Stephen Chow Sing-chi plans to turn his sci-fi film CJ7, which he co-wrote, co-produced, directed, and acted in, into an animated feature.
CJ7 centres on a father (Chow) and son (child actress Xu Jiao) living in a slum, who find a toy ball that turns out to be an alien dog. The film was a hit upon its release, with mainland box-office earnings of 200 million yuan (HK$227 million) and HK$50 million in Hong Kong.
Chow (right) this week announced plans to make the animated film and said the film's stars, including himself, Xu, and Kitty Zhang Yuqi, would voice the characters they played in the original. But Chow would produce and not direct this time, passing directorial duties to McDull films' animation director Toe Yuen Kin-to.
'I had wanted to make this animated film for the past three years. Now that I have found the right director, I feel this is the right time to do it,' Chow said. He added that the new film would include elements such as environmental issues and UFOs and promised it would be crazier and more fun than the original.
'Animation allows filmmakers to be more creative. Things that weren't possible before are now, but the downside of animated films is they take much more production time than live-action films,' he said.
Chow said he was a fan of Japanese animation, especially Doraemon, Dragon Ball and Keroro Gunso. 'I do see a lot potential for animation to develop in China,' he said.