Struggling to get support for his work, in 1992 Wong formed his own production company, Jet Tone Films, with Jeff Lau. In need of further backing, Wong accepted a studio's offer that he make a (ancient martial arts) film based on the popular novel "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" by Jin Yong. Wong was enthusiastic about the idea, claiming he had long wanted to make a costume drama. He eventually took little from the book other than three characters, and in 1992 began experimenting with several different narrative structures to weave what he called "a very complex tapestry". Filming began with another all-star cast: Leslie, Maggie, and Jacky Cheung returned alongside Brigitte Lin, Carina Lau, Charlie Young, and Tony Leung Chiu-wai − the latter of which became one of Wong's key collaborators.