The New King of Comedy

The New King of Comedy (Chinese: 新喜剧之王) is a 2019 Chinese comedy-drama film directed, written, and produced by Stephen Chow.[3][4] It is a remake of Chow's own 1999 film King of Comedy; this time set in Mainland China with different characters.

The New King of Comedy
Traditional新喜劇之王
Simplified新喜剧之王
MandarinXīn Xǐjù Zhī Wáng
Directed byStephen Chow
Produced byStephen Chow
Written byStephen Chow
StarringE Jingwen
Wang Baoqiang
Zhang Quandan
Jing Ruyang
Zhang Qi
Yuan Xingzhe
Distributed byLian Rui (Shanghai) Film Industry Co., Ltd.
Release date
  • 5 February 2019 (2019-02-05) (China)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryChina
LanguageMandarin
Budget$8 million (50 million RMB)
Box officeWorldwide：US$106.6million
China：US$93.9million[1]
Malaysia：US$4.9million[2]
HK：US$3.8million
Singapore：US$1.6million
Vietnam：US$2.4million

The film tells the story of a young woman who is dreaming and striving to pursue the actors' dream despite being an extra and stand-in. It was released in China on 5 February 2019 during the Lunar New Year 2019.[5] With a budget of $8 million (US) along with few months of filming and post-production, it is believed to be the smallest project of Chow's career as a filmmaker.

Cast
  • E Jingwen as Ru Meng
  • Wang Baoqiang as Ma Ke
  • Zhang Quandan as Charlie
  • Jing Ruyang as Xiao Mi
  • Zhang Qi as Ru Meng's father
  • Yuan Xingzhe as Ru Meng's mother

Production

Stephen Chow began writing the film in 2015.[6] Filming began in October 2018 and lasted only a few weeks.

For the movie, Chow cast people who could relate to the life of a struggling actor. He intentionally sought out Wang to play the male lead role, due to the latter's experience in working as an extra early in his career.[7][8] Actress E Jingwen also worked as an extra prior to The New King of Comedy, similar to the character she played in the film.[9]

Chow recruited the Chinese girl group Jí fēng shào nǚ (Chinese: 疾风少女; lit. 'Storm Girls'), whose members were eliminated in the Chinese version of Produce 101, to sing the film's theme song.[10]

Release

The New King of Comedy was released in China on 5 February 2019.

References
  1. "The New King of Comedy". Maoyan. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  2. "星爷的《新喜剧》海外票房一路飘红，是华语片在东南亚的票房冠军". Malaysia. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  3. Su (15 January 2019). "Cecilia Cheung Will Cameo in Stephen Chow's "The New King of Comedy"". jaynestars. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  4. Addy (2 December 2018). "Stephen Chow to Release "The New King of Comedy" in Time for Hong Kong's LNY Season". jaynestars. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  5. Heidi Hsia (4 December 2018). "Stephen Chow unveils "The New King of Comedy" poster". yahoo.com. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  6. 周星驰《新喜剧之王》正式杀青定档! 主演一看就是王宝强. Sohu (in Chinese). 2018-11-29.
  7. Rui, Zhang (13 January 2019). "Stephen Chow seeks to inspire losers with new film - China.org.cn". www.china.org.cn. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  8. Fan, Xu (18 January 2019). "New Chow film walks the extra mile - Chinadaily.com.cn". www.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  9. Lee, Jan (6 February 2019). "Hong Kong director Stephen Chow picks unknown actress for The New King Of Comedy". The Straits Times. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  10. "Stephen Chow's Chinese New Year movie offers inspiration to those who dare to dream". The Straits Times. 14 January 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
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