Martial arts superstar Stephen Chow may not have the American following of Hong Kong predecessors Jackie Chan and Jet Li, but after the back-to-back successes of "Shaolin Soccer" and "Kung Fu Hustle," his fan base is definitely on the rise. Now, the writer, director and actor is looking to expand his audience by making a more kid-friendly flick, "CJ7."

With an acknowledged nod of inspiration to "E.T.," this contemporary story finds Chow playing a poor construction worker who sacrifices everything he has (they are really destitute) so that his young son, Dicky (deftly played by a girl, Xu Jiao), can attend private school. Dicky doesn't understand why he can't have all the fancy toys and clothes his rich schoolmates have, but his luck changes when his dad finds an alien "dog" in the local junkyard. Naming his new pet CJ7 after a similar toy he's always wanted, Dicky thinks his powerful and adorable new friend will make him king of the schoolyard, but Chow doesn't let Dicky off that easy.

One of the most charming aspects of the film is CJ7 itself. Having scoured the Web, your intrepid columnist couldn't find a toy version of the dog available yet, but Chow is missing out on some big bucks if he doesn't commission one soon. Speaking through an English translator, Chow says, "I had a dog I raised for many years. He was a Pekingese with big eyes and a flat face. The dog passed away but he was really the model that we kind of designed the alien after."

Chow has spurned offers to star in American movies so far, but he is officially a producer on Twentieth Century Fox's upcoming adaptation of the manga TV series "Dragonball Z." Don't expect a cameo, though. Chow says, "My contribution is mainly in the screenwriting department, giving them input and suggestions in the screenplay and other aspects."

The Hong Kong superstar is also supposed to be working on a sequel to "Hustle" with the same group of actors who made the goofy action-comedy a critical and commercial hit, but that project appears to have morphed into something quite different.

"[A sequel] is still on the table, but lately there's been a kind of shift away from making it a literal sequel from the first movie and just a kind of new film in this series that will explore a new story, new ideas and that will give us more freedom," Chow says. "It's probably not going to be a classical costume drama. It'll probably be a modern picture and, more and more, I'm tempted to set it in contemporary America."

Chow's over-the-top brand of kung fu comedy hitting the United States? Don't tease us, Stephen.

"CJ7" opens March 7 in New York and Los Angeles.

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