only in solely for the paycheque. like everything, the pay comes first, then work second.

    1. Aren’t we all? You work for free? You think everyone is after money. You work at a charity?

    2. Who doesn’t want or need to work for money?? I don’t think Sammul is just for money. There was once an article that said that he turned down some works in China that offered him a big salary. I can feel that he enjoys acting as well. Acting is a hard and tough job so I think if you are only doing it for money, it will be hard to do it for so long. You have to constantly sacrifice your physical and mental health to act well. Also, your freedom and other things to be in the circle.Sorry but I think if you are only in it for the money, you would not last long which is why many people often retire after a number of years. Of course retiring is based on many reasons,but I can feel with some of the artists at least that they are into acting not just because of money and we can feel as an audience that they really have the passion for it as well…

    1. She said so in Aus trip. Reason is like usual: crash with other works.

    2. Rumor has it that Kate will be shooting a movie instead.

  18. I really enjoy watching Sammul in China series but also miss seeing him in TVB series. It is true that TVB did not treat him as well as they should, however, I do still hope that he will consider filming for them again. TVB and other former artists have had problems in the past,but the past is the past and I really hope that they can put it behind them and work together again. I don’t think you should be forever enemies unless it was something very very bad that occured… But in Sammul’s case, it was not that bad so hopefully he will consider filming for them if he has the time to.

  19. If they got Sammul to come back, they should get Michelle Ye too! Is TVB still disowning her?

    1. Michelle has big film projects under her belt and i believe she’s well known in the Mainland for her participation in some series there. She like Sammul do not need TVB. Its TVB who need them.

      1. Yea, I heard that Michelle even produces now so I highly doubt that she even has the time to come back to TVB. It is TVB who needs them not the other way around.

    2. Hah! Michelle left TVB on good terms. It was a bold choice back then, but look where she’s at today! I also agree that even if TVB invite her, she might not have time to fit them in her busy schedule. She’s not only acting, but also producing.

  20. I remembered ten years ago when I first watched hk dramas, sammul was the first male actor that I really liked, & until now the good impression is still here. I miss him in dramas. Hope I can see him in one soon, be it in CTI dramas or triumph in the skies.

  21. haha, i really love the idea of a pilot trainee posing in briefs 😛

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