Filmmaker Stephen Chow’s latest comedy has become China’s biggest box office hit so far this summer, helping revive a sluggish theatrical market even as critics and moviegoers remain sharply divided over whether the Hong Kong actor and director has recaptured the magic of his earlier classics like Shaolin Soccer.
Kung Fu Soccer opened on July 11 in China and topped the mainland box office for two weeks, accounting for about 41% of the more than RMB 5 billion (USD 739.8 million) in ticket sales in July, according to data from China’s Maoyan Entertainment.
Released during the 2026 FIFA World Cup that ran from June 11 to July 19, the sports comedy has earned more than RMB 2 billion (USD 295.9 million), surpassing the Chinese film Dear You, a nostalgic family drama exploring the history of the Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia that was released earlier this year.
Chow’s film follows an underdog women’s soccer team that uses martial arts to compete in a championship. It reimagines Chow’s 2001 film Shaolin Soccer by flipping the gender of the protagonists while retaining a similar storyline.
Starring Chinese actress and comedian Zhang Xiaofei, South Korean-Chinese boy band Exo member Lay Zhang, ethnic Uyghur actress Dilraba Dilmurat and Thai actress Chanya McClory, the film also includes special appearances by Hong Kong American comedian Jimmy O Yang, Japanese actor Takeru Satoh, and Japanese dance troupe Avantgardey.
This is “a clear attempt to widen the film’s pan-Asian and international appeal,” said Kenny Ng, a film professor at Hong Kong Baptist University.
The box office success comes at a difficult time for China’s film industry, which has struggled with weak consumer spending and the growing popularity of online microdramas.
The mainland’s box office plunged 40% in the first half of this year compared with the same period last year. After soaring in 2023 to RMB 20.6 billion (USD 3 billion) in summer ticket sales, typically measured from June 1 through August 31, the 2025 figure was just RMB 12 billion (USD 1.8 billion).
For many moviegoers, Chow remains one of the most influential figures in Chinese-language cinema.
He became a household name in China through starring in absurdist Hong Kong comedies in the 1990s, when pirated copies circulated widely on the mainland. Later, as a director, he delivered a string of box office successes, including Kung Fu Hustle and The Mermaid.
“Mainland audiences often interpret his films as celebrating ordinary people while sticking a finger at authority and convention, which explains his unusually strong appeal,” Ying Zhu, an author of the book “Hollywood in China,” told Nikkei Asia.
“Nostalgia also plays a role,” Zhu added, noting that many Chinese moviegoers who grew up watching Chow’s films in the 1990s and 2000s remain loyal fans.
That nostalgia appears to have helped fuel the strong opening for Kung Fu Soccer, even as audiences remain divided over whether the veteran filmmaker has successfully reinvented one of his best-known works.
Yet strong ticket sales have not translated into universal praise.
On Douban, one of China’s most popular film review platforms, Kung Fu Soccer has a rating of 6.4 out of 10, well below the 8.2 earned by Shaolin Soccer.
Some viewers have also criticized the film’s computer-generated imagery as being of low quality and the plot of lacking creativity.
“Not only is the acting cringe, but the dialogue is cringe, the special effects are cringe, and the plot is cringe,” a user wrote on Douban. “To be honest, Stephen Chow is definitely someone worthy of admiration, but it’s also a fact that his standards have declined.”
Others, however, embraced the film’s nostalgic brand of absurd humor.
“I think Kung Fu Soccer is really good because you can never imagine Stephen Chow’s next movie,” one Weibo user wrote. “It gets your blood pumping with its nonsensical humor and unique style.”
The split reaction reflects the challenges Chow faced for revisiting one of his most beloved works.
“Critics found the film derivative of his old stuff and uneven,” Hong Kong Baptist University’s Ng said. “At the same time, it opened strongly at the mainland box office, showing a divergence between critical reception and popular commercial performance.”
The film has also stirred controversy outside China.
In South Korea, where the film has not been released, some people have objected to its portrayal of the country’s national women’s soccer team, known as Taegeuk Ladies, as the movie’s villains.
Days after the movie’s release in China, Seo Kyoung-duk, a professor at Sungshin Women’s University, criticized the portrayal in a Facebook post, saying the South Korean team was shown “engaging in foul play through all kinds of cowardly tactics.”
“No matter how fictional a movie may be, it is wrong to repeatedly insult Korean sports,” Seo added.
Along with the backlash, Kung Fu Soccer faces an even greater test at the mainland box office as competition intensifies. Hollywood blockbuster Spider-Man: Brand New Day topped the box office the weekend before last, while China’s animated comedy All Wishes Come True! had dethroned Kung Fu Soccer the weekend before that.
Kung Fu Soccer began its international rollout on August 6 with Singapore and Cambodia, and opens in Indonesia on August 12, Hong Kong, Macao, Malaysia, and Brunei on August 13, and Thailand on August 20, offering Chow another chance to test whether the nostalgia that has sustained his popularity in China can resonate with audiences across Asia.
This article first appeared on Nikkei Asia. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with Nikkei.
Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.76 = USD 1 based on estimates as of August 12, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.