"Kung Fu Hustle", starring the two biggest kung fu superstars, Jackie Chan and Jet Li, is set to premiere globally on the 18th of this month. However, the film unexpectedly faced a "leak crisis" the evening before last night. Starting from a movie enthusiast website, many domestic video websites subsequently posted links to seven segments of exciting fight scenes from the movie. The video quality was clear, complete with sound effects, spoken in English without subtitles, and it didn't appear to be secretly filmed in a cinema. The Chinese distributor, Huayi Brothers, stated that they have begun investigating the leak incident and preliminarily judged that the materials exposed online did not originate from Huayi.
Judging from the leaked videos, they could be considered as highlights of the entire movie's kung fu scenes. Not only can they satisfy viewers' curiosity, but audiences can also use these clips to speculate about the storyline before watching the movie. Current investigations indicate that the first source of the video was from foreign websites. Huayi has informed the American producers of "Kung Fu Hustle," and both parties are now jointly investigating the matter. Wang Zhonglei, president of Huayi Brothers, expressed that such a large amount of core material being leaked on the internet is unprecedented for the American side as well. The extensive exposure of these videos severely damages the audience's freshness of viewing experience, and the actions of some video websites have caused harm to "Kung Fu Hustle." Huayi will reserve the right to pursue their legal responsibilities.
Yesterday, Huayi sent a statement to the media stating: "The copyright of this video clip belongs to Huayi Brothers Media Corporation, the producer of 'Kung Fu Hustle'. Any use, dissemination, or reprinting of 'Kung Fu Hustle' or its clips without the permission of Huayi Brothers Media Corporation constitutes illegal behavior and infringes upon the copyright of 'Kung Fu Hustle.' In the future, if any website engages in such behavior, Huayi Brothers Media Corporation reserves the right to pursue their legal responsibilities."