周迅加盟徐克3D武侠片首次挑战侠女角色

Chinese actress Zhou Xun will for the first time in her acting career portray a kung-fu master in acclaimed director Tsui Hark’s first 3-D film, “The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate.”

The movie also stars heartthrob Chen Kun and action star Jet Li. Filming began on Sunday in Beijing.

Although based on the story of 1992’s “Dragon Inn,” Tsui denied the new film will be a remake of the classic. Tsui also worked on the screenplay in addition to directing and producing the film to ensure the originality of the story.

Li plays a Ming Dynasty general battling a power-hungry eunuch played by Chen. Their contest comes to a head at an inn run by Zhou.

Zhou, who has been hailed as one of the best Chinese actresses, said that she hoped the film would give her a new challenge.

“Director Tsui is good at digging unbelievable potential from actresses. We collaborated once in ‘All About Women’ and he changed me a lot. This time, it will be a total transformation for me. I’m looking forward to it,” Zhou said.

Li has not collaborated with Tsui in 18 years, since their “Once Upon a Time in China” series made Li a household name. He joined the team not only because of his confidence in Tsui, but also to try out the 3-D technology.

To manage the special effects, Tsui invited Chuck Comisky, the visual-effects supervisor for James Cameron’s “Avatar,” to be the director of cinematography.

(SD-Agencies)