Stephen Chow’s Kung Fu Soccer scored a massive debut in mainland China, raking in $73.8m (RMB500.3m) from its two-day opening weekend, despite having almost zero marketing due to the last-minute drop of its release date.
The sports comedy, which blends football with martial arts in the spirit of Chow’s 2001 breakout hit Shaolin Soccer, opened with $38.2m (RMB260m) on Saturday (July 11) – the highest single-day gross since Chinese New Year in February. It commanded 48% of screenings nationwide and contributed more than 80% of the daily box office.
Shenzhen Film Studio and Chow’s Star Overseas are among the key backers. Maoyan Entertainment is the distributor in mainland China.
Its release date was only officially announced on July 6, just five days before its opening. A 21-second teaser trailer dropped on the same day as ticket sales started. The only prior indication of a July release came from a short video released on June 22 – Chow’s birthday – in which the writer-director-producer with his signature mou lei tau (make-no-sense) humour teased that it could open on July 10 or 17.
Despite the extremely short notice, audiences turned out in droves to catch the film, which marks Chow’s first since 2019’s The New King Of Comedy. Cinema admissions reached 14.65 million from its two-day opening weekend and drew a massive $73.8m (RMB500.3m) at the box office.
Initial reviews were mixed as some lamented that Chow was rehashing his old ideas without injecting new creative ones whereas die-hard fans continued to show their unwavering support.
The opening propelled the weekly box office (July 6-12) to $128.5m (RMB874m) – also the highest since Chinese New Year – representing a 75% increase week-on-week and lifting summer ticket sales overall.
After China’s box office plunged by 40.6% in the first six months of 2026, the summer season made a lacklustre start on June 1.
Family drama Dear You, which opened on April 30, has proved a sleeper hit with box office approaching $294.1m (RMB2bn). However, no summer releases to date – from US animations Toy Story 5 and Minions & Monsters to Chinese historical war film Crossing and Kenji Tanigaki’s action feature The Furious – have emerged as genuine successes until the arrive of Kung Fu Soccer.
Due to the strong opening of Kung Fu Soccer, summer ticket sales reached $431.6m (RMB2.93bn) as of Sunday (July 12), 42 days into the summer season, almost on par with the $448.4m (RMB3.05bn) recorded in the same period last year.
Box office sources: Artisan Gateway and ticketing platform Maoyan
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