I Don’t Understand a Word in This Stephen Chow Trailer, But It Still Makes Me Smile

Here in the States, Stephen Chow may not be as well-known as Jackie Chan or Jet Li, but overseas, the man’s movies are huge successes, financially and critically. 2001’s Shaolin Soccer (aka, the greatest kung fu sports movie of all time) won “Best Director” and “Best Actor” at the 2002 Hong Kong awards; 2007’s CJ7 became Malaysia’s highest grossing film of all time; several of his films are on the list of all-time highest grossing films in China; and 2016’s The Mermaid broke numerous Asian box office records.

Suffice to say, there’s a pretty good chance that his next film, The New King of Comedy, will be a huge success, as well.

A teaser trailer appeared this week, and despite lacking subtitles, several things are obvious from it. First, Chow’s brand of nonsensical mo lei tau comedy transcends language; I chuckled at several points, even while not understanding a single word. Second, the cast appears to include some Chow regulars, like Kai Man Tin. And third, the movie’s plot seems to involve the behind-the-scenes shenanigans of a film cast and crew who, among other things, may be making a Snow White-type movie. (But with Stephen Chow writing and directing the film, all bets are off.)

According to Birth. Movies. Death., The New King of Comedy will be released for the Chinese New Year, which begins on February 5. Given the massive global success of Chow’s films and Hollywood’s growing recognition of Asian audiences (due in part to the recent success of Crazy Rich Asians), then hopefully an American release isn’t out of the question.