Chow Sing Chi's 'CJ7' for CNY 2008

2 November 2007 – Superstar comedian Stephen Chow Sing Chi is set to rock the box-office again with another comedy, "CJ7", which is scheduled to open on 7 Feb 2008, the start of the Chinese New Year holidays.

The movie (pictured), produced and directed by Chow, is a sci-fi fantasy comedy about a poor Chinese labourer (played by Chow himself) who learns important lessons of life when his son gets a strange new toy. The film, with a US$20 million budget (RM68 million), will rely heavily on computer-generated images. Others in the cast are Lam Chi Chung, Xu Jiao and Kitty Zhang.

The movie was originally titled 'A Hope' and 'Long River 7' before being replaced by "CJ7" - shortened from its Chinese title Chang Jiang qi hao, a reference to the Shenzhou 7 space mission to be launched next year. The film is distributed by Sony Pictures Classics in North America, while Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia has acquired its world rights outside China. "CJ7", which also was scripted by Chow, was produced through his company, Star Overseas, in association with co-producer, the China Film Group.

Sony has previously handled Chow's "Kung Fu Hustle" and has also signed a multi-picture production deal with Star Overseas last May. "Kung Fu Hustle" launched Chow into global fame, earning him numerous awards including Best Director from the Hong Kong Directors Guild; Best Film at the Golden Bauhinia Film Awards of the Hong Kong Critics Association; Best Film at the Hong Kong Film Awards, and Outstanding Film at the Asian Excellence Awards. The "Kung Fu Hustle" DVD is one of the most successful Asian titles in the western world.