The movie “Kung Fu Women’s Soccer,” written and directed by Stephen Chow (Xing Ye), has been dominating the box office in mainland China since its release on July 11. As of July 18, the film has grossed over 1 billion RMB. However, on July 16, Stephen Chow posted six consecutive Instagram stories that were not celebrations of the film’s success but rather showcased pictures of audience members holding handwritten “tickets,” sparking speculation about ticket fraud surrounding “Kung Fu Women’s Soccer.”
On July 17, news regarding the response from the “Kung Fu Women’s Soccer” production team regarding the alleged ticket fraud went viral, drawing widespread attention.
From the Instagram stories shared by Stephen Chow, it was evident that the audience members were not holding official printed tickets from cinemas, but rather hastily handwritten notes. One of the handwritten tickets even served as the entry pass for 11 individuals. Screenshots of the stories also included comments from viewers such as “Did 11 people steal tickets?” and “Watching ‘Kung Fu Women’s Soccer’ with handwritten tickets.” Stephen Chow added three prominent question marks when reposting the content, expressing his confusion, helplessness, and seriousness.
Ticket fraud does not involve overcharging viewers but rather entails theaters using handwritten receipts, omitting entries in ticketing systems, or redirecting funds from one film to another, ultimately withholding the revenue that should have been shared. For instance, a viewer purchases a ticket for a popular film A, but the theater system prints a ticket for a less popular film B. Consequently, the revenue from film A is wrongly attributed to film B, allowing theaters to manipulate data or gain illicit profits.
In response to the doubts surrounding the ticket fraud of “Kung Fu Women’s Soccer,” talented netizens have composed a humorous song titled “Don’t Steal Box Office,” mocking the theaters’ illegal practices and showing support for Stephen Chow.
Faced with public outcry, some theaters explained that the handwritten tickets were due to “moisture preventing ink from printing” and that relevant staff members have been suspended. However, this explanation did not alleviate public suspicion.
“Kung Fu Women’s Soccer” premiered on July 11, with an opening day box office of 260 million RMB, breaking the record for the highest number of screenings on the first day of the summer season in Chinese film history. The film’s total investment is approximately 380 million RMB, and industry standards generally dictate that a film needs to earn three times its cost (around 1.14 billion RMB) to break even. As of July 18, the film has accumulated a box office revenue of 1.06 billion RMB, nearing the break-even point. The professional platform “Maoyan” predicts that the film’s final box office revenue in mainland China will exceed 2.5 billion RMB.
Some curious netizens have questioned which film ultimately benefited from this incident. Photos that have surfaced reveal that some theaters, in order to avoid leaving behind printed evidence, bypassed the system entirely and directly handwrote the showtimes for “Kung Fu Women’s Soccer” on plain paper. However, there were oversights in some theaters. In a screenshot shared by Stephen Chow, a clearly visible printed ticket originally for the animated film “Eight Immortals!” had the film’s title altered with pen to “Kung Fu Women’s Soccer.”
According to mainland media reports, “Kung Fu Women’s Soccer” encountered ticket fraud from certain theaters during its promotional period. Stephen Chow publicly raised concerns, prompting the production team to change encrypted film sources and establish a reporting channel. Numerous fans spontaneously verified their tickets and assisted in reclaiming over 1.6 million RMB of stolen box office revenue.