John Woo's "A Better Tomorrow" (1986) was made at a time when comedy films saw mainstream success in Hong Kong. The studio was not expecting the movie to perform well financially. Tsui Hark recalled that unhappy studio executives asked him to "burn the film" midway through production. As a result, 'A Better Tomorrow' was minimally advertised in Hong Kong. The studio was also concerned with Chow Yun-Fat, who was considered "Box Office poison": unlike the other actors, his portrait was not included in the film's publicity stills, and he received third billing in the credits behind Lung Ti and Leslie Cheung.
To everyone's surprise, the movie was a massive box office success. Chow Yun-Fat wore Alain Delon sunglasses and trench coat in the movie to emulate Delon's character in "Le Samouraï" (1967). Because of the popularity of "A Better Tomorrow", young men in Hong Kong began trying to emulate Chow by wearing long coats and sunglasses, despite the local humidity. Because of that, the Alain Delon sunglasses were sold out in Asia. Delon sent John Woo a personal thank you note.
P.S: On this day, 40 years ago, "A Better Tomorrow" (1986) was released in Hong Kong.