Jet Li, Andy Lau, and Takeshi Kaneshiro to star in Ci Ma (Blood Brothers)

BEIJING  Dec. 08, 2006 - (Credits to shanghaidaily.com)

A US $40 million war epic revolving around three blood brothers set in the imperial Qing Dynasty will star local legend Jet Li, veteran Hong Kong actor Andy Lau and Taiwanese-Japanese heartthrob Takeshi Kaneshiro.

Details of "Ci Ma" (Blood Brothers) have been seeping out in Chinese media recently. Director Peter Chan and the main cast members officially launched the production at a news conference in Beijing yesterday, the Associated Press reported.

Ci Ma is a remake of famed martial arts director Chang Cheh's 1973 movie Blood Brothers. The film is about the breakdown of the friendship between three men when one kills another to steal his wife, and the third seeks revenge.

Chinese actress Xu Jinglei has beaten Zhang Ziyi and two other candidates to be the lead actress for Peter Chan's "Ci Ma," people.com.cn reported. Movie critics have been calling Xu Jinglei a rising star in both acting and directing.

Spokeswoman Emily Wong from Hong Kong's Media Asia Films, one of the investors of the picture, said director Chan will largely follow the original story line. A statement from Media Asia says the three blood brothers, played by Li, Lau and Kaneshiro, depict men who rise up the ranks of the Qing Dynasty army after joining the fight against rebels.

It quoted Chan as saying his adaptation of the story will stress "friendship, compassion and personal sacrifice in the time of war."

Ci Ma marks Chan's departure from the romance genre he is best known for. His credits include Comrades, Almost a Love Story, about the relationship between two mainland Chinese immigrants living in Hong Kong and the Hollywood film The Love Letter, about a woman's quest to find the author of a mysterious love letter.

His most recent work is the musical Perhaps Love, a love triangle set against the filming of a movie starring Zhou, Kaneshiro and Hong Kong pop star Jacky Cheung. The film won Chan the best director prize at this year's Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan, the Chinese-language equivalent of the Oscars.

Ci Ma involves major scenes like a 10,000-man army battle in a blizzard, Media Asia's statement said. It said filming is due to take place in Beijing, Shanghai and Hengdian, located southwest of Shanghai, with shooting in Beijing kicking off yesterday.

The film is scheduled for release at the end of 2007.

Among the other investors are the state-run China Film Group and Warner China Film HG, a three-way collaboration between the Hollywood studio Warner Bros, China Film Group and private Chinese conglomerate Hengdian Group.