Stephen Chow has been absent from the "Spring Festival file" for 5 years, and it is difficult to describe what has happened over the years

Recently, Stephen Chow announced on his social media that he had reached an exclusive cooperation with a video platform for exclusive high-quality micro-short dramas, and would jointly develop and operate the "9527 Theater".

The first boutique micro-short drama is called "Golden Pig and Jade Leaf", produced by Yi Xiaoxing, the heroine is Chen Yanxi, and the first season is expected to be released in May this year.

After this news was released, it immediately sparked heated discussions among netizens. You must know that the last Stephen Chow movie "The New King of Comedy" was already a work 5 years ago, and everyone's most anticipated "Mermaid 2" has not been followed so far.

Looking at this year's Spring Festival, the four movies "Hot and Hot", "Flying Life 2", "Article 20" and "Mr. Red Carpet" are all expected by netizens. But Stephen Chow's "Mermaid 2" was absent again, which was also very disappointing.

Looking back on the past, Stephen Chow is a "nail household" in the Spring Festival stalls, since Xinghui Company has fully shifted its operation direction to the mainland, "Yangtze River No. 7" in 2008, "Journey to the West" in 2013, "Mermaid" in 2016, and "Journey to the West" in 2017 have all made a lot of money during the Spring Festival.

However, in 2019, "The King of New Comedy", which was "urgently launched", only achieved a box office result of 627 million, which put Xinghui's finances in trouble. Stephen Chow has "no news" in the next three years, there is no news of any new film preparation or filming at all, he himself only occasionally shows his face on social media, and the whole network is speculating about his next move.

1. What is the reason for the difficult birth of "Mermaid 2"?

In the 2016 Spring Festival, "Mermaid" achieved a box office of 3.391 billion yuan, which is very exaggerated even now. Therefore, as early as October 2017, the preparation for the filming of "Mermaid 2" has been launched, and a comedy variety show called "Star Mermaid" has been launched, aiming to recruit actresses from "Mermaid 2".

In March 2018, Stephen Chow appeared in Shenzhen in a low-key manner and filmed "Mermaid 2" in the amusement park. The heroine Lin Yun also posted an article exposing the news of her joining the group, and was forwarded by Stephen Chow's assistant, confirming that she will continue to play the mermaid Shanshan in "Mermaid 2", and some netizens also saw Lin Yun on the street in Shenzhen, once again confirming that she was filming "Mermaid 2" in Shenzhen.

At that time, some enthusiastic fans rushed to the amusement park where the filming was filmed to find out, but found that a cordon had already been set up at the scene, and there were security guards on duty, which shows that the crew kept the filming content very secret.

But when Stephen Chow himself and some of the main actors of the movie entered the amusement park, they were still captured by the camera, including Allen of "Happy Twist", who will replace Deng Chao as the actor Liu Xuan.

Looking back at that time, Allen had already shown his strength with the role of Addison in "Iron Fist of Shame", and it was not surprising that he was able to win this role.

Zhang Mei'e, who participated in "Journey to the West", also joined this movie, and according to the exposure of Stephen Chow's assistant Chen Zhenyu, "Mermaid 2" used a large number of group actors with no previous acting experience to participate in the filming as always.

Netizens may be curious about what kind of story this sequel is going to tell, according to the synopsis: Long Tianna and Long Jianfei appeared with the "wormhole project" that can travel through space at will, Liu Xuan returned to the mall, and the mermaid Shanshan became an astronaut by mistake, and behind an entangled four-corner relationship, there is still a shocking conspiracy.

Although it was only a few words, four names appeared: Long Tianna, Long Jianfei, Liu Xuan and mermaid Shanshan.

It is not difficult to guess that the mermaid Shanshan is still played by Lin Yun, Liu Xuan is played by Allen, and the name "Long Jianfei" is the male protagonist of the classic martial arts film "Rulai Shenzhang" in the 60s, and the "Huoyun Evil God" Gu Han Soul is his stepfather, which shows that Stephen Chow has a soft spot for this old movie.

Originally, fans expected that this sequel would detonate the Spring Festival file again in 2019, but due to the huge post-production project, it could not be completed before the Spring Festival. Stephen Chow then urgently launched the "Plan D", summoned Wang Baoqiang, E Jingwen, Zhang Quandan and other stars, and filmed "The King of New Comedy" in only a few months.

Perhaps due to the rush to work, "The New King of Comedy" encountered unprecedented huge criticism, with a Douban score of only 5.7 and a box office of only 627 million yuan, which put Xinghui Company under financial pressure. Among them, casting has become the most questionable point, and Wang Baoqiang, who plays an outdated star, is considered not suitable for Stephen Chow's style.

And the heroine E Jingwen did not usher in the peak of her acting career with movies like in the movie, but since then she can only play a supporting role with few roles in some film and television works. In the recently released comedy "The Annual Meeting Can't Stop!", she played Cao Huiyan, the wife of fitter Hu Jianlin, and appeared at the beginning of the movie, showing her face for less than 10 seconds and only 1 line.

And "Mermaid 2", at that time, even the media unanimously speculated that it would be released in the summer of 2019, but its post-production was delayed again and again, and there has been no news since then. Under the strict confidentiality attitude of Xinghui Company, it is difficult for the media to obtain a single reliable information, and the outside world has speculated whether this comedy blockbuster will suffer a difficult birth.

One of the more accepted statements is that the post-production of special effects in the film is difficult and takes a lot of time, and the second is that some artists can no longer use the shots in the film, which requires a change of role and reshooting, and the project is huge and cannot be completed overnight.

Until 2023, Huayi Brothers released the news on the interactive platform, saying that "Mermaid 2" has now entered the post-production stage, and I thought we were expected to see it this year, but so far even the trailer has not been released.

Second, the old people of the "Zhou family class" have left one after another, why did Wu Mengda fail to cooperate with Stephen Chow until his death?

Wu Mengda is the "golden supporting role" of Stephen Chow's movies, and the two have been the best partners since the TVB period, and have worked together more than 30 times.

Stephen Chow was a little introverted when he was young, and Wu Mengda was the person who understood him the most in Taiwan, and the age difference between the two was 10 years, but they became year-old friends who talked about everything.

This intimate relationship has continued to the movies, such as "The Saint of Gambling", "The King of Destruction", "Journey to the West", "Truant Weilong", "Wu Zhuangyuan Su Qier", etc., those classic movies that we are familiar with are also the crystallization of the cooperation between the two.

The relationship between Stephen Chow and Wu Mengda is a bit similar to "teasing" and "complimenting" in lip-syncing.

Stephen Chow is the best "comedian" in Hong Kong, he is good at discovering jokes in daily life, using them in movies, and distilling the nonsensical jokes that can most amuse the audience.

And Wu Mengda is the best "praise", even if he leaves Stephen Chow, cooperating with the Four Heavenly Kings can still improve the quality of the movie, but only when cooperating with Stephen Chow, can the best chemistry be produced.

The relationship between Wu Mengda and Stephen Chow is not only compatible, but he is also the person who treats Stephen Chow the most dedicated.

When Stephen Chow was filming "The King of Comedy", because Wan Ziliang was forced to change roles due to his withdrawal due to family matters, in order to be released in the Spring Festival in 1999, Stephen Chow called Wu Mengda to save the scene.

At that time, Wu Mengda had just finished filming and was suffering from a cold due to work fatigue, but after receiving the call, he flew back to Hong Kong without saying a word, and after getting off the plane, he rushed to the set non-stop to play the role. Because Wu Mengda was not familiar with the script at that time, and because he was having a high fever and couldn't remember his lines, a scene was NG dozens of times and filmed for three or four hours in a row.

In the end, Wu Mengda was obviously physically exhausted, and director Li Lizhi couldn't stand it anymore, but Stephen Chow didn't shout to stop, Wu Mengda gritted his teeth and persevered until the filming was completed.

It can also be seen from this incident that Stephen Chow is extremely strict with the camera, every line and expression is not in place, and it needs to be reshot, whether you are a popular star or a trick, you are treated equally.

It has always been rumored on the Internet that Stephen Chow is a "tyrant on the set", and the movie stars who have worked with him have all learned his "unsympathetic". He will play every scene by himself, and then let you act according to his appearance, if NG is too many times, it is inevitable to "jump like thunder" on the set, which makes some actors endanger themselves. Sammo Hung unceremoniously called him a "madman", and some of them even declared that they no longer wanted to work with him.

Ironically, those classics that make us relax and full of happy memories are the experiences that many actors are worried about.

By the 2000s, it was already spectacular for Hong Kong artists to go north, and the mainland work was not only well-paid, but there was no strict boss like Stephen Chow, which made the "Zhou family class" scattered for a while.

But those who say that Stephen Chow is strict, have you ever thought that in fact, Stephen Chow is the simplest person, he just wants to shoot good works that can stand the test of time. In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary not only to squeeze yourself, but also to sacrifice others, but the process is not smooth, and many good friends will become strangers later.

One will succeed and ten thousand bones will wither, and most things in the world are like this.

Going deeper, this can explain why "Mermaid 2" has not been released for a long time. It is precisely because of the poor audience evaluation of "The New King of Comedy" that Stephen Chow himself must have been touched and will invest more time in the post-production of "Mermaid 2", hoping to present the best results in front of the audience.

From Chen Baixiang , Huang Yishan to Lin Zicong , Chen Guokun, the actors who have worked with Stephen Chow have changed batch after batch, but only Wu Mengda really understands him and can adapt to his high requirements, from this point of view, Wu Mengda is undoubtedly Stephen Chow's best screen partner.

But since "Shaolin Football", in the past 20 years, although the two have made many good movies, they have not cooperated. Until Wu Mengda's death in 2021, we didn't have the opportunity to see them reunite on the screen, which became a regret in the hearts of countless fans.

The role of the bone boy played by Lin Zicong in "Kung Fu" was originally played by Wu Mengda, and Wu Mengda also set aside a gap from May to July for the movie, but due to the filming of the movie, it was postponed and did not start until July.

When the filming of "Kung Fu" started, it happened to bump into a TV series starring Wu Mengda, and Wu Mengda couldn't pull away, so he had to quit and Lin Zicong took over the role.

When asked if he would cooperate with Stephen Chow again in the future, Wu Mengda also said: "As long as I don't die and he hasn't retired, we will still cooperate." ”

However, in the subsequent "Yangtze River No. 7", Stephen Chow has actually withdrawn from "starring" and only served as a supporting actor. In the later movies such as "Journey to the West", "Mermaid", "Journey to the West", and "Journey to the West", Stephen Chow retreated behind the scenes, concentrating on being a director and producer, and no longer played the starring role.

Without "teasing" Stephen Chow, there would be no need for "teasing" Wu Mengda, so none of these movies invited Wu Mengda to join. Stephen Chow's film production cycle is very long, from 2001 to the present, in 23 years, only 6 films have been released, and Wu Mengda has participated in as many as 56 movies and TV series during this time, and his work is very busy.

According to Wu Mengda, they get together less and leave more, and their circle of friends has gradually become different, and they have gradually become alienated from each other. Until Wu Mengda's death, Stephen Chow didn't even make it to the hospital to see him for the last time.

At Wu Mengda's funeral ceremony, Stephen Chow wore a black jacket, a blue hat and a white mask on his head, and appeared in a low-key manner, his face was very pale, and his expression was sad, which could see his sadness and grief for Wu Mengda's sudden death.

The reason why we, the fans of old Hong Kong films, are looking forward to the cooperation between Stephen Chow and Wu Mengda again is because we still retain the feelings for Hong Kong movies in our hearts. It's just that we all have to face the decline of Hong Kong films, and those long-lost glories are irretrievable.

3. Acting has become a swan song? Stephen Chow may be more suitable as a director and investor

In 2018, Wang Baoqiang, who participated in "The King of New Comedy", once asked Stephen Chow on a talk show: "When will you (comeback) act again?"

Stephen Chow responded: "Hey, forget it! In fact, my biggest dream is to be able to get more people involved in the film industry, and more and better talents will appear in the future." ”

When Wang Jing talked about why Stephen Chow stopped acting in the talk show "Round Table Pie", he also said: "When a person reaches a certain age, he can't face himself...... (grimacing), that's all. In other words, at his age, it is difficult to put down his body and act in comedy movies.

Why has Stephen Chow stopped acting for so many years? Brother Eggplant believes that there should be the following four reasons:

1. As Wang Jing said, it is a conclusion drawn in combination with Stephen Chow's response.

At his age, with his current value, it is difficult to convince himself to put down his body and play the gag roles of the past, but it is better to focus on discovering and nurturing talent, hoping to find a new comedian to replace him.

2, is now Stephen Chow is full of silver hair, and his spirit is not as good as before, and he is no longer the "star boy" who was active on the screen before. Stars like Tony Leung, Andy Lau, and Leung Jiahui, although they are still the top in the film industry, their faces are full of wind and frost, and they are no longer in the best state. Instead of continuing to play roles, Stephen Chow should retreat behind the scenes and leave the opportunity to young people.

3. Stephen Chow, as the boss of Xinghui Company, the director of Caiying Company and Bigao Group, is also a producer, screenwriter and director, and the behind-the-scenes work itself is very busy. A person's energy is limited, and if he has to work hard to take care of the company every day, he naturally has no time and energy to act in movies again.

4, Stephen Chow has not yet been able to meet a script worthy of his comeback. Stephen Chow's understanding and requirements for movies have always been harsh, and if he wants to make a comeback, he must need a good script that he can take seriously. But with the current level and ability of screenwriters in our mainland, such good scripts are really rare, and they are hard to come by.

On New Year's Day this year, Stephen Chow posted on his Facebook account: "In the new year, if you have any wishes, tell them all!" There is also a still of "God of Food" below, which attracted the attention of netizens. Some actor Chen Handian left a message below: "I want to see Xing Ye act again."

And Stephen Chow rarely replied: "Since you are on the stage, I can only think about it!" Because of such a simple sentence, netizens were also very excited. It can be seen that Stephen Chow is not absolutely not coming back, but is waiting for an opportunity, or a good movie that can make his heart move.

Since Li Lizhi left, Stephen Chow's movies such as "Kung Fu", "Yangtze River No. 7", "Journey to the West", and "Mermaid" have proved that he can become an excellent director even if he is no longer acting.

In addition, in recent years, Xinghui Company has launched the "Yangtze River No. 7" derivative animation "Yangtze River No. 7: Super Cute Special Attack Team", entered the metaverse, cooperated with Netflix to launch "The Monkey King" last year, and now cooperates with the video platform to operate the "9527 Theater", which can also be seen that Stephen Chow is also very good as an investor in addition to being a director.

Fourth, does the word "Stephen Chow" still have appeal?

Although movies like "Journey to the West" and "The King of New Comedy" have low online ratings, and netizens are also mixed, and after "The King of New Comedy", Xinghui Company has not launched any blockbuster cinema movies, but every time Stephen Chow posts news on the Internet, it can cause netizens to watch and forward, which shows that the word "Stephen Chow" still has full appeal.

From "Truant Weilong", "Wu Zhuangyuan Su Qi'er", "The Legend of Deer and Ding", "Journey to the West", "Domestic Lingling Paint", "Tang Bohu Dots Autumn Fragrance", "God of Food", "Ouchi Secret Agent Zero Hair", "Shaolin Football", "Yangtze River No. 7", "Kung Fu", in the 20 years of the 90s and 2000s, Stephen Chow has always been a guarantee at the box office, because his works have deeply captured the hearts of the audience.

We are proud of Stephen Chow, as pure as ourselves, without impurities.

Stephen Chow's movies are rooted in the grassroots class, from the takeaway boy He Jinyin to King Kong Leg Ah Xing, and then to Sister Rumeng, all of which tell the story of the little people at the bottom who fight against fate in order to realize their dreams. Everyone is able to see their real-life self from Stephen Chow's films, resonate with their hearts, and be inspired by that spiritual power.

This is also the reason why even if he has been silent for such a long time, fans still have ardent hopes for him, and he is obsessed with it.

The three words "Stephen Chow" represent an era and a culture, and may never become obsolete.

Maybe within this year, we will be able to see the release of "Mermaid 2", and Stephen Chow announced his comeback. In any case, there is always hope, what if it comes true?

(Movie Rotten Tomatoes Editorial Department: Bloody Danxin)