Kung Fu Hustle set to be HK's highest grossing film of 2004

Comedy king Stephen Chow Sing-chi's festive blockbuster Kung Fu Hustle looks like topping the end-of-year league table of local box-office movie hits.

The fast-paced movie grossed $37.7 million at the box office in its first week of release and is still showing in cinemas.

In top spot of the more than 200 films released last year was the Hollywood tidal wave disaster film The Day After Tomorrow, which with its non-stop action and spectacular special effects, grossed $41.6 million in Hong Kong. Kung Fu Hustle - which Chow wrote, directed and starred in - ranked highest among all Hong Kong-made films last year, according to the latest survey by the Hong Kong Kowloon and New Territories Motion Picture Industry Association.

It grossed more than $4 million on its opening day on December 23, beating the $3.8 million grossed by the award-winning Infernal Affairs in 2002.

In the next few weeks, the movie will enter the festival film market, which should add considerably to its box-office appeal.

The other two films with box-office revenue surpassing $30 million were Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, with $33.92 million, and Spider-Man 2 with $31.91 million.

In addition, three domestic films - the all-star comedy Fantasia, Jackie Chan's New Police Story and Magic Kitchen - also performed well, returning between $20 million and $30 million.

It is estimated that the box office in Hong Kong in 2004 grossed $916 million in total, including $421 million from 64 Hong Kong films and $495 million from 180 overseas films.