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BEIJING: Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi is slated to both produce and star in a live-action English-language 3D film backed by Disney, based on the Chinese folktale Mulan, reported Chinese media.
The film will revolve around the lady warrior Hua Mulan (Zhang), who impersonates a man to enlist in the army in her elderly father's place and repel an invasion of her homeland.
Along the way, she becomes involved with fellow soldier General Li, who admires her and risks his life to hide her gender as state laws forbade women from joining the army.
Zhang was said to have been planning this film since last year, but the project got shelved due to funding problems after she became embroiled in a string of high-profile scandals.
She apparently went hunting for investors at the Cannes International Film Festival in May this year and managed to rope in Disney, who agreed to invest US$100 million (S$136 million) in the film.
US director Charles Russel, who had previously directed "The Mask" and "The Scorpion King", has been picked to helm this action-heavy film.
US-born singer-actor Wang Lee Hom, who speaks fluent English, is reportedly the favourite for the role of General Li.
The film is tentatively scheduled to go into production in China in October.
- CNA/ha
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