Just in time for the World Cup! “King of Comedy” Stephen Chow's first directorial work in seven years, Kung Fu Women's Soccer, announced on the 6th that it will premiere in China this Saturday (the 11th). The full cast was also revealed: in addition to leads Zhang Xiaofei, Dilraba Dilmurat, and Zhang Yixing, special appearances include Carina Lau and Takeru Satoh—however, previous reports of a cameo by Korean actor Song Kang-ho did not pan out.
Chow, who turned 64 on May 22nd, mentioned he was rushing to finish the post-production of Kung Fu Women's Soccer, hoping for a July 10th release, or July 17th if not ready. On the 5th, news surfaced that copies of the film had begun arriving at cinemas across China. With a runtime of 106 minutes, the official release was set for the 11th, with just one poster revealed—“The fire in our hearts will never go out”—and no trailer released yet.
Kung Fu Women's Soccer reportedly had a budget of about 380 million RMB (around 220 million MYR), featuring over 1,200 special effects shots throughout the film. The plot combines Shaolin kung fu and soccer to tell the story of the “Emei Team” overturning the odds to win the championship. Zhang Xiaofei plays the captain “Shuangshuang”, Dilraba Dilmurat the forward “Yulong”, and Zhang Yixing is the senior brother and coach “Xu Feng”.
Source: Apple Online News