HONG KONG • Andy Lau, who has announced he is taking up to 11 months off to recover from a filming accident, may lose an estimated HK$100 million (S$18.3 million) in potential income, said Ming Pao Daily News.

Lau, long revered as the hardest- working man in Hong Kong show business, stands to lose at least HK$100 million if he backs out of films, commercials and concerts, including 20 year-end gigs he had planned to give at the Hong Kong Coliseum, said the report.

His other reported projects, which are now up in the air, include roles in Cold War III, a thriller about the Hong Kong chief executive election starring Aaron Kwok; and in a fantasy starring Gong Li.

Lau, 55, fractured his pelvis in multiple places after he fell off a horse in Thailand on Jan 17. He had been shooting a commercial for Tao Ti, a tea brand he has worked with for 17 years, said Apple Daily.

The brand takes out insurance for him for each shoot and, this time, it is said to have insured him for up to US$50 million (S$71 million), said the report.

He is under doctor's orders to stay for six to eight weeks in hospital. A two-month stay in Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital costs about HK$900,000, said Apple Daily. Lau's medical bill, including consultation and examination fees, may come to HK$3 million, it added.