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Michael Fassbender and David Hasselhoff to Star in ‘Kung Fury’ Sequel

Filming doesn’t start until this summer, but our love for the Hoff and his ‘Kung Fury’ anthem is already sizzling.
Hasselhoff Kung Fury
By  · Published on February 13th, 2018

Filming doesn’t start until this summer, but our love for the Hoff and his ‘Kung Fury’ anthem is already sizzling.

The short film Kung Fury is a Kickstarter-funded throwback to ’80s martial arts flicks and police shoot-em-ups that is full of absurd time travel, dinosaur riding, Norse God of Thunder-fighting, kung fu magic, Adolf Hitler-killing goodness. That gleeful ridiculousness is matched with a genuine love of synth-pop sounds in its outstanding soundtrack.

Well, outstanding if you love glorious synth-pop. And you should! At the front of that sound is David Hasselhoff‘s theme song, “True Survivor.” It’s radical. If you disagree, you’re simply wrong! Now, imagine our joy when we saw The Hollywood Reporter share word that the Hoff will be back for the feature-length sequel!

When David Sandberg wrote, directed, and starred in the Kung Fury short there was no way he could have anticipated it would be received so enthusiastically worldwide. The film has over 29 million views on YouTube. It was featured on Netflix for awhile. Not for nothing, but if you’ve been following the great Mustache Debate of our times, it featured a great exchange about shitty mustaches. But, that popularity is rivaled by Hasselhoff’s “True Survivor.” In fact, the music video is at 33 million views. It’s the Hoff!

It’s possible that our joy for the evergreen poptastic sound of Hasselhoff has eclipsed the more surprising part of this headline. Michael Fassbender has also signed on to appear in the sequel. What an exciting time for David Sandberg! From a short film, something he produced on green screen in his office, to a feature-length film with Michael Fassbender. Heady heights.

You might know Fassbender as Magneto from the X-Men franchise or as David 8 from the recent Alien movies.  More recently, you might recognize him as the detective who was given all the clues by a certain icy villain. They can’t all be winners!

It’s his flair for charismatic parts in smaller films which has me most excited. His role in Frank as the talented band leader who spends his life wearing a giant paper-mâché head is hauntingly good. Same for his acting as the broken would-be bounty-hunter in Slow West. That’s the film where I went all-in on Fassbender. He’s capable of finding an emotional connection with his material and sharing that soul with his audience in roles most folks might overlook. Even his Magneto has some gut-wrenching moments of pure heartbreak in a film series that is otherwise just fine.

These are essential elements when you’re putting together something like Kung Fury. Part of what made the short film so good is that there isn’t a single ounce of cynicism about the source material. It’s weird. Schlocky. Nostalgic. But, it oozes heart. Fassbender has the physicality and charisma to bring that sincerity to the table in Sandberg’s follow-up. It’s a really good pick.

KatzSmith Productions will be working with Sandberg’s Laser Unicorns production banner. KatzSmith recently produced the smash nostalgic hit It, which made about $700 million worldwide. Given the wildly enthusiastic reception to the short film, I’m hopeful Sandberg will have a feature-length repeat. At the very least, we should get another outstanding hero’s ballad out of David Hasselhoff.

Filming doesn’t start until this summer. Until then, if you haven’t seen it, watch the short film on YouTube:

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Writer for Film School Rejects. He currently lives in Virginia, where he is very proud of his three kids, wife, and projector. Co-Dork on the In The Mouth of Dorkness podcast.