Schwarzenegger. Hitler. Dinosaurs. They’re really the only three words you’d need on a poster to put butts in seats. You probably already figured out this isn’t a documentary but rather Kung Fury 2, the planned feature-length sequel to David Sandberg’s insane 2015 short. But it seems highly unlikely that we’ll ever get to see the movie, as some shady dealing and lawsuits have kept Kung Fury 2 from being completed.
As far as who Sandberg says should be taking blame, all eyes are on Creasun Entertainment, who agreed to foot the majority of Kung Fury 2’s budget, a sizable chunk of which ($10 million) would have been dedicated to the visual effects. As Sandberg put it, “Once we started getting to VFX, things started to really slow down — and things became a bit weird. And then it turned out that our Chinese financier had basically stopped all payments.”
Even after lawsuits, Creasun has apparently never paid their portion, which is why Kung Fury 2 – which finished filming back in 2020 – is on indefinite hiatus and still in legal limbo. For Sandberg, it’s that kind of blocking and allegedly false claims that are hurting the movie and fans dying to see it. “They just kind of stonewalled every single attempt to solve the issue. And it was just really heartbreaking for me as an artist who’s worked on this for years. And there are so many people who have poured their hearts into this, and I feel super terrible for them.” For now, the most we ever got was a sizzle reel which leaked online and was quickly removed.
The original Kung Fury notably debuted at the 68th Cannes Film Festival, screening during the short film portion of the Directors’ Fortnight. And while Kung Fury 2 is giving more headaches than Sandberg needs, he still fondly looks back on his days at the Palais and the excitement leading up to it. “I have such fond memories of that time, not only of Cannes, but the whole process leading up to it…The passion of it was in the DNA of the project. Everyone who worked on it shared the passion…I was so f*cking nervous, but when it started playing people were laughing so loud that I couldn’t hear what was going on. So that was really reassuring.”
Here’s hoping David Sandberg can get financing – and who wouldn’t want to put money into this? – for Kung Fury 2 and action lovers can get what will very likely be the greatest movie ever made.
