Kung Fury 2: What REALLY Happened?! You Won’t Believe This Legal Nightmare!

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In the days leading up to the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, an unauthorized preview of a movie titled “Kung Fury 2” was leaked on the internet, generating quite a buzz.

A brief promotional clip, uploaded on YouTube by an unknown user (later deleted), displayed an eccentric blend of action, comedy, and martial arts, heavily inspired by the 80s, featuring Michael Fassbender as a rebellious cop sporting an extravagant mullet hairstyle and Arnold Schwarzenegger as an unexpected U.S. president fighting Nazis.

For some people, the announcement brought on a mix of confusion, with reactions like “What in the world was that?”, but for others, it sparked excitement as it resurfaced a long-anticipated film that seemed almost forgotten.

2015 saw the initial announcement of “Kung Fury 2” at Cannes, where the unexpected success story unfolded for the original “Kung Fury” – a 30-minute short film featuring a kung fu cop who travels back in time from 1980s Miami to vanquish the Kung Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler.

David Sandberg, the writer/director behind Kung Fury, fondly recalls that time, not just Cannes, but the entire journey leading up to it. ‘The enthusiasm for this project was inherent,’ he shares, reminiscing about his successful Kickstarter campaign which brought investors from all corners of the globe to his rural Sweden home to help with the short film. ‘Every person involved in the project shared the same fervor.’

At Cannes, the film “Kung Fury” made its debut in the Directors’ Fortnight competition, an arena typically reserved for visionary directors and their introspective narratives rather than adrenaline-pumping tales about time-traveling martial arts officers, Vikings wielding gun-mounted vehicles while riding dinosaurs (and many other outlandish elements). Admittedly, director Sandberg was uncertain how the audience would react.

He admits, “I was incredibly anxious, yet the uproarious laughter from the audience drowned out everything else as soon as it began to play. This deafening laughter made me feel much more at ease.

As the months and years leading up to what became known as “Kung Fury 2” unfolded, they were, according to Sandberg, absolutely “crazy.

In two of the most unexpected collaborations, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Michael Fassbender became involved in the project back in 2018. Interestingly, Fassbender also took on the role of producer for this film. During the Berlin Film Festival that year, “Kung Fury” branded bomber jackets were distributed to distributors who acquired the movie rights.

Two surprising additions to the project occurred in 2018 with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Michael Fassbender joining forces. Remarkably, Fassbender also stepped up as a producer for this film. At the Berlin Film Festival that year, distributors who purchased the rights to “Kung Fury” were given special edition bomber jackets emblazoned with the film’s name.

The main photography for “Kung Fury 2” began in the middle of 2019, with most scenes filmed at Nu Boyana studios in Bulgaria and later in Germany. Following this, it entered post-production, a phase that, due to the extensive use of VFX and green screen technology, required significant time (and a large portion of the movie’s $33 million budget). However, there has been an unexpected silence since then.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t because of the pandemic, but rather issues with one of the main financiers of the film that caused the problem.

Back in 2019, Creasun Entertainment USA – a financing and production division based in LA from the Chinese VFX company Creasun Media, headed by Minglu Ma – acquired the majority control over “Kung Fury 2” and joined as producers. According to the terms of this deal, Creasun agreed to cover approximately two-thirds of the total budget, which amounted to around $22.3 million, with $10 million allocated for VFX specialist Double Negative. However, as stated by Sandberg, the promised VFX funding was never received.

As we progressed with the Visual Effects (VFX), the pace began to lag, and things grew quite peculiar. Little did we know, our Chinese investor had essentially halted all financial contributions.

In September 2020, a lawsuit was initiated against Creasun. Following approximately a year and half of legal disputes, a settlement was eventually negotiated where Creasun consented to meet their financial commitments. However, according to Sandberg, they allegedly failed to pay the agreed amount. As a result, the production company took them back to court, and the lawsuit continues. Meanwhile, it’s reported that Creasun retaliated with accusations that the producers had embezzled funds from the production, but multiple audits could not uncover evidence to support this claim.

Before any legal action arose, Sandberg took steps to avoid such a scenario. It is known that Creasun’s producers had actually proposed purchasing the company, but these offers were declined.

He mentions that they consistently blocked every effort to resolve the problem. This was deeply disappointing for him, being an artist who has dedicated years to it. Many others have also invested themselves emotionally in this project, and he feels terribly for their disappointment too.

Apart from the legal challenges, Sandberg has confirmed that all photography for “Kung Fury 2” has been finished, along with a rough cut of the film. The remaining tasks are post-production and visual effects, which he approximates will cost around $5-$10 million.

After his creative endeavor came to a halt for some time, Sandberg admitted he sank into a profound depression, feeling as if he had simply lost interest. However, he soon recognized that, as a creative individual, it was the act of creating that brought him joy and happiness.

He resumed work on an exciting new secret project, this time with a similarly outrageous style reminiscent of “Kung Fury,” but without any legal complications. For now, he’s keeping the film under wraps, but he’s collaborating with Mikko Kodisoja, a Finnish entrepreneur who co-founded Supercell, the gaming company behind popular mobile games like “Clash of Clans” and “Brawl Stars.” Kodisoja is singlehandedly funding this project, so there’s no need for any additional investors.

As a fervent enthusiast, I’m excited to share that Sandberg remains steadfast in his mission to bring his unique film about the legendary Hitler-fighting kung fu cop, co-starring Fassbender and Schwarzenegger, to the big screen at last. The buzz surrounding the leaked preview — which he described as an “internal promotional video not meant for public consumption” featuring “temporary visual effects” — clearly demonstrates that there’s a substantial audience eagerly waiting for its release.

He laments that the movie is amazing, but unfortunately, he can’t share it yet,” he expresses. “However, he remains hopeful about its release in the future. For now, we must be patient. Still, let me tell you, it’s an outstanding piece of work, with Fassbender and Arnold delivering exceptional performances. We all had a fantastic time working on set, feeling the genuine affection that went into it. It’s disappointing that things have turned out this way for now, but rest assured, it will make its way to the public eventually.

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2025-05-18 17:47