Stephen Chow's new film set for Spring Festival release
HONG KONG: Veteran Hong Kong comedian and filmmaker Stephen Chow will release his new movie, ‘The New King of Comedy', during next year's Spring Festival.
Chow has remained typically tight-lipped regarding details about his new film, releasing only a teaser poster and several photos. The upcoming film will likely not star Chow himself, but instead feature Chinese comedy giant Wang Baoqiang, known for ‘Kung Fu Jungle' and ‘Buddies in India'. Other cast members are yet to be revealed.
Chow is best known for comedy drama ‘King of Comedy', which he starred in and co-directed with Lee Lik-chi. The film, lauded as an all-time classic upon its release in 1999, is a semiautobiographical portrayal of Chow's life. It is rumoured that Chow's new outing is set to be a sequel, but so far little is known about any plot details.
Previously, Chow has been a major force in the Spring Festival film season. His ‘Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons' raked in US$205 million during the 2013 Spring Festival and became the secondhighest grossing Chinese film ever made at that time. His next project ‘The Mermaid' grossed US$525 million during the 2016 Spring Festival and became the highest grossing Chinese film ever before being dethroned by Wu Jing's ‘Wolf Warrior 2' one year later.
Chow had reportedly been planning to release ‘The Mermaid 2' in time for the upcoming Spring Festival. However, post-production and the enormous amount of visual effects required have taken much longer than expected. Instead, Chow has opted to release ‘The New King of Comedy' which requires less visual effects development.
Chow's entry joins an already overcrowded holiday season with dozens of blockbusters debuting, including Jackie Chan's fantasy feature ‘The Knight of Shadows: Between Yin and Yang', Ning Hao's sci-fi comedy ‘Crazy Alien', Guo Fan's sci-fi epic ‘The Wandering Earth', Alan Mak's anti-corruption crime film ‘Integrity', and the BritishChinese animation ‘Peppa Celebrates Chinese New Year'.