The New King of Comedy (Chinese: 新喜剧之王) is a 2019 Chinese comedy-drama film directed, written, and produced by Stephen Chow.[1][2] It is a remake of Chow's own 1999 film King of Comedy, this time set in Mainland China with different characters.
The film tells the story of a young woman who is dreaming and striving to pursue the actors' dream despite being an extra and stand-in. It was released in China on 5 February 2019 during the Lunar New Year 2019.[3] With a budget of $8 million (US) along with few months of filming and post-production, it is believed to be the smallest project of Chow's career as a filmmaker.
Stephen Chow began writing the film in 2015.[4] Filming began in October 2018 and lasted only a few weeks.
For the movie, Chow cast people who could relate to the life of a struggling actor. He intentionally sought out Wang to play the male lead role, due to the latter's experience in working as an extra early in his career.[5][6] Actress E Jingwen also worked as an extra prior to The New King of Comedy, similar to the character she played in the film.[7]
Chow recruited the Chinese girl group Ji Feng Shao Nu (Chinese: 疾风少女; lit. 'Storm Girls'), whose members were eliminated in the Chinese version of Produce 101, to sing the film's theme song.[8]
