Encore Movies has acquired worldwide distribution rights outdoors mainland China to Kung Fu Soccer, Stephen Chow‘s first movie as director in seven years and the long-awaited spin-off of his beloved martial-arts-meets-football hit Shaolin Soccer from 2001.
The Singapore-based distributor will deal with theatrical and associated rights throughout worldwide markets outdoors the mainland, the place the movie shall be launched by Maoyan Leisure. Launch dates are nonetheless to be introduced.
Chow wrote and directed Kung Fu Soccer — coated for the previous two years underneath its introduced title, Shaolin Girls’s Soccer — however doesn’t seem in it, having stepped again from performing after 2008’s CJ7. The movie recasts the Shaolin Soccer premise round an all-women squad: the underdog Emei staff, who combine martial arts into their recreation on an inconceivable run at a championship. Zhang Xiaofei (Hello, Mother) leads the forged because the staff’s captain, alongside Dilraba Dilmurat and Lay Zhang (Zhang Yixing).
Shot in 2025 and now in post-production — with heavy use of visible results — the movie is predicted in 2026, the twenty fifth anniversary of Shaolin Soccer. It’s going to additionally hope to experience the worldwide enthusiasm surrounding this 12 months’s FIFA World Cup.
Chow stays one of the internationally recognizable figures in Chinese language-language cinema, with a cherished physique of irreverent work that features Shaolin Soccer, The Mermaid, CJ7 and Kung Fu Hustle, the final of which grossed greater than $100 million worldwide.
“Most soccer movies ask, ‘Can they win the match?’” stated Encore managing director Joyce Lee. “A Stephen Chow movie asks, ‘Can they win the match whereas breaking the legal guidelines of physics?’”
Encore Movies, based in 2003, has constructed a regional distribution enterprise out of Singapore, with latest releases together with the record-setting animation Ne Zha 2. It acquired Kung Fu Soccer from Chow’s manufacturing banner, The Star Abroad, and additional territory offers are nonetheless being lined up.
A spokesperson from The Star Abroad added: “We’re delighted to collaborate with Encore Movies. With its intensive worldwide distribution expertise and robust community of companions worldwide, we consider Kung Fu Soccer will attain audiences throughout many markets. We additionally sit up for working with excellent distribution companions all over the world to convey this thrilling movie to world audiences.”
A ‘Kung Fu Soccer’ sketch by Stephen Chow.
Stephen Chow
