[2026.08.14] STEPHEN CHOW'S KUNG FU SOCCER OPENS IN HONG KONG WITHOUT SELLING OUT

Stephen Chow leads Carina Lau, Dilraba, Sisley Choi, Louis Cheung and others to cinemas to thank the audience

Online ticket sales show SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY has more shows than KUNG FU SOCCER, the red indicates sold out

KUNG FU SOCCER's 5:30 PM show at 3 PM still hasn't sold out, the 10:05 PM show also has a lot of tickets

Gen Z Ms. Lo brings her soccer loving little brother to watch KUNG FU SOCCER

SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY exceeds HK$ 75 million at the Hong Kong box office
courtesy of mingpao.com

Stephen Chow Sing Chi after many years wrote and directed KUNG FU SOCCER (GONG FU NUI JOOK), which collected 2.2 billion RMB (around HK$ 2.5 billion) and reached the top of the mainland 2026 summer box office. However the audience reviews have been polarized. KUNG FU SOCCER yesterday opened in Hong Kong, with over 270 shows all day. Reporters visited cinemas to observe admission and the response was not too enthusiastic, as no show was sold out. Marvel's superhero film SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY exceeded HK$ 75 million at the Hong Kong box office, with almost twice as many shows as KUNG FU SOCCER. With strong competition, KUNG FU SOCCER's box office might very likely be impacted. Hong Kong audience's review for KUNG FU SOCCER has been mixed. Chow Sing Chi's die hard fans admitted that they were not too pleased, with few punchlines and the Putonghua dialogue gave them difficulties in getting invested; Gen Z viewers felt that for a comedy it was still funny, the matches were exciting.

Chow Sing Chi recently has been actively promoting KUNG FU SOCCER. After completing the mainland tour, earlier he led Carina Lau Ka Ling, Dilraba, Sisley Choi Si Bui, Louis Cheung Kai Chung, the new generation "Sing Girl" Xue Yue, Angel Woo and Lam Tsz Chung to attend the KUNG FU SOCCER Hong Kong audience appreciation screenings and premiere to promote.

KUNG FU SOCCER opened in Hong Kong yesterday. The audience seemed less passionate than with previous Chow Sing Chi films. With over 270 shows, none were sold out. In contrast after two weeks in release SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY had over 480 shows, as of 7PM last night it has collected HK$ 75 million. Its momentum continued to be strong and many shows were almost sold out.

With less shows than SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY, KUNG FU SOCCER sold half the tickets at most of its show. Reporters visited cinemas yesterday afternoon for observation, KUNG FU SOCCER's momentum obviously paled in comparison to its mainland opening. Aside from not selling out every show, most of the audience were middle aged and older. By the afternoon evening shows only sold a fraction of its tickets. At night the situation improved, with many sold half its tickets or more.

Ms. Lo yesterday afternoon brought her 9 year old little brother to the show, saying the reason was only the subject was soccer and not supporting Chow Sing Chi. "Because we are free, Little Brother likes to play soccer so I take him to watch it. I was born in 2006, so I haven't really seen Chow Sing Chi's movies and I am not a Chow Sing Chi fan. In the film I only recognize lead actresses Zhang Xiaofei and Dilraba because I have seen their work. I see many older people come to watch the movie, they probably are Chow Sing Chi fans." She felt that for a comedy, it was still funny. The most impressive was the final match. "Very exciting, and Takeru Satoh is really very handsome."

Unwilling to appear on camera, Mr. Chan admitted that he bought tickets because of Chow Sing Chi. He has been a Chow Sing Chi fan for years and admitted that he was not too pleased with this work of his idol. Few spots made him laugh in the film, and Putonghua made the movie difficult for him to get invested in.

Aside from the mainland and Macau, KUNG FU SOCCER is opening around the world in almost 30 countries and regions. They included Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, the U.S., England and Canada. On the 6th it opened in Singapore to over HK$ 11 million, many shows were sold out and the performance was decent.