Stephen Chow Confirms “Kung Fu Hustle 2” is in the Works
Although rumors of there being a Kung Fu Hustle 2 < 功夫2 > have always been in the air, Stephen Chow (周星馳) finally officially confirmed the news. While promoting his newest movie, The New King of Comedy < 新喜劇之王 >, Stephen admitted that he will be filming Kung Fu Hustle 2. Fans immediately wondered if the 56-year-old will be acting again in the sequel.
Suddenly stopping taking lead roles after CJ7 <長江7號> 11 years ago, Stephen has never truly revealed the reason behind retiring his acting career. Stephen explained that he is not really comfortable with talking about why he is no longer acting, but he admitted that he still gets frequent acting offers. Stephen expressed, “There are a lot of things that I don’t love to do. I just want to talk about one thing – I only do things I love; I don’t do it for the money.”
When asked if he would think about taking a cameo role in Kung Fu Hustle 2, similarly like he did with Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back < 西遊伏妖篇 >, the director laughed and said he may consider playing someone who gets beat up in the movie, “I can’t fight that well anymore.”
On the plot of the movie, Stephen said that although the new movie will retain a similar concept, Kung Fu Hustle 2 will have its own independent story. It will be centered around a modern-day kung fu story in a foreign country instead.
Source: HK01
This article is written by Su for JayneStars.com.
No doubt this will star Mando guys and tailor made for the Mainland audience and dubbed…
@jimmyszeto
yeah, but the recent ones aren’t that bad. the mermaid and the journey to the west wasn’t at all bad. i wish he could make something purely for the canto audiences though that will never happen unless he doesn’t care for earnings.
After the “Tricky Master,” his work wasn’t that funny. Stephen Chow has a few very good classics, but doesn’t mean all his stuff was good.
None of the movies he’s personally produced/directed were good. He should go back to being an actor and leave the directing/script-writing to other people who made him a star.
@coralie Well, most of his hong kong movies are good. But its good not because if his acting alone, but because of the other hong kong actors/actresses as well that made him the superstar.
Now damn arrogant said do things not because of money because already a billionaire. Without tvb and those hong kong actors, he wont became what he is today. But he never think of contribute back to hong kong. Without hong kong actors in his movie, all his movies will just become rubbish.
@lam86
To be fair, his recent movies are only rubbish in the eyes of HK’ers and to those who grew up watching his films. Many of his movies from the 90’s are iconic. All of his self-directed and self-produced movies are garbage imo.
In the eyes of the mainland, he is a commercial success regardless if his movies are actually good. His name is an instant box office success in the mainland.
I honestly don’t think he cares about what you nor how HK people feel about him because that’s not where his target market is any longer.
He’s a smart guy. He doesn’t care about how 8 million HK’ers feel about him when he has a 1.3 billion mainland population to market to. There’s a reason why he has little to zero PR events in HK for like the past 20 years. All of his PR and marketing activity is in the mainland. His filming and comedic style are all catered to the mainland. All of the main casts he uses are mainlanders. He simply doesn’t care about HK. Period. I don’t blame him.
@anon in the short run, he’s making good profits from his movie ventures. but in the long run, he’s tarnishing his own brand by continuously churning out these mediocre, crappy movies. the mainland market isn’t dumb. in time, no matter how hardcore his fans are, his movies will get backlash.
@coralie
I agree! Unfortunately, his movies are still breaking box office records. I don’t think he will stop producing his “mo lei tau” style of comedy in China anytime soon. For the Cantonese viewers watching his style of comedy in mainland fashion, it’s downright absurd and cringe-worthy.
@anon No matter how good his box office in china, but having such bad character also useless.
Whether he cares about HK or not, the fact that without TVB and Hong Kong , he is just a nobody.
And the fact Hong Kong produces the most successfull and talented superstar in Asia.
China produces who? Fan bing bing? Yang mi? hahaha
@lam86 Gong Li, Liu Yifei (she’s about to hit become the next hot thing once Mulan comes out), Zhang Ziyi, Zhao Liying, Li Bing Bing are all pretty up there.
All international stars (except Zhao Liying) thanks to their huge Chinese platforms & American presence.
It used to be that HK WAS the producer of huge stars, but they have declined dramatically. Mainland is the next manufacturer. Look at Gem Tang. She was going nowhere in HK until she starred in the mainland singer competition. That propelled her to instant stardom.
@coralie Gong Li, Liu Yifei (she’s about to hit become the next hot thing once Mulan comes out), Zhang Ziyi, Zhao Liying, Li Bing Bing are all pretty up there
All these are just your assumption that they are superstars in ASIA. Go and do a survey in every country in ASIA and see how many % of people knowing the names that you mentioned. Duh
@lam86 can’t tell if you’re trolling or just brainwashed. I’m going with the latter. everyone here disagrees with you, yet you insist you’re right. doesn’t matter, rabid fans can’t be dissuaded. anyways cling to HK’s glory days all you want, but HK is a dying city. everyone is moving to mainland.
@coralie stop trolling is you not me. International stars is everywhere but not a superstar. A superstar is well known by most people. Those actressess that you mentioned not even known by most people across asia. Stop embassing yourself
@lam86 how much hair is on my head? can you tell? no? then how the heck are you supposed to differentiate who’s a superstar? how do you estimate how many people know a celebrity?
answer: you don’t know and you can’t tell. stop trolling. this is my last reply to you, because you’re delusional.
@lam86
“Whether he cares about HK or not, the fact that without TVB and Hong Kong , he is just a nobody.”
TVB and the HK entertainment has been irrelevant for a long time – they are the nobody – not Stephen Chow. He makes tons of money in China, whether he will continue to profit in the future with his style of comedy that will remain to be seen. Stop looking so highly of HK entertainment and TVB these days. It’s not the 1980’s and 1990’s anymore. It’s straight up embarrassing these days.
“And the fact Hong Kong produces the most successfull and talented superstar in Asia. ”
Yes, in the 80’s and 90’s. Hong Kong has produced ZERO international mega stars in the last 20 years. Stop being so delusional.
“China produces who? Fan bing bing? Yang mi?”
You’re so ignorant. China has produced many international stars in recent years. This comment alone shows how little you know about Chinese entertainment.
@anon You really a joker. Those hong kong megastars are still working and producing films nonstop. Your words of irrelevant and nobody shows how ignorant you can ever be.
Of course you ignorant can claim china produced many international stars but how famous are those stars in ASIA? Go do a survey and see how many people know the stars that is in your ignorant’s mind?
@lam86 most people who watched his comedy films didn’t watch it for his costars (though they do add to this success.) they watched for stephen and it’s mainly stephen who made his costars a success. not the other way around.
@coralie Just many people like you did not notice. I no doubt in the past he very good at making people to laugh. But without those hong kong actors/actresses, still the whole movie will not be so laughable and funny. He alone will not be able to carry the whole movie.
Now the reason he wont film himself anymore because he knows it pretty well, without hong kong actors, his movie will be like garbage. Because people love to compare. He dont film then people cannot criticize him anymore.
If he acted with mainland actors/actresses in shaolin soccer dont dream he will get Best actor award.
@lam86 almost all his costars became famous because of him. they’re called “sing girls” for a reason. like i said, they contribute to his success, but he made them a success.
@coralie they contributed to each other. Stephen chow is superb good but without those costars, he still would not make it at all. Because stephen is not handsome and cannot sing.
Whoever he working with also will ended up like enemies due to stephen greedy and arrogant attitude.
Thats why no way he will act anymore because too much enemies. If act with china people will more worst only. LOLz
@lam86 lol, you have it like completely backwards. Back in Stephen’s heyday in HK cinema, he was the guy who made the movies. It was not his Co stars. Who made Ng Mar Tat? Cheung Man? His costars should be grateful he gave them successful careers.
To say his costars made him is just an untrue and ignorant statement.
@theyenman No, its not who making who. Its their combination of success all together. Without ng man tat also stephen chow would not be so successful in the earlier. and also many other supportings.
If in his earlier career, changed all the hong kong actors into mainlaind actors, you can dream his movies are so laughable and good.
Only rare stars like leslie cheung and andy lau really can carry the whole movie himself because godlike acting and can sing very well.
@lam86 i think ng man tat was stephen chows best side kick untill now, ng man tat is an great actor he isnt only good in comedy roles but also various type of roles.
but to say stephen chow would not that popular without all his supporting actors is an understatement. of course a good movie is not just one actor but when i buy a ticket to watch stephen chows movie it isnt because of ng man tat or stephen chow but because his comedy movies are damm good. stephen chow was a genius in acting and producing comedies. his creativity and sense of humor was unique. his best works are shaolin soccer and kung fu hustle. but after that he wasnt able to reach those level anymore.
@kolo pls la. I argued based on figure and facts. Unlike most people here argue with emotion and perception. Without those hong kong costars, stephen box office in CJ7 only 47M USD.
But his kung fu hustle USD 100++M box office. By that time also he got lots of enemies already thats why he stopped filming. Now only he can target china audience because they duno what is quality as long as local people acted on it then its nice. You study history of china box office will know it they mostly support local production.
@lam86 Actually only Stephen Chow can make his movie work when he is the main lead. His most successful movies before venturing into mainland, Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer, did not include his costars from the 90s. Biggest omission was Ng Man Tat. But they still were successful because he was the star that made it possible, not his costars.
Also comparing Kung Fu Hustle to CJ7 is comparing apple to oranges because both films were different genres. CJ7 was a new science fiction concept targeted for kids and his role was completely different from his usual mo lei to. However it was still successful due to his name.
The reason he is successful in the mainland is because of his name. His name alone is like a brand and has a lot of fans. Therefore his films will lead to big box office draw even though they are not good compare to his old movies when he was the main lead.
But if he keeps making crappy movies, it will hurt him eventually. His most recent film, New King of Comedy, has only raked in 500 million rmb compared to 1.3 billion for Conquering the Demons, 1.6 billion for produced sequel to demons, and 3.3 billion for Mermaid. Andy Lau’s strings of crappy movies pretty much kill his brand. Same with Jackie Chan, his newest new year movie has only made over 100 million rmb in the mainland. That equates to box office bomb in today’s numbers for investors.
The reason he is targeting China is well it is the second biggest market in the world. Even Hollywood is catering to China. So it’s not a surprise he is using mainland actors because they are well known in China. Using HK actors will only boost tickets in HK but will decrease in China since he is not starting in it. It is just good business decision.
Also mainland audience can be a blessing and cruel for any movie. Movies with hype can bring in good openings but bad word of mouth can kill it. There are plenty of movies that drop over 90% the following weekend due to bad WOM. The worst drop for a hyped up movie was 99%. So don’t just assume mainland audience will watch anything local. There are even Hollywood films that made more in China than North America. It pretty much depends on the film brand and WOM. So far Stephen Chow’s mainland movies have been decent at best but still made a lot because of his name. It would have made more had he started in them. Hopefully he stars in Kung Fu Hustle 2 or it will suck for sure.
Got to give dues to the man. He was successful as an actor and successful as a director. His recent movies might be geared towards mainland but its a business decision made from the controlling company. He might not win any Oscars directing but he is a cash cow no matter what he does.
@mike
Exactly, for a man that loves money (if you believe what people around him say about him), that’s exactly what he is doing. I don’t blame him. Everybody’s goals are different. He doesn’t need to cater to a HK market that in the eyes of many is already dead.