Stephen Chow Developing "The Monkey King" with Pearl Studio as Animated Epic Adventure for Worldwide Audience

ANNECY, France, June 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Stephen Chow, one of Asia's most successful filmmakers and stars, is developing one of China's most mythical, mystical and mischievous superheroes as an epic animated adventure for a global audience as Pearl Studio's The Monkey King takes a big step forward. Chow's involvement in the animated adventure was revealed today during the Pearl Studio Focus session at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. 

Chow's numerous films include The Mermaid and Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, both of which shattered box office records and held the distinctions of highest-grossing film of all time and biggest ever opening day gross of all films ever released in China. His first break out hit in America, Kung Fu Hustle, grossed more than $100 million worldwide, and earned both BAFTA and Golden Globe Award nominations. While Chow has a celebrated and acclaimed filmography of dozens of films, just those films alone have generated well over a billion dollars worldwide. 

The Monkey King is written by Ron Friedman & Steve Bencich, whose animated film credits include Brother Bear and Chicken Little.

"Stephen Chow is the perfect creative partner to develop The Monkey King with Pearl Studio," said Peilin Chou, Chief Creative Officer for Pearl Studio. "His involvement in this very special project, which is beloved throughout Asia, is a true coup. We know that he will bring all the comedy and scope that makes this adventure legend so special and translate The Monkey King into an enchanting and exciting global animated event."

About Pearl Studio

Pearl Studio is one of the world's leading creators of animated entertainment for the global family market and is currently in production on ABOMINABLE, directed by Jill Culton and to be released worldwide through Universal Pictures in 2019. The studio is also currently producing OVER THE MOON, an animated musical feature film event directed by legendary animator and Academy Award winning filmmaker Glen Keane. The film will be distributed theatrically in Greater China and by Netflix worldwide. 

Headquartered in Shanghai with branches in New York and Los Angeles, the studio is backed by a CMC Capital Partners-led consortium. Pearl Studio is focused on Animation Film Production, Copyright Operations, Ancillary Businesses (Merchandising, Joint Promotion, Interactive Entertainment and Location Based Entertainment) and Digital Content. The company was previously operated as a Joint Venture known as Oriental DreamWorks, which co-produced the first American-Chinese animated co-production KUNG FU PANDA 3, which generated more than $500M in Worldwide Box Office revenues and was one of the most successful animated films ever released in China.

SOURCE Pearl Studio