Kung Fu Hustle is a 2004 Hong Kong action comedy film directed and produced by, and starring Stephen Chow. The other film producers were Chui Po-chu and Jeffrey Lau, while the screenplay was written by Huo Xin, Chan Man-keung, and Tsang Kan-cheung. Yuen Wah, Yuen Qiu, Danny Chan, and Bruce Leung co-starred in prominent roles.

After achieving commercial success with Shaolin Soccer, Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia began to develop Kung Fu Hustle in 2002. Although the film features the return of a number of retired actors famous for 1970s Hong Kong action cinema, it contrasts with other martial arts films released at around the same time that have made the biggest impact in the West, such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero.

The cartoon style of the film, accompanied by traditional Chinese music, is often cited as its most striking feature.

The film was released on December 23, 2004 in China and on January 25, 2005 in the United States. It received extremely positive reviews, with Rotten Tomatoes giving it a 90% fresh rating and Metacritic 78 out of 100. The film was also a commercial success, grossing US$17 million in North America and US$84 million in other countries.Kung Fu Hustle was the highest-grossing film in the history of Hong Kong until it was surpassed by You Are the Apple of My Eye in December 31, 2011. The film was the all time tenth highest-grossing foreign language film in the United States and also the highest-grossing foreign language film in the country in 2005.Kung Fu Hustle won numerous awards, including Hong Kong Film Awards and Golden Horse Awards.

Chinese martial arts, also referred to by the Mandarin Chinese term wushu (simplified Chinese: 武术; traditional Chinese: 武術; pinyin: wǔshù) and popularly as kung fu or gung fu (Chinese: 功夫; pinyin: gōngfu), are a number of fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common traits, identified as "families" (家, jiā), "sects" (派, pài) or "schools" (門, mén) of martial arts. Examples of such traits include physical exercises involving animal mimicry, or training methods inspired by Chinese philosophies, religions and legends. Styles which focus on qi manipulation are labeled as internal (内家拳, nèijiāquán), while others concentrate on improving muscle and cardiovascular fitness and are labeled external (外家拳, wàijiāquán). Geographical association, as in northern (北拳, běiquán) and southern (南拳, nánquán), is another popular method of categorization.

Kung-fu and wushu are terms that have been borrowed into English to refer to Chinese martial arts. However, the Chinese terms kung fu and wushu  listen (Mandarin) (help·info); Cantonese: móuh-seuht) have distinct meanings; the Chinese literal equivalent of "Chinese martial art" would be Zhongguo wushu (Chinese: 中國武術; pinyin: zhōngguó wǔshù).

Stephen Chow Sing-Chi (Chinese: 周星馳, born 22 June 1962) is a Hong Kong actor, comedian, screenwriter, film director and producer.

Stephen Chow began as a temporary actor for TVB. He entered TVB in early 1980s, and was trained there, although he had few opportunities to appear in films. Chow graduated from TVB's acting classes in 1982. Chow began to find some success with the children programme 430 Space Shuttle, which he co-hosted with Tony Leung Chiu-Wai.

In 1987, Chow entered into the movie industry through the film Final Justice, which won him the Taiwan Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor.

While Chow became quite well known on TVB for his comedies (especially 1989's The Final Combat), he shot to stardom in 1990's All for the Winner. This film made him and his older sidekick Ng Man-Tat two of the most sought-after stars in the Hong Kong film industry. Chow would collaborate with Ng on many of his more successful comedies, including Shaolin Soccer. Chow became Hong Kong's undisputed No. 1 comedian, taking over the mantle of Michael Hui. Unlike Hui, Chow's comedies are of the mo lei tau genre. With his expert comic timing and "rubber-faced mannerisms", Chow ranked alongside Andy Lau, Chow Yun-fat and Jackie Chan as the major box office draws of the 1990s.