David Sandberg’s “Kung Fury” was this absolutely wild 2015 short film. A VFX-heavy homage to 1980s martial arts and cop action movies, it was met with acclaim and close to 40 million views on YouTube. It was even selected to screen in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.
Sandberg managed to get funding for a feature-length sequel, shot in the summer of 2019, and starring Michael Fassbender, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Alexandra Shipp, Jorma Taccone, and David Hasselhoff. There was anticipation for this film, and then it all went to hell.
Five years later, despite a few images having leaked online, “Kung Fury 2” is in a state of limbo due to lawsuits between the film's investors. As a result, post-production had to be halted in late 2020. However, this past April, it finally completed production, and yet there’s still no word about a potential release.
Alex Lebobvici, head of one of the film's production companies, Hammerstone Studios, recently stated the hope that it would all be resolved "shortly.” I’m now being told that the lawsuit has been settled. The problem is that Creasun, who caused the initial legal woes by refusing to pay VFX fees, is suing again. This latest filing again has to do with the film’s financing. No other details were given to me.
Given the cast (Fassbender! Arnold!) I presumed the film would eventually see the light of day, but one source tells me that the legal battle is far from over. “It’s a mess that likely won’t be resolved in the foreseeable future,” they tell me.
What we’re left with at the moment is a film that’s losing its relevance, and Sandberg hasn’t hopped onboard another project since production ended on “Kung Fury 2.” His filmmaking career, which was once deemed to have immense potential, has been stalled because of this whole mess.
The short version: "Woman Unknown" was a compromise. The jury deadlocked over "Possible Love" and "NAZA," not able to com to terms, fell back on their #3, May el-Toukhy's film.