“Kung Fury” was actually already a cult film when only the trailer had been released, quickly achieving millions of clicks. The project was financed through crowdfunding on Kickstarter by around 20,000 supporters—a figure that clearly shows how much the audience wanted to see Swedish director David Sandberg’s film idea realised. In 2015, the project was nominated for an animago AWARD in the “Jury’s Prize” category.
David Sandberg was born in the 80s, and the filmmaker packed the media quintessence of his favourite decade into the look and content of his work “Kung Fury”. The director, who also plays the lead role, dug deep into the 80s trash box and combined references to various action films from that era with, among other things, the title song “True Survivor” by “Knight Rider” hero and part-time singer David Hasselhoff. The title “Kung Fury” is an allusion to the kung-fu films of the 80s and the 1970s cult film “Fists of Fury” starring Bruce Lee.
Before Sandberg launched the madcap “Kung Fury”, he worked in Stockholm as a producer for commercials and music videos. For his passion project, he quit his job, moved back in with his parents to save money and founded the production company Laser Unicorns. Sandberg generated 630,000 US dollars in the Kickstarter campaign—three times as much as he had actually aimed for to complete the final production. Sanderg promised all major supporters an appearance in his film, so many crowdfunders can actually be seen in various extra roles or merely as a name on the 3D sets. Continue reading on page 2:
