The William Hung Story
Genre: Biography / Drama / Comedy
Director: Jon M. Chu
Writer: Alex Conn
Cast:
Nico Santos .... William Hung
Ken Jeong .... William's Father
Margaret Cho .... William's Mother
Plot: The film opens with William Hung (Nico Santos) in a pirate costume asking the audience to please silence their cell phones and that this is the greatest story ever written.
William Hung is a kid that is very different he draws, he sings, he plays music. This is all narrated by Hung. Hung even tried out for the school musical where he does a less than stellar performance of a classic He then tries sports to try and retreat and blend in but he is bullied still. In one incident a group of kids threaten to hang him and he is so scared that he runs to his mom.
We flash forward to when he is a late teenager and he is trying to convince his mother (Margaret Cho) and father (Ken Jeong) that he wants to be a singer. He eventually loses this argument and goes to Medical School.
We then flash forward to William Hung in college recording covers into a tape recorder that he keeps in his dorm. The singing is still not great. We then see hear people in the movie theater looking and feeling weird. He eventually records a cover of "She Bangs" which he is happy with and he shows it to his parents and he tells them he would like to audition for American Idol. His dad laughs at the idea and yells at him but his mom is very supportive.
William Hung auditions for American Idol and the judges laugh at him but he captures the heart of many viewers with his positive attitude. He then is offered a record deal at Koch Records.
He is planning on doing an album full of original songs but he hears "Rocketman" by Elton John and he changes his tune and immediately goes back to the studio and records a cover of "Rocketman".
The album Inspiration comes out and is immediately mocked. We see another montage of people mocking Inspiration and parodies of William Hung.
Hung one night is planning to kill himself but is stopped by his mother who reassures him and shows him an online petition of people who want him back on American Idol.
He goes on American Idol and is immediately mocked. He goes quiet and quits music.
Years later William Hung is working for the LAPD and he is asked to do a comeback show. He decides to do it but it will be only one show. He does the show and he does some of the covers he is famous for. It is a small audience but it’s fine for him and he ends the show by giving inspirational thoughts and saying that I showed that even an Average Joe can succeed in music.
The film ends with William Hung doing an interview for Rolling Stone where he is asked whether regrets even going into music and he said he enjoyed doing music while it lasted and he hopes he gave hope to someone in need. The audience then claps.
Director: Jon M. Chu
Writer: Alex Conn
Cast:
Nico Santos .... William Hung
Ken Jeong .... William's Father
Margaret Cho .... William's Mother
Plot: The film opens with William Hung (Nico Santos) in a pirate costume asking the audience to please silence their cell phones and that this is the greatest story ever written.
William Hung is a kid that is very different he draws, he sings, he plays music. This is all narrated by Hung. Hung even tried out for the school musical where he does a less than stellar performance of a classic He then tries sports to try and retreat and blend in but he is bullied still. In one incident a group of kids threaten to hang him and he is so scared that he runs to his mom.
We flash forward to when he is a late teenager and he is trying to convince his mother (Margaret Cho) and father (Ken Jeong) that he wants to be a singer. He eventually loses this argument and goes to Medical School.
We then flash forward to William Hung in college recording covers into a tape recorder that he keeps in his dorm. The singing is still not great. We then see hear people in the movie theater looking and feeling weird. He eventually records a cover of "She Bangs" which he is happy with and he shows it to his parents and he tells them he would like to audition for American Idol. His dad laughs at the idea and yells at him but his mom is very supportive.
William Hung auditions for American Idol and the judges laugh at him but he captures the heart of many viewers with his positive attitude. He then is offered a record deal at Koch Records.
He is planning on doing an album full of original songs but he hears "Rocketman" by Elton John and he changes his tune and immediately goes back to the studio and records a cover of "Rocketman".
The album Inspiration comes out and is immediately mocked. We see another montage of people mocking Inspiration and parodies of William Hung.
Hung one night is planning to kill himself but is stopped by his mother who reassures him and shows him an online petition of people who want him back on American Idol.
He goes on American Idol and is immediately mocked. He goes quiet and quits music.
Years later William Hung is working for the LAPD and he is asked to do a comeback show. He decides to do it but it will be only one show. He does the show and he does some of the covers he is famous for. It is a small audience but it’s fine for him and he ends the show by giving inspirational thoughts and saying that I showed that even an Average Joe can succeed in music.
The film ends with William Hung doing an interview for Rolling Stone where he is asked whether regrets even going into music and he said he enjoyed doing music while it lasted and he hopes he gave hope to someone in need. The audience then claps.
BOX OFFICE
Budget: $185,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $189,558,043
Foreign Box Office: $300,112,438
Total Profit: $166,743,091
Domestic Box Office: $189,558,043
Foreign Box Office: $300,112,438
Total Profit: $166,743,091
REVIEWS
"The William Hung Story is an ill-conceived project that does not seem to have a point as we never learn anything of importance about William Hung that couldn't be gleamed from a cursory glance at Wikipedia." - Mark Rawls, Seattle Times
"William Hung once embarrassed himself on national television. That's his entire claim to fame. Not only is that moment glossed over pretty quickly in this film, but just about everything is glossed over with a lack of detail." - Clark Davis, JoBlo.com
"The William Hung Story is barely a story. There don't ever seem to be any stakes for Hung as a character, and the film tries frame Hung's farce of a musical career as an inspirational story, complete with an entirely fictional suicide contemplation scene." - Michael Wilmington, Rolling Stone
Rated PG-13 for some language and brief thematic material.
Filming Locations:
Los Angeles, California, USA
Los Angeles, California, USA