MIRAMAX - SARS FLOORS SHAOLIN SOCCER STAR

The SARS epidemic has created new headaches for MIRAMAX bosses in America - they can't fly Hong Kong actor/director STEPHEN CHOW over to promote new movie SHAOLIN SOCCER.

Miramax have spent a fortune overdubbing and adding special effects to the film, a quirky comedy about a kung-fu soccer team - but now it looks as if the two-year-old film will be released next month (JUN03) with little press.

A spokeswoman for Miramax says, "Stephen can't leave Hong Kong right now and we have no fixed date as to when he'll be here in America."