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IMDb Movie of the Day
What follows is the strange story of Shaolin Soccer, a CGI/wire-fu sports comedy starring Stephen Chow (who also directed) and Vicki Zhao. A box office phenom in its native Hong Kong, Soccer broke domestic box-office records in 2001, and was subsequently picked up by Miramax for U.S. distribution late that year. After making festival rounds and enjoying release throughout Europe and Asia, a fantastic trailer began to tease U.S. audiences in early 2002; meanwhile, chat rooms and web sites spread the news that the film was going to be trimmed and dubbed in English (and the import DVD was available from any number of overseas retailers). The U.S. premiere date was announced: April 5th, 2002. It was moved to late August, and moved again to the first quarter of 2003. Then April, 2003. Then that August. A wide release was changed to a platform rollout; the dubbed version was scrapped for the original dialogue with subtitles. Finally released in April, 2004 (to 6 theaters, just before Kill Bill: Vol. 2), Soccer managed to make nearly a half million dollars despite never being shown in more than 14 locations, proving that plenty of people had already seen the film on bootleg or import DVD (or downloaded in from the web). And while they're not exactly comparable, it's worth noting that, a year before Soccer hit screens, Bend It Like Beckham made over $32 million over 7 months and was nominated for a Golden Globe. It's a pity, as SS is one of director Chow's best films to date -- a messy triumph where the forces of good do battle against Team Evil; where a shy, acne-ridden girl who makes steamed buns for a living is transformed into a goalie of great power and incredible skill. Now widely available, the U.S. DVD includes both the original Hong Kong cut and the inferior English-dubbed edit for people who want to see Miram-ax in action.
source:
imdb.com/ on march 23, 2005
What follows is the strange story of Shaolin Soccer, a CGI/wire-fu sports comedy starring Stephen Chow (who also directed) and Vicki Zhao. A box office phenom in its native Hong Kong, Soccer broke domestic box-office records in 2001, and was subsequently picked up by Miramax for U.S. distribution late that year. After making festival rounds and enjoying release throughout Europe and Asia, a fantastic trailer began to tease U.S. audiences in early 2002; meanwhile, chat rooms and web sites spread the news that the film was going to be trimmed and dubbed in English (and the import DVD was available from any number of overseas retailers). The U.S. premiere date was announced: April 5th, 2002. It was moved to late August, and moved again to the first quarter of 2003. Then April, 2003. Then that August. A wide release was changed to a platform rollout; the dubbed version was scrapped for the original dialogue with subtitles. Finally released in April, 2004 (to 6 theaters, just before Kill Bill: Vol. 2), Soccer managed to make nearly a half million dollars despite never being shown in more than 14 locations, proving that plenty of people had already seen the film on bootleg or import DVD (or downloaded in from the web). And while they're not exactly comparable, it's worth noting that, a year before Soccer hit screens, Bend It Like Beckham made over $32 million over 7 months and was nominated for a Golden Globe. It's a pity, as SS is one of director Chow's best films to date -- a messy triumph where the forces of good do battle against Team Evil; where a shy, acne-ridden girl who makes steamed buns for a living is transformed into a goalie of great power and incredible skill. Now widely available, the U.S. DVD includes both the original Hong Kong cut and the inferior English-dubbed edit for people who want to see Miram-ax in action.
source:
imdb.com/ on march 23, 2005
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