The Associated Press reports that Hong Kong comic actor and director Stephen Chow said Tuesday he'll start filming the sequel to his action film Kung Fu Hustle either late this year or early 2006.

Chow called the movie's US$17.1 million (€14.0 million) box office take in America as of Aug. 18 "not bad," but said, "I hope I can do better in the future."

Chow said casting for the Kung Fu Hustle sequel hasn't been finalized and that he hasn't settled on a female lead.

"There will be a lot of new characters in the movie. We'll need a lot of new actors. It's possible that we'll look for people abroad besides casting locals," he said.

Kung Fu Hustle was released April 8th, 2005 and stars Stephen Chow, Xiaogang Feng, Wah Yuen, Zhi Hua Dong, Kwok-Kwan Chan, Chi Chung Lam, Siu-Lung Leung, Qiu Yuen. The film is directed by Stephen Chow.