BEIJING, Aug. 18 -- THE filming of the sequel to the martial arts blockbuster ¡°Kung Fu Hustle,¡± directed by Hong Kong's ¡°King of Comedy¡± Stephen Chow, will begin in Shanghai this September or October and will be completed by the year end.

    The sequel reportedly recruits almost all the faces appearing in ¡°Kung Fu Hustle,¡± including Chow, Lam Tse-chung (Chow's sidekick), Yuen Qiu (the landlady) and Yuen Wah (the landlord).

    Even Chan Kwok-kwan, whose character died in the first film, will return with a new character in the sequel.

    The only one missing is the female lead Huang Shengyi, who is currently having a contract dispute with Chow's agency company. Chow is now looking for a new face to take the place of Huang.

    The sequel will inherit the hilarious elements of its predecessor but feature more action sequences that will still be handled by Yuen Wo-ping.

    The budget is about US$15 million and part of it comes from Sony Pictures.

    (Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)