Jack Neo Cut A Different Version Of Killer Not Stupid For Taiwan

Jack Neo’s action-comedy Killer Not Stupid is finally hitting the big screens in Taiwan this Thursday (Jan 23), just in time for the Chinese New Year holidays. But this isn’t the same version which came out in Singapore nearly a year ago.

Filmed in Taiwan, Killer Not Stupid — Neo’s first collaboration with a Taiwanese media company (mm2 Entertainment) — follows the exploits of a pair of assassins (Jay Shih and Na-Dow) on the run from a drug lord. It also stars Amber An, Apple Chan, and Gadrick Chin.

The most obvious change is the Chinese title. In Singapore, it’s called shashou bu ben, which is the literal translation of the English title. In Taiwan, its renamed shashou jian dao qiang, which means “the killer picks up a gun”.

In Taiwan, jian dao qiang is an Internet slang used to refer someone who’s usually calm and collected losing his cool.

Elsewhere, Neo returned to the editing suite and reworked the jokes to make them more appealing to the Taiwanese audience. “We always have the intention of releasing two versions,” Neo tells 8days.sg via WhatsApp. “One for Singapore and Malaysia, and another for Taiwan.”

“It isn’t uncommon for the filmmakers to release different versions for the domestic and international markets,” says Neo who was in Taiwan last week to promote the movie.

Neo says the runtime for the Taiwan cut is “almost the same” as the Singapore one. But according to the movie listings on Yahoo! Taiwan, Killer Not Stupid is 95 minutes long, 15 minutes shorter than the Singapore edition. (A shorter Jack Neo movie? That's a good thing, right?)

Neo’s next movie, Not So Long Time Ago, the third chapter in the Long Long Time Ago series, will be out in cinemas later this year.