Stephen Chow - Hollywood kung fu hero

Stephen Chow eyes Hollywood kung fu hero

Hong Kong comedic filmmaker Stephen Chow's Hollywood debut will be a little bit "Kung Fu Panda" and a little bit "Kung Fu Hustle".

Stephen Chow, whose parody-rich "Kung Fu Hustle" was the highest grossing foreign-language film in the U.S. in 2005, will write and direct a Hollywood comedy starring himself and American actor Jack Black, the Oriental Morning Post reported on Tuesday, citing Wei Dasen, a representative from Stephen Chow's company.

Jack Black was the voice of the panda Po in the animation blockbuster "Kung Fu Panda".

In December, Stephen Chow resigned as director and co-star of a Hollywood remake of Bruce Lee's 1966 TV series "The Green Hornet". The movie was supposed to be Stephen Chow's first Hollywood appearance. He told the media the reason for his resignation was he was busy arranging other projects.

Wei from Stephen Chow's company says the actor-director is currently writing the screenplay for the new film. "It will be about a superhero, action-packed, special effects-rich, and of course funny."

American beauty Anne Hathaway is likely to star in the unnamed film, according to Wei.

Chinese media cited sources close to Stephen Chow as saying that the film will be similar in style to "Kung Fu Hustle", which is full of parodies and exaggerations.

Chow joins Jack Black in superhero comedy?

Chinese media is reporting that Stephen Chow is considering writing and directing an unnamed Hollywood action/comedy starring himself and actor Jack Black. This is in addition to reports that Stephen Chow may yet star in a big screen update to THE GREEN HORNET

Black previously voiced the lead character in DreamWorks’ animated martial arts hit KUNG FU PANDA.

This unconfirmed report appeared in the “Oriental Morning Post” and cited Wei Dasen, a representative from Stephen Chow’s company.

Wei is quoted as saying, “It will be about a superhero, action-packed, special effects-rich, and of course funny.”

The newspaper said that sources close to Stephen Chow suggest that the film will be similar in style to his 2004 hit KUNG FU HUSTLE. That film was often liked to a live-action Looney Tunes cartoon.

Actress Ann Hathaway (GET SMART) has been named as a likely female lead.

Even if this news doesn’t pan out it suggests that behind the scenes there is intense effort being made on both sides of the Pacific to figure out some way to plug Stephen Chow into the Hollywood machine.

He has been box office gold in Hong Kong for years and recent hits like SHAOLIN SOCCER and KUNG FU HUSTLE have proven that Stephen Chow’s brand of humor translates well to the Western market.

With Stephen Chow continually being associated with directing a Hollywood movie, it’s more than likely that he is pushing to make sure that he doesn’t fall into the trap that some of his peers have, like Jackie Chan who ended up typecast in flimsy action comedies.