daring idea: Chan will play Thongs, a petty criminal who has fallen out with his family over his gambling habit. Benny Chan had originally intended for Jackie to play a full-fledged villain, who "hits women and burns people with cigarettes". However, the script was toned down to appease the Chinese censors, who found the character to be too evil. Nevertheless, for only the third time in his acting career, Chan plays a character who is sentenced to prison. Chan co-wrote the film and designed the action sequences, whilst director Benny Chan wrote the film's dramatic elements, completing the script by October 2005. Two additional protagonists were designed as Thongs' partners in crime, with the intention of increasing the comedic value of the film through their interactions. The film's Chinese title is Bo Bui Gai Wak (Cantonese: 寶貝計劃, literally Project BB, with "BB" being a homophone for "Baby"), a reference to Chan's award-winning 1983 film Project A (Cantonese: A Gai Wak, A計劃). Casting The cast of Rob-B-Hood includes actors ranging from newcomer Gao Yuanyuan to veteran actor Chen Baoguo. Daniel Wu and Nicholas Tse, stars of New Police Story, make cameo appearances as homosexual security van drivers during a car chase in the film. Octopus, Thong's partner in crime, is played by Louis Koo, an award-winning actor with past appearances including the TVB drama series Detective Investigation Files IV and the films Election and Election 2. Although Koo co-starred with Jackie Chan, a number of action scenes involving his character were shot with a stunt double. In addition, Koo was the baby's favourite on set—Whenever the baby cried, Koo was always the first to cheer him up. The Landlord, the leader of Thongs and Octopus, is played by Michael Hui, a Hong Kong Film Award-winning comedic actor who starred in various box office hits from 1970s to 1990s before emigrating to Canada shortly before the handover of Hong Kong. Hui was chosen for the part because he is the ideal actor to play a character who persuades others to do bad things. The producers had originally intended Hui to fight along with Chan and Koo, however, it was eventually decided that Hui would simply act as the brains of the gang. Rob-B-Hood features a collaboration between Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao. The pair, along with Sammo Hung, were Peking Opera School classmates and co-starred in a number of action comedy films