Kung Fu Hustle

Kung Fu Hustle
Mainland China release poster
Chinese功夫
Hanyu PinyinGōng Fū
JyutpingGung1 Fu1
Directed byStephen Chow
Screenplay by
  • Stephen Chow
  • Huo Xin
  • Chan Man-keung
  • Tsang Kan-cheung
Story byStephen Chow
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyPoon Hang-sang
Edited byAngie Lam
Music byRaymond Wong
Production
companies
Distributed byHuayi Brothers (China)[1]
Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International (International)[2][3]
Release dates
  • 14 September 2004 (2004-09-14) (TIFF)
  • 23 December 2004 (2004-12-23) (Hong Kong)
Running time
98 minutes[4]
Countries
LanguageCantonese[4]
Budget$20 million[5]
Box office$104.9 million[6]

Kung Fu Hustle (Chinese: 功夫; lit. 'Kung Fu') is a 2004 martial arts action comedy film directed, produced and co-written by Stephen Chow, who also stars in the leading role, alongside Huang Shengyi, Yuen Wah, Yuen Qiu, Danny Chan Kwok-kwan and Leung Siu-lung in prominent roles. The story revolves around a murderous neighbourhood gang, a poor village with unlikely heroes and an aspiring gangster's fierce journey to find his true self. The martial arts choreography is supervised by Yuen Woo-ping.

The film was a co-production between Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese companies, filmed in Shanghai. After the commercial success of Shaolin Soccer, its production company, Star Overseas, began to develop the films with Columbia Pictures Asia in 2002. It features a number of retired actors famous for 1970s Hong Kong action cinema and has been compared to contemporary and influential wuxia films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero. The cartoon special effects in the film, accompanied by traditional Chinese music, are often cited as its most striking feature.

Kung Fu Hustle was released on 23 December 2004 in China and on 25 January 2005 in the United States. The film received positive reviews and grossed US$17 million in North America and US$84 million in other regions. It was tenth on the list of highest-grossing foreign-language films 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. The film was re-released in 3D in October 2014 across Asia and America, marking the tenth anniversary of the film.

  1. ^ Shackleton, Liz (2 June 2003). "Columbia Asia to back new film from Stephen Chow". Screen International. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  2. ^ "Kung Fu Hustle". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 8 July 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "Gong Fu". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  4. ^ a b "Kung Fu Hustle – BBFC". BBFC. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  5. ^ "Kung Fu Hustle". The Numbers. Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  6. ^ "Kung Fu Hustle". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2021.