Max Havoc: Curse of the Dragon

2004 action film by Albert Pyun and Isaac Florentine

Filming began in March and finished in May 2004. Some of the scenes were done in East Hagåtña Bay. The producer, John F. S. Laing, blamed Pyun for the failure of the film. Florentine declined screen credit, stating in a later interview that he "[did]n't feel it [was] fair" to Pyun. Because the film was poorly received and never played in theaters as promised, it was described as a "box office flop" by Guam's press. In February 2005, producer John F. S. Laing stated he had trouble finding a theatrical distributor for the film. On January 23, 2007, Max Havoc: Curse of the Dragon was released on DVD in Region 1. The DVD extras contained interviews and several text pages about the cast, a three minute trailer, a poster, a collection of still images from the film, and a calendar for 2007 featuring actresses from the film. The film was not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. The film was produced in Canada and directed by Terry Ingram. Mickey Hardt reprises his role as Max Havoc, who comes to Seattle to do a photoshoot of a tennis champion played by Christina Cox, but has to deal with a street gang and organized crime, while Dean Cain plays the main antagonist. Max Havoc: Ring of Fire received mixed to negative reviews, being called a "run of the mill B movie." On September 30, 2009, both films were released as a double feature on Blu ray in Germany.

Max Havoc: Curse of the Dragon received mostly negative reviews. Reviewers were mostly focused on the film's lacking plot and rampant cliché use. David Cornelius of DVD Talk described it as "the kind of moronic C level action flick that always stars some former martial arts champ", noting that the controversy behind the funding of the film was more interesting than the film itself, and finishing with the advice to skip the film. Combustible Celluloid's Jeffrey M. Anderson gave the film a neutral to positive review, mentioning "the overall ridiculousness of the film charmed [him]", and commenting positively on the chemistry between Hardt's and Krupa's characters. Author Camilla Fojas later criticized Max Havoc: Curse of the Dragon for its shortcoming as a promotional vehicle for Guam and its film industry, noting the colonialistic portrayal of Guam, especially in the parting scene where U. S. mainland based characters bid farewell to Chamorro people in a cliché fashion.

At the request of producer John F. S. Laing and director Albert Pyun, the Guam Economic Development and Commerce Authority gave an $800,000 loan guarantee to Laing and his company Guam Motion Pictures Company (GMPC) GMPC was created by Laing on Guam to produce Max Havoc: Curse of the Dragon, while Laing's stateside company, Rigel Entertainment, was to handle distribution. GMPC was also supposed to produce a further theatrical film and two travel documentaries. In June 2006, Laing defaulted on the loan to Comerica and the guarantee was forfeited. The rights to the film were subsequently auctioned by Comerica. A newly formed Canadian company, Up North Entertainment, Inc., bought the film for $83,000. Laing was listed as one of three directors of Up North Entertainment. Guam's share of the foreclosure sale money was $9,090. In March 2008, the case was dismissed and Laing was ordered to pay Guam's legal fees. Laing appealed twice and lost both appeals. Laing was also sued by the Government of Guam for fraud. In a retort, Laing claimed the Government of Guam pledged $3 million in loans and other incentives if he were to come to the island and make Max Havoc: Curse of the Dragon there. Guam officials denied making such a pledge and Laing admitted he did not possess any written agreements on the matter. After six years of litigation on Guam, a settlement was reached on May 11. The GEDCA Board of Directors approved Laing's offer of $350,000 in place of paying back the original $800,000 guarantee. The agreement stipulated that Laing would make a payment of $250,000 on June 30, with the remainder paid by September 30. By the June deadline, Laing had made a payment of $200,000. GEDCA requested the outstanding $50,000 along with the $100,000 remaining balance to be paid by Laing by the September deadline. When asked by a local talk radio station if the Max Havoc: Curse of the Dragon settlement money would be a windfall for GEDCA and could be used for future economic development projects on Guam, GEDCA administrator Karl Pangelinan stated that the money would barely pay for the legal fees incurred during the years of legal fighting with Laing. In September, Rigel Entertainment declared bankruptcy. On October 26, GEDCA board met and established that Laing had made a partial late payment of $75,000 on the $150,000 still outstanding. A new deadline was set for January 31, 2013. Laing missed the January deadline, but in late February, GEDCA reported receiving the money, thus bringing the lawsuit to a close.