Released earlier today, the first trailer is light on plot but heavy on the anti-gravity slapstick. However, the lack of plot does leave some room for speculation, raising the question: Is this a sequel to 2003’s Shaolin Soccer? Making things even more confusing, its U.S. title, according to IMDb (so take it with a grain of salt), is Shaolin Women’s Soccer. Still, it appears to be a wholly separate soccer comedy, this time focusing on an all-female football squad, the Emei Women’s Football Team, as it competes for the “Supreme Invincible Cup.” Maybe it’s set in the same cinematic universe? 

Chow is a now-legendary action-comedy director, whose global blockbusters include Kung Fu Hustle and The Mermaid. His last film, The New King Of Comedy, a remake of his 1999 film, The King Of Comedy, grossed more than $100 million in 2019. The film is slated to release in China and Singapore this summer. Per Variety, the film was conceived as a multi-language release, including English, so we assume a more robust release is on the way.

“Let me put this in language that you will understand,” Z continues, with Oliver putting on an affected Southern-fried accent, “that ain’t gonna happen.” It was the last straw.

The slap was a long time coming. Since beginning his soap opera campaign, Oliver had a list of demands that have now been fulfilled.  “I only have a few conditions. First, I don’t want to play myself,” said on a March installment of Last Week Tonight. “I want to be a character and I want his name to be ridiculous. Also, I want to do something juicy like murder, or slapping, or being slapped, or being someone’s long-lost something. And I ideally, I’d like a dramatic close-up of my face.” 

Check, check, and check. 

Aside from its biggest hits, such as Stranger Things and Squid Game, which the streamer is consistently trying to repackage through animation, Broadway shows, game shows, and remakes, the Netflix model has rarely created loyalty. Shows come and go, with years between seasons, leaving enough time for audiences to forget about them. Viewers who binged Avatar in 2024 had to wait two years for another season. Beef and One Piece took three years. 

But delays don’t account for everything. According to What’s On Netflix, comedies have struggled to stick in viewers’ memories between seasons. The streamer’s returning hit Four Seasons declined 63%. Nobody Wants This had a 16% drop; Tires dropped 26%; and A Man On The Inside cratered 66%. We’d chalk this up to audiences wanting comedies with lots of 22-minute episodes they can watch over and over for years and years, rather than 10 episodes once every so often. But what do we know? Other than The Office‘s 201 episodes generated more than half a billion dollars in streaming revenue since 2020. 

The only shows that bucked the trend were Bridgerton and His And Hers. Thankfully, Netflix had Kpop Demon Hunters, a slew of Harlan Coben adaptations, and all that positive press from the Roast Of Kevin Hart to keep viewership afloat this year. And when that doesn’t work, the streamer can always appease shareholders by cracking down harder on password sharing and raising subscription fees to account for declining interest.

The staff organized in April 2024, unionizing under Actors’ Equity. Per CNN, there have been 14 bargaining sessions, none of which were attended by billionaire owners Stone and Parker, who currently stars in Minions & Monsters (“It’s just been silence, radio silence,” says Shields of the South Park guys). Shields tells CNN that the union has made concessions that have yielded a pay raise of less than a dollar an hour. Divers currently make $10 less per hour than waiters. 

In the last year, Actors’ Equity has filed seven labor complaints through the National Labor Relations Board. “It’s just so disheartening because they’re putting their lives at risk, and they’re not being looked after,” Shields says. Bethel Lindsley, the head of the restaurant’s dive team, would just like to see any safety measures for the divers. Currently there are zero. 

Casa Bonita rose to national prominence through a 2003 South Park episode in which Cartman schemes his way into Kyle’s birthday party at the restaurant. Rescuing the restaurant’s final location from bankruptcy in 2021, Parker and Stone restored Casa to its former glory, spending $30 million in the process. Their efforts became the subject of an acclaimed documentary, ‌ ¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor!, which might be due for a sequel.