Okay here it is again, Shaolin Soccer Returns. Actually the Original Returns. Because we never got it in the first place. What movie is this you ask — Well, you can watch The New Trailer right here.
It’s not a sequel, just another chapter in what is already a practically inexcusable series of bumpings and delays. Actually, take away “practically”, it IS inexcusable.
You see, Shoalin Soccer is a truly funny film. That, we can also say, was made years ago. Well, 2001 was years ago. Since it was such a smash hit in Asia, Miramax decided to release it here. Then they didn’t. Then they did. Then they didn’t. What they ENDED up doing was purchasing Distributing rights and then doing nothing with them. However, it looks like Shaolin Soccer might ACTUALLY make it to the screen this time around.. Although I won’t believe it until I see it up there… Back in October I made this Shaolin Soccer Timeline: – here it is Updated:
In Yahoo Movies, I found this summary of release dates… Ready for this?
July 19th, 2002
– – This was originally scheduled to open on April 5th, 2002, then, August 30th, 2002, and now sometime in the 1st quarter of 2003.
August 16th, 2002
– – This has been pushed back a little bit again, now to April 11th, 2003.
January 31, 2003
– – Miramax has bumped this back another four months to August 8th, 2003. That’s 16 months after its first target date.
June 23, 2003
– – Miramax has adjusted this movie a week, from August 8th to August 15th.
August 8, 2003
– – Miramax has dumped their plans on giving this film a wide release, going with a platform release starting on September 5th instead. As KungFuCinema.com reports, this decision comes with the news that Miramax has decided to go with the original dialogue (with subtitles) rather than doing an English dub.
September 2, 2003
– – Miramax has decided not to release this film this week after all, with no word now on when they might release it to the U.S. public. Might they now be considering sending it direct-to-video?
September 4,2003
– – Miramax is currently looking for a new release date in the 4th quarter of 2003.
October 8,2003
– – It appears that Miramax is now aiming for sometime in 2004 instead.
This trailer seems to have removed the overdubbed lines, so it seems that all of these whispers may actually be true. However, www.movie-list.com has it listed for a March 26 release and the official site says “April 2nd”, so apparently there’s still some confusion somewhere. We shall see.
