Stephen Chow is the director, producer, and writer of CJ7, his fifth feature. Chow is Asias number one comedy star and one of the regions most beloved entertainers.
His previous feature Kung Fu Hustle was the second highest grossing film in Hong Kong history
after Titanic. Chow made his directorial debut with God of Cookery in 1996, followed by King of Comedy in 1999, both of which he also wrote and starred in.
In 2001, Chow directed, wrote, and starred in Shaolin Soccer, the fourth highest
grossing film of all time at the Hong Kong box office which also broke box office records across Asia. Shaolin Soccer went on to win seven major awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Actor, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Sound Design and Best Visual Effects.
Stephen Chow has starred in more than 50 films, but it was the success of 2001s Shaolin Soccer that lifted him to a level of stardom occupied by only a handful of others in the region. Like Kung Fu Hustle, Chow also wrote, directed and starred in Shaolin Soccer. Though a Hong Kong-produced film, Shaolin Soccer broke box office records across Asia, including the non-Chinese speaking countries such as Japan and South Korea.
A native of Hong Kong, Stephen Chow was one of three children in what he describes as a very poor family. He grew up as a Bruce Lee fan and a martial arts fanatic, but he remembers that as a child his own kung fu training had to stop after six weeks when his family could no longer afford lessons. Chow started his entertainment career as the host of a TV childrens show, 430 Space Shuttle. He quickly made a name for himself with his witty style, but it was not until 1989 that he began acting in films.
In 1989, in the movie Final Justice, he played a supporting role, which won him the best supporting actor award at the Taipei Golden Horse Awards and established him in the Hong Kong film world. The key turning point in his career came only a year later, when he had his first starring role in the 1990 Chow Yun-
Fat spoof All for the Winner. In this movie, Chows unique and hilarious onscreen persona playing his first in a series of lovable underdogs made him a overnight sensation in Hong Kong and throughout Asia. Asian film
observers also say that in that film Chow gave birth to the Mo Lei Tau (nonsense) comedy style, now considered a fuly established genre of Hong Kong comedy.
Since All for the Winner, Chow has gradually but firmly established himself as Hong Kongs comedy king. Among his 50 some movies, Justice My Foot won him the best actor award at the 1992 Asian Pacific Film Awards, and A Chinese Odyssey won him the best actor award at the 1996 Hong Kong Critics Society Awards as well as at the Hong Kong Golden Bauhinia Film Awards.
With God of Cookery in 1996, his first directorial effort, which he also wrote and
produced, in addition to starring, Chow entered a new era of his film career, in which his full talents as a filmmaker began to blossom. After the huge success of God of Cookery, he made King of Comedy in 1999, which he also wrote, starred in, and directed. A charming story about a movie extra meeting the star of
his dreams, King of Comedy earned Chow lavish praise from American writer-director-actor Quentin Tarantino, who describes Chow as the best actor in Hong Kong.
In 2001 Chow directed, wrote, produced and starred in Shaolin Soccer, which brought him to yet another peak in his career. A story combining martial arts, Chows lifelong passion, and soccer, one of the most popular sports in the world, Shaolin Soccer quickly became the fourth highest-grossing film of all time in
Hong Kong. Shaolin Soccer won seven major awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Actor, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Sound Design and Best Visual Effects.
Stephen Chows Star Overseas recently produced the feature Jump starring Kitty Zhang, directed by Stephen Fung, part of a new multi-feature collaboration between Star Overseas and Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia, under
which Sony Pictures Releasing International will distribute the features worldwide.
Stephen Chow will next produce the major live-action feature film version of the hugely popular Japanese Manga comic feature Dragonball.
