Kung Fu Hustle: Difference between revisions

Kung Fu Hustle
Mainland China release poster
Directed by	Stephen Chow
Written by	Stephen Chow Huo Xin Chan Man-keung Tsang Kan-cheung
Produced by	Stephen Chow Chui Po-chu Jeffrey Lau
Starring	Stephen Chow Danny Chan Yuen Wah Yuen Qiu Eva Huang
Cinematography	Poon Hang-sang
Edited by	Angie Lam
Music by	Raymond Wong
Production companies	Star Overseas Beijing Film Studio Taihe Film Investment China Film Group Huayi Brothers
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures (International) Sony Pictures Classics (USA)
Release dates	14 September 2004 (2004-09-14) (TIFF) 23 December 2004 (2004-12-23)
Running time	98 minutes
Countries	Hong Kong China
Language	Cantonese
Budget	$20 million
Box office	$100,914,445

Template:ChineseText Kung Fu Hustle is a 2004 Hong Kong-Chinese action comedy martial arts film. It was directed, co-written and co-produced by Stephen Chow, who also stars in the lead role. The other producers were Chui Po-chu and Jeffrey Lau, and the screenplay was co-written with Huo Xin, Chan Man-keung, and Tsang Kan-cheung. Yuen Wah, Yuen Qiu, Danny Chan, and Bruce Leung co-starred in prominent roles.

After the commercial success of Shaolin Soccer, its production company, Star Overseas, began to develop Kung Fu Hustle with Columbia Pictures Asia in 2002. The film features a number of retired actors famous for 1970s Hong Kong action cinema, yet has been compared to contemporary and influential martial arts films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero. The cartoon style of the film, accompanied by traditional Chinese music, is often cited as its most striking feature.

The film was released on 23 December 2004 in China and on 25 January 2005 in the United States. It received highly positive reviews, with Rotten Tomatoes giving it a 90% fresh rating and Metacritic 78 out of 100. The film was also a commercial success, grossing US$17 million in North America and US$84 million in other countries. Kung Fu Hustle was the highest-grossing film in the history of Hong Kong until it was surpassed by You Are the Apple of My Eye in 2011.

The film was the all-time tenth highest-grossing foreign language film in the United States as well as the highest-grossing foreign language film in the country in 2005. Kung Fu Hustle won numerous awards, including six Hong Kong Film Awards and five Golden Horse Awards.

Plot

In Shanghai during the 1930s, Brother Sum, the leader of the Deadly Axe Gang, exercises control over the city, openly killing anyone who gets in his way. One day, two troublemakers, Sing and Bone, come to Pig Sty Alley impersonating members of the Axe Gang to gain respect. Their plan fails, and Sing's antics attract the real gang to the scene. In the massive brawl that ensues, more than fifty gangsters are defeated by three tenants who are Coolie, a laborer, Fairy, the clothing retailer, and Donut, the noodle chef. Coolie, Fairy, and Donut turn out to be incognito martial arts masters.

After the fight, Sing and Bone are apprehended by Brother Sum for publicly humiliating the Axe Gang. They are hung by their arms to be killed, but Sing uses his lock picking skills to escape and asks to join the gang. Sum is impressed by Sing's lock picking, so he tells them that if they kill a person they will be accepted into the gang. Asked to explain his escape skills, Sing describes his childhood: he bought a Buddhist Palm manual from a beggar and trained himself to be a martial artist, but when he tried to defend a mute girl from bullies, he was beaten up and humiliated.

The next day, the duo return to Pig Sty Alley and attempt to murder the Landlady, but their efforts fail. The cantankerous Landlady chases Sing, who becomes badly injured in the process after being bitten on the lips by multiple snakes and hides in a traffic control pulpit, where his multiple injuries including comically swollen lips spontaneously heal, a surprise even to him. As he recovers, thrashing in pain from his injuries, he unconsciously throws his hands outward and violently dents the pulpit from the inside. These dents appear to be the result of kung-fu strikes.

Meanwhile, Sum hires two mystical assassins to kill the three martial artists at Pig Sty Alley. That night, the Landlady, fearing retaliation from the Axe Gang, evicts the three martial artists. In the process of leaving, Coolie is murdered by the assassins, who use a magical guqin as their weapon, and Fairy and Donut attain fatal injuries during the fight. The assassins are defeated by the Landlady and Landlord, who are in fact martial arts masters in self-imposed retirement. They had sworn not to fight anymore due to their young son being killed years earlier in a fight. Moments after Fairy dies, a very weak Donut speaks to the Landlord and Landlady right before dying before their eyes. The dead three are surrounded by the grateful but saddened Pig Sty Alley denizens. Afterward, sensing an impending showdown with the Axe Gang, the Landlady and Landlord order all the citizens and tenants to evacuate Pig Sty Alley.

A desperate Sing mugs an ice cream vendor only to realize she is the mute girl from his childhood. For helping her, the woman offers him the lollipop she had as a girl, but Sing refuses it and knocks it away, shattering it to pieces. Sing berates Bone for being unhelpful in their quest to become Axe members and forces him away. Sing is then picked up by the Axe Gang and in exchange for joining the gang, Sum orders him to break into a mental asylum to free a legendary fighter known as the Beast. Sing succeeds (although he experiences several moments of great foreboding during the job) and brings the Beast to Sum at his office. The Beast is initially flippant and his sloppy appearance bewilders Sum, who orders his men to torture the fighter. In response, the Beast stops a bullet with two fingers, and the Axe Gang bows in respect.

The Beast then confronts the Landlady and Landlord at the casino and they fight, with the Beast having the advantage. The Landlady and Landlord manage to overpower him with a large temple bell through which the Landlady amplifies her lion's roar technique. Just before they finish him off, the Beast proclaims his awe at their abilities and claims to surrender. However, the moment the Landlady and Landlord let down their guard, the Beast treacherously stabs them both in the stomach with concealed daggers. The three end up intertwined, both sides immobilizing the other. Brother Sum orders Sing to hit the Landlord with a table leg. When Brother Sum's berating becomes too much, Sing angrily bashes Brother Sum in the head to get him to shut up. Sing, having reformed, rushes in to help them by hitting the Beast with the table leg. Unfortunately, the blow only incenses the Beast, who pummels Sing into the floor. Before the Beast can deliver the final blow, the Landlord and Landlady grab Sing and flee. Sum angrily berates the Beast for letting them escape, and the Beast casually murders Sum and takes over his men.

At Pig Sty Alley, Sing undergoes a metamorphosis; the Beast's thrashing has inexplicably awoken his true potential as a kung-fu genius. He quickly recovers from his wounds, and suggests that the Landlord and Landlady rest. He easily defeats the Axe Gang before confronting the Beast. The two engage in a fierce brawl before the Beast uses his Toad Style techniques to send Sing rocketing into the sky. As he falls back to earth, Sing comes to terms with the Buddha and the techniques he learned from the manual as a child, and delivers the Buddhist Palm to defeat the Beast. After a final failed attack on Sing, the Beast accepts his defeat and appears to experience an epiphany. He begins to cry, and kneels before Sing, as if in supplication before his new master.

Some time later, Sing and Bone open a candy store with the vendor's lollipop as the store sign. When the mute ice cream vendor walks by, Sing goes out to meet her. As they gaze upon one another, the camera spins around them as they transform into the children seen in the flashbacks. They smile, clasp hands and run into the candy store together. Various characters from the movie, who appear to have formed happy couples, walk through the square in front of the store. The beggar (suspected to be a magical traveller) who gave Sing the Buddhist Palm is then seen attempting to sell the Buddhist Palm manual to a young boy. The boy turns to leave until the beggar offers all of the manuals.

Cast

• Stephen Chow as Sing, a loser in life who aspires to join the Axe Gang.
• Danny Chan as Brother Sum, leader of the Axe Gang.
• Yuen Wah as the Landlord of Pig Sty Alley. He is also a master of taijiquan.
• Yuen Qiu as the Landlady of Pig Sty Alley. She is a master of the Lion's Roar technique.
• Bruce Leung as the Beast, an old but incredibly strong kung fu master. He is rumoured to be the most dangerous person alive, though his skill is disguised by his unkempt appearance.
• Xing Yu as the Coolie, a kung fu specialist specialising in Twelve Kicks of the Tam School.
• Chiu Chi-ling as Fairy, the Tailor of Pig Sty Alley. He specialises in the art of Hung Ga Iron Fist Kung fu, and he fights with iron rings on his arms.
• Dong Zhihua as Donut, a baker in Pig Sty Alley. He specialises in the Eight Trigram Staff.
• Lam Chi-chung as Bone, Sing's sidekick.
• Eva Huang as Fong, Sing's mute love interest and childhood acquaintance.
• Tin Kai-Man as Brother Sum's adviser.
• Gar Hong-hay and Fung Hak-on as the Harpists, two killers hired by the Axe Gang. Their instrument is the guqin, or "Chinese harp".
• Lam Suet and Liang Hsiao as high-ranking members of the Axe Gang.
• Yuen Cheung-yan as the Beggar, the man who sold Sing the Buddhist Palm manual.
• Feng Xiaogang as the leader of the Crocodile Gang. He is killed by the Axe Gang at the start of the film.
• Min-hun Fung as 4 eyed clerk

Production

Development

An early sketch of the Pig Sty Alley

Kung Fu Hustle is a co-production of the Beijing Film Studio and Hong Kong's Star Overseas. After the success of his 2001 film, Shaolin Soccer, Chow was approached in 2002 by Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia, offering to collaborate with him on a project. Chow accepted the offer, and the project eventually became Kung Fu Hustle. Kung Fu Hustle was produced with a budget of US$20 million.

Chow was inspired to create the film by the martial arts films he watched as a child and by his childhood ambition to become a martial artist. A senior Hollywood executive said Chow was "forced to grind through four successive scripts" and "found it very laborious".

Chow's first priority was to design the main location of the film, "Pig Sty Alley". Later in an interview Chow remarked that he had created the location from his childhood, basing the design on the crowded apartment complexes of Hong Kong where he had lived. The 1973 Shaw Brothers Studio film, The House of 72 Tenants, was another inspiration for Pig Sty Alley. Designing the Alley began in January 2003 and took four months to complete. Many of the props and furniture in the apartments were antiques from all over China.

Casting

Kung Fu Hustle features several prolific Hong Kong action cinema actors from the 1970s. Yuen Wah, a former student of the China Drama Academy Peking Opera School who appeared in over a hundred Hong Kong films and was a stunt double for Bruce Lee, played the Landlord of Pig Sty Alley. Wah considered starring in Kung Fu Hustle to be the peak of his career. In spite of the film's success, he worried that nowadays fewer people practice martial arts.

Auditions for the role of the Landlady began in March 2003, Yuen Qiu who did not audition, was spotted, during her friend's screen test smoking a cigarette with a sarcastic expression on her face, which won her the part. Qiu, a student of Yu Jim-yuen, sifu of the China Drama Academy, had appeared in the 1974 James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun at the age of 18. After a number of other small roles, she retired from films in the 1980s. Kung Fu Hustle was her first role in nineteen years. Qiu, in order to fulfill Chow's vision for the role, gained weight for the role by eating midnight snacks everyday.

Bruce Leung, who played the Beast, was Stephen Chow's childhood martial arts hero. Leung Siu Lung was a famous action film director and actor in the 1970s and 1980s, known as the "Third Dragon" after Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. After becoming unpopular in the Taiwanese film market in the late 1980s following a visit to China, he switched to a career in business. Kung Fu Hustle was his return to the film industry after a fifteen-year hiatus. He regarded Chow as a flexible director with high standards, and was particularly impressed by the first scene involving the Beast, which had to be reshot 28 times.

In addition to famous martial artists, Kung Fu Hustle features legends of Chinese cinema. Two famous Chinese directors appear in the film: Zhang Yibai, who plays Inspector Chan at the beginning of the film, and Feng Xiaogang, who plays the boss of the Crocodile Gang.

In casting Sing's love interest Fong, Chow stated that he wanted an innocent looking girl for the role. Television actress Eva Huang, in her film debut, was chosen from over 8,000 girls. When asked about his decision in casting her Chow said that he "just had a feeling about her" and said that he enjoyed working with new actors. She chose to have no dialogue in the film so that she could stand out only with her body gestures.

Filming

CGI construction of the Buddhist Palm

Filming took place in Shanghai from June 2003 to November 2003. Two-thirds of the time was spent shooting the fight sequences. Those scenes were initially choreographed by Sammo Hung, who quit after two months due to illness, tough outdoor conditions, interest in another project and arguments with the production crew. Hung was replaced by Yuen Woo-ping, an action choreographer with experience ranging from 1960s Hong Kong action cinema to more recent films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Matrix. Yuen promptly accepted the offer. Yuen drew on seemingly outdated wuxia fighting styles like the Deadly Melody and Buddhist Palm. He remarked that despite the comedic nature of the film, the shooting process was a serious matter due to the tight schedule.

Most of the special effects in the film, created by Hong Kong computer graphics company Centro Digital Pictures Limited, which had previously worked on films such as Shaolin Soccer and Kill Bill, included a combination of computer-generated imagery and wire work. Centro Digital performed extensive tests on CGI scenes before filming started, and treatment of the preliminary shots began immediately afterwards. The CGI crew edited out wire effects and applied special effects in high resolution. Legendary martial arts mentioned in wuxia novels were depicted and exaggerated through CGI, but actual people were used for the final fight between Chow's character and hundreds of axe-wielding gangsters. After a final calibration of colour, data of the processed scenes was sent to the US for the production of the final version. A group of six people followed the production crew throughout the shooting.

Music

Main article: Kung Fu Hustle (soundtrack)

The majority of the film's original score was composed by Raymond Wong and performed by the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra. The score imitates traditional Chinese music used in 1940s swordplay films. One of Wong's works, Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained, provides a stark contrast between the villainous Axe Gang and the peaceful neighbourhood of Pig Sty Alley, depicted by a Chinese folk song, Fisherman's Song of the East China Sea. Along with Wong's compositions and various traditional Chinese songs, classical compositions are featured in the score, including excerpts from Zigeunerweisen by Pablo de Sarasate and Sabre Dance by Aram Khachaturian. The song, Zhiyao Weini Huo Yitian (只要為你活一天; Only Want to Live One Day for You), is sung in the background by Eva Huang at the end of the film. Written by Liu Chia-chang (劉家昌) in the 1970s, it tells of a girl's memories of a loved one, and her desire to live for him again. Kung Fu Hustle was nominated for Best Original Film Score at the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards.

Asian and American versions of the soundtrack were released. The Asian version of the soundtrack was released on 17 December 2004 by Sony Music Entertainment and has 33 tracks. The American version of the soundtrack was released on 29 March 2005 by Varèse Sarabande and has 19 tracks but has 14 tracks missing from the Asian release.

The soundtrack for the trailer was mastered at Epiphany Music and Recording, Inc. in Santa Rosa, California.

References to other works

Kung Fu Hustle makes references to a wide range of films, animated cartoons, wuxia novels and other sources. Sing and Bone resemble George Milton and Lennie Small from the 1992 film Of Mice and Men. The housing arrangement of the Pig Sty Alley is similar to that of a 1973 Hong Kong film, The House of 72 Tenants. There are two references to Chow's previous film, Shaolin Soccer. When Sing arrives at Pig Sty Alley, he plays skillfully with a soccer ball, then says, "You're still playing football?". The second reference is the scene in which a clerk beats Sing up on a bus. The clerk also appeared in Shaolin Soccer as the leader of an opposing team who used hidden weapons to beat up the Shaolin soccer team. When Sing challenges a boy in the Pig Sty Alley, Sing calls him "The Karate Kid", a reference to the 1984 film of the same name. During the altercation between Sing and the hairdresser, the hairdresser states, "Even if you kill me, there will be thousands more of me!". This is a reference to a famous quote made by Lu Haodong, a Chinese revolutionary in the late Qing Dynasty. The scene in which Sing is chased by the Landlady as he flees from the Alley is a homage to Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner, characters in the Looney Tunes cartoons, even including the pursuer's (the Landlady's) ill fate. In the scene in which Sing robs the ice cream vendor, a poster for the 1935 film Top Hat is in the background. As Sing arrives at the door to the Beast's cell in the mental asylum, he hallucinates a large wave of blood rushing from the cell door, similar to a scene in The Shining.

A major element of the plot is based on the wuxia film series Palm of Ru Lai (如來神掌), released in 1964. Sing studied the fighting style used in Palm of Ru Lai ("Buddhist Palm style"), from a young age and used it at the end of Kung Fu Hustle. In reality, the Buddhist Palm fighting style does not leave palm-shaped craters and holes on impact. Instead, the user delivers powerful punches using his palm. The Beast's name in Chinese, Huoyun Xieshen (火雲邪神; Evil Deity of the Fiery Cloud), and the fight with the Landlady and her husband are also references to the Palm of Ru Lai, in which a mortally wounded master strikes the patterns of his art's final techniques into a bell so that his apprentice can learn from it. Kung Fu Hustle also contains direct references to characters from Louis Cha's wuxia novels. For example, the landlord and landlady refer to themselves as Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü, the names of characters in Cha's The Return of the Condor Heroes, when they met the Beast.

An aerial shot of Sing fighting the Axe Gang. The fight is reminiscent of The Matrix Reloaded.

References to gangster films are also present. The boss of the Axe Gang, Brother Sum (琛哥) is named after Hon Sam / Hon Sum (韓琛), the triad boss played by Eric Tsang in Infernal Affairs. The Harpists imitate The Blues Brothers, wearing similar hats and sunglasses at all times. When they are flattered by the Axe Gang advisor, one of them answers "Strictly speaking we're just musicians", similar to a line by Elwood Blues.

When Donut dies, he says, "In great power lies great responsibility", a reference to Spider-Man, said by Uncle Ben before his death. Afterwards, with his dying breath, Donut gets up, grabs the Landlord by the shirt and utters in English, "What are you prepared to do?", a nod to Sean Connery's character Jim Malone in Brian De Palma's 1987 film The Untouchables.

The dialogue that the Beast says while negotiating with the Axe Gang for killing the Landlady and Landlord – "...then young friend, I will make an offer you cannot refuse", is a reference of the dialogue from the movie 'The Godfather'. Also, the Landlady's comment to Brother Sum – "We brought a gift you cannot refuse" is an obvious parody of the same, to which Sum replies (in the dubbed version of the film), "Ha! With the Beast on our side, we shall see for whom the bell tolls", a reference to the 1943 film.

The final fight between Sing (who has been reborn into "the one", which pays homage to Bruce Lee by wearing his costume in Enter the Dragon and using his fighting style) and the hundreds of gangsters imitates the fight between Neo and hundreds of Agent Smiths in The Matrix Reloaded. The scene in which the Beast prompts an axe member to punch him harder is reminiscent of a similar scene in Raging Bull, with Robert De Niro's character prompting Joe Pesci's character.

The last scene, in which the beggar tries to sell martial arts manuals, refers directly to the greatest skills in Louis Cha's Condor Trilogy (Nine Yang Manual, "Yiyang Finger", and "Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms"), "Thousand Hand Divine Fist", and The Smiling, Proud Wanderer ("Nine Swords of Dugu"). The scene in which the landlady confronts Brother Sum in the back of his car is a homage to Bruce Lee in Way of the Dragon, where he cracks his knuckles and gives a quick upper nod to the mafia boss, telling him to back off.

Releases

Kung Fu Hustle premiered at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival. It was later released across East Asia including China, Hong Kong and Malaysia in December 2004. The film was first shown in the US at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2005, and then opened in a general release on 22 April 2005 after being shown in Los Angeles and New York for two weeks.

The North American DVD release was on 8 August 2005. A Blu-ray version of the DVD was released on 12 December 2006 by Sony Pictures. A UMD version of the film was released for the PlayStation Portable. The United States DVD releases was censored and cut in a number of scenes that featured a lot of blood or human excrement, a later release saw these edits removed.

In the United Kingdom the standard DVD was released 24 October 2005, the same day a special edition was released with collect item which included playing cards, keyring, sweat band and an inflatable axe. On 8 April 2007 Sony Pictures Home Entertainment release a Blu-ray version.

The Portuguese title of the film is Kungfusão, which sounds like Kung Fu and Confusão (confusion). In the same way as Kungfusão, the Italian and Spanish titles were Kung-fusion and Kung-fusión, puns of "confusion". In France, the film is known as Crazy Kung Fu, and the Hungarian title is A Pofonok Földje, meaning The Land of Punches.

In Korea a Limited Collector's Edition DVD was released which included a leather wallet, Stephen Chow's Palm Figure with his signature, a photo album and Special Kung Fu's Booklet with a Certificate of authenticity.

Reception

The film was generally well received by critics, earning the score of 90% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes based on a total of 166 reviews. Hong Kong director and film critic Gabriel Wong praised the film for its black comedy, special effects and nostalgia, citing the return of many retired kung fu actors from the 1970s. Film critic Roger Ebert description of the film ("like Jackie Chan and Buster Keaton meet Quentin Tarantino and Bugs Bunny"), was printed on the promotion posters for Kung Fu Hustle in the US. Other critics described it as a comedic version of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Positive reviews generally gave credit to the elements of mo lei tau comedy present in the film. A number of reviewers viewed it as a computer-enhanced Looney Tunes punch-up. In a 2010 GQ interview, actor Bill Murray called Kung Fu Hustle "the supreme achievement of the modern age in terms of comedy".

Much of the criticism for the film was directed at its lack of character development and a coherent plot. Las Vegas Weekly, for instance, criticised the film for not enough of a central protagonist and character depth. Criticisms were also directed at the film's cartoonish and childish humour. Richard Roeper gave it a negative review, saying he had "never been a fan of that over the top slapstick stuff".

Box office

Kung Fu Hustle opened in Hong Kong on 23 December 2004, and earned HK$4,990,000 on its opening day. It stayed at the top of the box office for the rest of 2004 and for much of early 2005, eventually grossing HK$61.27 million. Its box office tally made it the highest-grossing film in Hong Kong history, until it was beaten by You Are the Apple of My Eye in 2011.

Kung Fu Hustle began a limited two-week theatrical run in New York City and Los Angeles on 8 April 2005 before being widely released across North America on 22 April. In its first week of limited release in seven cinemas, it grossed US$269,225 (US$38,461 per screen). When it was expanded to a wide release in 2,503 cinemas, the largest number of cinemas ever for a foreign language film, it made a modest US$6,749,572 (US$2,696 per screen), eventually grossing a total of US$17,108,591 in 129 days. In total, Kung Fu Hustle had a worldwide gross of US$101,104,669. While not a blockbuster, Kung Fu Hustle managed to become the highest-grossing foreign language film in North America in 2005 and went on to gain a cult following on DVD.

Awards and nominations

The film was nominated for sixteen Hong Kong Film Awards, out of which winning: Best Picture, Best Action Choreography, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Effects, Best Supporting Actor and Best Visual Effects. Five more awards were later picked up at the Golden Horse Awards including an award for Best Director for Stephen Chow. In the United States Kung Fu Hustle was well received by various film critic associations winning awards for Best Foreign Language Film from Boston, Chicago, Las Vagas and Phoenix based critics. it was later nominated for six Satellite Awards and one MTV Movie Award for best fight scene. In the United Kingdom at 59th British Academy Film Awards the film was nominated for a BAFTA.

In 2011, the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival listed Kung Fu Hustle at number 48 in their list of "100 Greatest Chinese-Language Films". The majority of the voters originated from Taiwan, and included film scholars, festival programmers, film directors, actors and producers. In 2014, Time Out polled several film critics, directors, actors and stunt actors to list their top action films. Kung Fu Hustle was listed at 50th place on this list.

List of awards and nominations

Award / Film Festival Category Recipient(s) Result Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival Stephen Chow Won BAFTA Awards Best Film not in the English Language Stephen Chow Bo-Chu Chui Jeffrey Lau Nominated Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Best Foreign Language Film China/Hong Kong Won Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards Best Foreign-Language Film Won Chicago Film Critics Association Awards Best Foreign Language Film China/Hong Kong. Nominated Florida Film Critics Circle Awards Best Foreign Film Won Golden Globe Award (USA) Best Foreign Language FilmChina. Nominated Golden Horse Awards Best Director Stephen Chow Won Best Film Won Best Make Up & Costume Design Shirley Chan Won Best Supporting Actress Qiu Yuen Won Best Visual Effect Frankie Chung Don Ma Tam Kai Kwan Hung Franco Won Best Action Choreography Woo-ping Yuen Nominated Best Art Direction Oliver Wong Nominated Best Editing Angie Lam Nominated Best Sound Effects Steve Burgess Steven Ticknor Robert Mackenzie Paul Pirola Nominated Best Supporting Actor Wah Yuen Nominated Golden Trailer Awards Best Foreign (Winston Davis & Associates). Nominated Hong Kong Film Awards Best Action Choreography Woo-ping Yuen Won Best Film Editing Angie Lam Won Best Picture Won Best Sound Effects Steven Ticknor Steve Burgess Robert Mackenzie Paul Pirola Won Best Supporting Actor Wah Yuen Won Best Visual Effects Frankie Chung Ma Wing-On Tam Kai-Kwun Hung Lau-Leung Won Best Actor Stephen Chow Nominated Best Actress Qiu Yuen Nominated Best Art Direction Oliver Wong Nominated Best Cinematography Hang-Sang Poon Nominated Best Costume Design and Make Up Shirley Chan Nominated Best Director Stephen Chow Nominated Best New Artist Shengyi Huang Nominated Best Original Film Score Ying-Wah Wong Nominated Best Screenplay Stephen Chow Kan-Cheung Tsang KXin Huo KMan Keung Chan Nominated Best Supporting Actor Kwok-Kwan Chan Nominated Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards Film of Merit Won Hundred Flowers Awards Best Supporting Actress Qiu Yuen Won Best Actor Stephen Chow Nominated Best Director Stephen Chow Nominated Best Film Nominated Best Newcomer Shengyi Huang Nominated Best Supporting Actor Wah Yuen Nominated Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards Best Foreign Film Won MTV Movie Awards Best Fight Nominated Motion Picture Sound Editors (USA) Best Sound Editing in Feature Film - Foreign Steve Burgess (supervising sound editor) Chris Goodes (sound editor) Vic Kaspar (sound editor) Jo Mion (sound editor) Andrew Neil (sound editor) Paul Pirola (sound design) Steven Ticknor (sound design) Mario Vaccaro (foley artist) Nominated Online Film Critics Society Awards Best Foreign Language Film Nominated Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards Best Foreign Language Film Stephen Chow Won Satellite Awards Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role, Comedy or Musical Qiu Yuen Nominated Outstanding Cinematography Hang-Sang Poon Nominated Outstanding Film Editing Angie Lam Nominated Outstanding Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical Nominated Outstanding Sound (Mixing & Editing) Paul Pirola Nominated Outstanding Visual Effects Frankie Chung Nominated Shanghai Film Critics Awards Top 10 Films Won Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards Best Foreign Language Film China/Hong Kong. Nominated (Runner-up)

Sequel

In 2005, Chow announced that there would be a sequel to Kung Fu Hustle, although he had not settled on a female lead. "There will be a lot of new characters in the movie. We'll need a lot of new actors. It's possible that we'll look for people abroad besides casting locals". In January 2013 during an interview Chow admitted that plans for making Kung Fu Hustle 2 have been put on hold. "I was indeed in the midst of making the movie, but it is currently put on hold in view of other incoming projects". Production of Kung Fu Hustle 2 was delayed while Chow filmed the science fiction adventure film CJ7. As a result, Kung Fu Hustle 2 is slated for a 2014 release. As of 2015, there has yet to be any confirmed news of the sequel and Stephen is slated to complete another movie, Mermaid, before completing this one.

Games

Online and mobile games

In 2004 a promotional flash games was released by Sony Pictures Entertainment on their Japanese website. The game were created by Japanese game developer Point Zero and plays as a point and click beat 'em up. A side scrolling game designed for mobile phones was later released in 2006 by developer Tracebit.

MMO

In 2007 Sony Online Entertainment announced that a massively multiplayer online 2D side-scrolling fighter game based on the film was under development for the Chinese market. Two years later a preview of the game was featured at E3 were it received mixed reviews from critics with many comparing it to similar MMO games such as Guild Wars and Phantasy Star Online.

A North American release for PC and PS3 was planned for late 2009 however as of July 2013 the game has not been released and is only available in Asia.

See also

• Cinema of Hong Kong
• Cinema of China
• Chandni Chowk to China - A Bollywood film inspired by the same.

External links

• Official website
• Kung Fu Hustle at IMDb
• Kung Fu Hustle at Rotten Tomatoes
• Kung Fu Hustle at LoveHKFilm.com
• Kung Fu Hustle at AllMovie
• Kung Fu Hustle at Metacritic
• The Six Degrees of Stephen Chow and Kung Fu Hustle