If you were an Internet 1.0 denizen, and/or you count yourself among the fans of geek culture, then 2015’s “Kung Fury” is probably a favorite of yours. The short film written, directed by, and starring Swedish filmmaker David Sandberg, is a clever and vibrant homage to ’80s action movies. A sort of collision between a meme, an Adult Swim special, a parody film, and a fan film (complete with its own underdog Kickstarter crowdfunding origin story) that beat the odds, “Kung Fury” features the involvement of celebrities like Jorma Taccone (of The Lonely Island) and David Hasselhoff, lending a bit of legitimate star power to what otherwise may have been seen as a curious goof. All this is to say that “Kung Fury” is thoroughly delightful, and its short length only helps make the prospect of a sequel more interesting.
As it turns out, “Kung Fury 2” became way more interesting than a mere sequel. Shot in 2019, the film is not only feature-length, but in addition to featuring the returning Sandberg, Taccone, and Hasselhoff, it also co-stars Michael Fassbender, Alexandra Shipp, and Arnold freakin’ Schwarzenegger playing the President of the United States. Co-produced by Seth Grahame-Smith and co-written by Tyler Burton Smith (who wrote this year’s “Boy Kills World”), the movie seemed on track to be as big if not bigger a cultural moment as the first “Kung Fury.” Sadly, the movie hit a wall in 2020, and despite post-production being finally completed as of April 2024, the movie still has little hope of being released at this moment. The reason why isn’t a fun or easily understandable one, as “Kung Fury 2” is a victim of that horrible scourge known as “legal issues.”
‘Kung Fury 2’ is caught up in a perpetual lawsuit with its investors
One would think that a movie that acts as a sequel to a highly popular short film (which is still available on YouTube) starring names like Fassbender, Taccone, Shipp, and Schwarzenegger wouldn’t be delayed for long, as cooler heads would prevail fast enough for the movie to finally be seen by audiences and make some dough. Sadly, this appears to not be the case for “Kung Fury 2,” as some producers of the film filed a lawsuit against Creasun Entertainment USA, which is the Los Angeles financing/production arm of the Chinese company Creasun Media. Apparently, Creasun took a majority stake in “Kung Fury 2” before the film’s principal photography, and the movie finished shooting on time and on budget. Yet on September 16, 2020, a private limited company created to make the movie, KF2EUG, filed a complaint against Creasun that the agreed amount of money the latter company said they would pay did not all go through.
Specifically, a large portion of the money Creasun was to contribute to the film was to go to the extensive post-production visual effects work, to be undertaken by the VFX house Double Negative. When the money didn’t arrive, Double Negative stopped work on the movie, leading to the film’s lengthier-than-usual post-production. As this piece by The Hollywood Reporter explains, the details of the lawsuit only get nastier and shadier from there, involving a lot of back-and-forth about whether Creasun ever had the funds to pay at all. Producer Philip Westgren is quoted as saying that any resolution was “met with stonewalling and improper actions to further disguise Creasun’s contractual breach,” a statement to which Creasun responded by calling the lawsuit “completely meritless and […] legally deficient.” As these statements alone demonstrate, there was more than a little bad blood between the parties, resulting in the years-long dispute that as of this writing still hasn’t been resolved.
Strong word of mouth could save ‘Kung Fury 2’
It would seem that common sense should prevail in lawsuits like this, particularly when profits and other such matters are being left on the table. Sadly, this isn’t always the case; just look at the state of the “Friday the 13th” franchise, for example. That series’ popularity refuses to wane, yet the rights holders insist on keeping any further cinematic exploits of Jason Voorhees tied up in legal issues. Given the strong words and feelings between KF2EUG and Creasun, it’s entirely possible that both sides feel too strongly about their positions for either of them to settle or concede.
Yet while taking this matter to the court of public opinion isn’t a guarantee that things could be resolved, it’s worth a shot. At various points this year, discussion and speculation about what’s up with “Kung Fury 2” has cropped up, likely spurred on by news of the completion of the film despite it not having any release on the horizon. In May of this year, Taccone spoke to ComicBook about the film, lavishing it with praise high enough to make any film geek salivate in anticipation:
“I truly hope that it comes to fruition and it gets out of legal jeopardy, or whatever has happened in the legal mumbo jumbo, because honestly, the 10-minute promo piece that I saw, I was like, ‘At the very least, this is an instantaneous cult classic. This is so special. It is so funny and off the rails.’ I mean, Fassbender’s hilarious in it. I get to fight Arnold Schwarzenegger. That it doesn’t exist, it is so heartbreaking to me. It’s really like a crime. It’s a total crime that it hasn’t been released yet.”
Perhaps Taccone will continue to talk up “Kung Fury 2” in the press, and maybe some of these co-stars will voice their own opinions of it, too. If so, it could start of wave of interest that puts further pressure on the lawsuit to finally wrap up. If the worst befalls and “Kung Fury 2” becomes a fully-fledged lost movie, however, there’s still the possibility to get a perverse sort of victory out of it: we can start the rumor that maybe the movie is just Too Awesome for Human Consumption. After all, if we can’t see the thing, we might as well make a myth out of it.