Gong Li and Chow Yun-Fat to "Wear Golden Armour" with Zhang Yimou

Zhang Yimou, who has gone from arty melodramas like "Raise the Red Lantern" to the wire-fu eye-candy of "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers," is about to start shooting a $44 million epic with superstars Gong Li and Chow Yun-Fat. The new film, called "Wear Golden Armour Across the City," is a historical drama involving "an emperor, an empress and a general" and featuring battles involving 20,000 extras. Gong Li had last worked with Zhang Yimou in 1995's "Shanghai Triad."

According to Twitch, "Wear Golden Armour Across the City" is based on a 1933 play by Cao Yu, "often regarded as the 'Shakespeare of China'." Hopefully, the classic source material will provide the Yimou's new film with more narrative substance--his recent work was in the danger of suffocating on its self-indulgent style. [posted by Jurgen]