Hong Kong’s Stephen Chow helps to bring The Monkey King to a global audience
LOS ANGELES – Hong Kong film-maker and action-comedy star Stephen Chow has taken on his first Hollywood project.
The King Of Comedy (1999) actor is an executive producer on The Monkey King, a new computer-animated tale inspired by the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey To The West.
Debuting on Netflix on Friday, the fantasy action comedy features an all-star Asian-American voice cast that includes comedians Jimmy O. Yang and Jo Koy, as well as actors Stephanie Hsu and B.D. Wong.
Chow, 61, is best known for writing, directing and starring in the hit action comedies Shaolin Soccer (2001) and Kung Fu Hustle (2004).
He also played The Monkey King in the two-part fantasy comedy A Chinese Odyssey (1995), and directed and co-wrote another hit comedy, Journey To The West: Conquering The Demons (2013), featuring the character.
Asked if he feels protective of the character and a sense of responsibility for how it is portrayed, Chow says in an e-mail interview with The Straits Times: “Journey To The West is one of my favourite stories from Chinese folklore, so I am very happy to bring this story to audiences worldwide.”
When Netflix invited him to work on an English-language animated version, he was glad to be on board “as it would allow the world to understand more about China”.
Chow believes telling this story with animation, and putting it in the hands of a non-Chinese director, will make all the difference.
“The key lies in the director. I believe in director Anthony Stacchi and (Asian-American) producer Peilin Chou. They are capable of creating an outstanding Monkey King.
“Enjoying this Chinese story from the viewpoint of Anthony, who is a foreigner, is the most significant thing about this project,” he says of Stacchi, who directed the stop-motion animated feature The Boxtrolls (2014).
“There’s also less restriction in animation, therefore, there should be more things to play around with.”
In this telling, the charismatic Monkey King (Yang) and his magical fighting stick go on a quest to defeat various enemies, including his own ego.
“This is a new version that combines the creativity of Anthony and Peilin, so I trust it would fit global tastes better,” says Chow.
And it will be a more concise version of the elaborately detailed Journey To The West, so the story can be more accessible to Western audiences.
Chow describes his creative input on the film as him “providing my thoughts to the director – as a reference for the gongfu action side, in particular – and looking for individuals to assist them”.
Asked what it was like working with American film-makers and production companies, the star says there were differing opinions along the way.
But despite that, he adds: “I am grateful to Netflix and Anthony for the opportunity to learn.
“Production took over two years. I joined the project with an attitude to learn, and gaining experience from Anthony and Peilin was the most memorable part.”
Chow surprised fans a few months ago when he said he was finally ready to make a sequel to the beloved Shaolin Soccer – a female spin-off titled Shaolin Women’s Soccer.
In an Instagram post, he announced there would be a global talent search for “beautiful, smart, curvy and athletic” women from all countries to star in the movie, which he has finished writing and plans to direct.
Asked why he had decided to do the spin-off now, after more than two decades, Chow says: “Since Shaolin Soccer, for the past 20 years, I have always been thinking about Shaolin Women’s Soccer.”
But for now, he is focused on the fortunes of The Monkey King.
“I hope that in the future, more and more Chinese stories will be shown to a worldwide audience,” he says.
- The Monkey King premieres on Netflix on Friday.
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