China Kung Fu Hustle returned 5.1× its production cost, earning $102.0M against a $20.0M budget — one of the highest-return China films in our catalog.
Synopsis
功夫
“So many gangsters… so little time.”
It's the 1940s, and the notorious Axe Gang terrorizes Shanghai. Small-time criminals Sing and Bone hope to join, but they only manage to make lots of very dangerous enemies. Fortunately for them, kung fu masters and hidden strength can be found in unlikely places. Now they just have to take on the entire Axe Gang.
The 2003–2005 China Window
34 China films released in this three-year window, ranked here by audience rating. Kung Fu Hustle sits at position #6.
Titles With Overlapping Themes
Films and series that share thematic tags with Kung Fu Hustle. Number on each card indicates how many keywords overlap.
Other Titles From Star Overseas
The 2000s China Landscape
Catalog density by release year in the 2000s. Highlighted year (yellow) is when Kung Fu Hustle premiered. 142 total titles in this decade from China.
Budget & Box Office Efficiency
At a 1h 39m runtime, production spent $202K per minute on screen and earned $1.0M per minute back.
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #204 of 946 China films indexed here (78th percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is +0.7 points above the China average of 6.7/10.
Among China Action productions specifically: #47 of 319 (top 15%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | China |
|---|---|
| All Production Countries | China, Hong Kong, United States of America |
| Original Language | Cantonese |
| Production Companies | Star Overseas, China Film Co-Production Corporation, Huayi Brothers Pictures, Beijing Film Studio, China Film Group Corporation |
| Runtime | 1h 39m |
| Release Date | February 10, 2004 |
| IMDb | tt0373074 |