Times Square - Now and Then

I was in Causeway Bay the other day and took the opportunity to take some comparison snaps at Times Square. For those who don't know the history of the site, it was previously the location of the expansive Sharp Street Tram Depot where the Hong Kong Tramway kept most of its rolling stock. Hong Kong Tramways was taken over by local developer, Wharf Holdings, in 1974 and following the creation of two new depot sites at the other side of the island, Wharf was able to free up the Sharp Street site for redevelopment. It closed permanently in 1989 and Times Square was subsequently constructed and opened in 1994.

The screen shots below are from Lara Croft Tomb raider: Cradle of Life (2003) and Je l'amais (2011). There have been quite a few films shot inside the office part of the development as well, but obviously that's off limits for me.

As you'll see from the more recent images, even since it was built there have been some changes to the place including the addition of mid-atrium escalators and the removal of the external lifts.

The external lifts we see in Je l'amais are no longer there. Initially I thought the whole thing had been removed, but on closer inspection it looks as though the whole wall was simply enclosed in the rather more heavy duty version of boxing. You can see in the modern image that the wall is no longer flush with the corner which suggest to me the lifts, or at least the infrastructure, are still there but just covered up. Perhaps they are still servicable and used by staff? Feel free to comment if you know.

Je l'amais (2009)

View as of June 2026.

Inside, the mall area has changed significalty. The walkways have been remodelled and there are now escalators criss-crossing the atrium.

Looking up towards the roof of the mall area and the film obviously took some artistic license with the view. First, it's not a glass ceiling because above the mall section is the rest of the office tower, and secondly, obviously the 2IFC tower that we can see in the film is a couple of miles away in Central. I was a bit dizzy looking up when I took the modern comparison so I couldn't quite match the same orientation...

I'll finish with a quick shot of the MTR entrance which is probably the least changed part of the whole area.

Benson - Robert Guillaume (1984) - Matheson Street, Causeway Bay

Unfortunately many of the shots in Benson that might be quite interesting are flashed quickly and due to the poor quality of the image, I doubt I would be able to identify most any, however, one of the shows this view of a tram trundling along what is now the northern section of Matheson Street next to the old Russell Street tran depot sheds (seen in the background). This place is now, of course, filled up by Times Square and the surrounding plaza.

Beyond Hypothermia - Jacklyn Wu Chien-lien (1996) - Times Square, Causeway Bay

When the South Korean enforcer arrives in Hong Kong, he is met in one of the Times Square offices by some local contacts who provide him with some weapons. The scene starts off with a view out towards Happy Valley and Morrison Hill Road/Canal Road Flyover.

Je l'aimais - Daniel Auteuil (2009) - Times Square, Causeway Bay

So despite the fact that his meeting was obviously taking place in Central, when Pierre descends from hi meeting in he office lift he has been transported all the way over to Times Square in Causeway bay. I wonder if he used the same Central/Causeway Bay space/time portal used by Lara Croft a few years earlier?

Anyway, this next set of images have reminded me that Times Square did indeed used to have external elevators that linked up the floor on the lower levels of the property. The building underwent a major refurbishment in the second half of 2009 that removed them and now this external wall is just plain and empty.

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life - Angelina Jolie (2003) - Inside Times Square, Causeway Bay

As well as the outside, we also get some glimpses of the interior of the mall and a major piece of film fakery. See if you can spot the deliberate mistake.

Escalators down to the MTR

Wait..hang on a minute...

That's right - look at the obviously fake Vivienne Tam store at the back of the lower picture! Oh, hang on, my wife say's Vivienne Tam is a real store, so I guess it must be the other fake picture showing the 2IFC in the middle of Times Square!

As a nice convenient way of steering the scene towards its rather vertiginous finale, the film makers decided to graft the 2IFC tower onto the Times Square mall. I guess the IFC mall wasn't ready in time for filming (otherwise, why use Times Square?).

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life - Angelina Jolie (2003) - Outside Times Square, Causeway Bay

Times Square features extensively in Tomb Raider 2 because it is the location of the evil boss's main lab. As the scene is set we get a nice panning shot from up high looking down onto the street. For those who didn't know, this mall was built on top of one of the old Sharp Street Tram Depot.

Autostitch made a reasonable effort to join these all up but I think the zoom-in on the lower pictures rendered them unusable. Still, it's not a bad effort.