by MAUREEN SULLIVAN
26 January 1998

The jury's still out on Chow Yun-fat's future in Hollywood, but there's no doubt that he's the man in his hometown.

Chow wowed the 2,500-strong crowd who turned out Jan. 20 for the world premiere of Columbia Pictures' "The Replacement Killers," in which he and a tattooed Mira Sorvino shoot up a car wash, movie theater, video arcade and most of L.A.'s Chinatown.

"Jackie Chan is great, but Chow Yun-fat is the most popular movie star," said one Chow loyalist at the premiere.

Chow, 42, started acting more than 20 years ago as a regular on numerous television serials, which earned him a rabid following that has supported him throughout his 70-film career. With his big-brother looks, he usually plays the gentleman gangster, a role he reprises in the Antoine Fuqua-directed film - albeit this time in his newly acquired English.

"I think audiences like Yun-fat the killer because he is a very honorable man who can hold two guns," Chow told a newspaper in Singapore, where he took CineAsia's Star of the Decade award last month.

"Replacement Killers" premiered at the Grand Hall of the new Convention Center, site of the previous night's opening of "Tomorrow Never Dies." Pierce Brosnan and Michelle Yeoh also brought out 2,500 folks for the latest James Bond installment, though they certainly didn't attract the nearly 300 media people who shadowed Chow. Also on hand were Fuqua and Col Tri-Star Film Distributors Intl. prexy Duncan Clark, who made the call to open the pic in Asia before opening it Stateside. (It opens wide in the U.S. on Feb. 6.)

The premieres signal the kick off of the Lunar New Year moviegoing season in Hong Kong. As usual, Jackie Chan will also debut his latest offering - this time it's "Who Am I?" - over the holiday, which begins next Wednesday.

The actioners will also have to do battle with a love story. "Titanic" has steamed up the screens across the city, surprising industry watchers who now expect it to soon surpass "Jurassic Park" as the all-time box office title holder.

"Jackie Chan faces a lot of competition," said Woody Tsung head of the Motion Picture Industry Assn. "Hong Kong audiences are very eager to see Chow Yun-fat make his first Hollywood picture. And with Michelle Yeoh in the James Bond movie, the Hong Kong element is very appealing. And 'Titanic' is very surprising.

"Theater owners should be celebrating," Tsung added.

©1998 Cahners Publishing Company. All rights reserved.