Stephen Chow recently paid tribute to his late frequent collaborator, Ng Man Tat, in his new movie, “Kung Fu Soccer”.
The filmmaker indirectly confirmed the speculations recently during a promotional event in Zhuhai, Guangdong, after a fan asked about the post-credit scene from the movie.
In the scene, Stephen’s character Sing can be seen from the back, sitting in the bleachers with Sixth Brother, the character played by Lam Chi Chung. However, Lam then moved to his left, deliberately leaving an empty space next to Sing.
Many believed that gesture to be a tribute by Stephen to Ng, who played the role of Coach Fung in the original 2001 movie.
During the promotional event, a fan asked if the tribute rumour was true, to which Stephen responded with the question, “What do you think?”
The fan then responded, “Because I think Uncle Tat is the most important person in our hearts, and in your heart as well, so I think the end of the film is a tribute to him and that seat was reserved for Uncle Tat.”
To that, Stephen nodded and responded, “Completely agree.”
Ng Man Tat had worked on more than 20 movies with Stephen Chow throughout the pair’s careers. The two were supposed to reunite in 2016 through Stephen’s “The Mermaid,” 14 years after their last collaboration. However, the veteran actor had to decline the project due to his health condition, though he stated that he would love for them to work together again. Sadly, he passed away in 2021 amid his cancer battle.
