Hark and Lau join forces for ‘Detective Dee’

Legendary Vietnamese filmmaker Tsui Hark (Time and Tide) returns to direct a new period piece that will blend the genres of mystery, thriller and martial arts. ‘Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame’ will star Andy Lau (Internal Affairs) and begin production with it’s $13 million budget in May, shooting in Hong Kong and China.

Synopsis: When the mysterious deaths of a series of loyal subjects threaten to delay the 690 A.D. inauguration of Empress Wu, China’s only female leader, she calls the infamous Detective Dee (Lau) back from an exile into which she cast him eight years earlier.

Dee accepts the challenge and partners with gung-ho Commander Bei and the Ghost Doctor, a master of disguise, to solve the crimes. Tsui has not yet chosen actors to play the rest of the historical figures who will follow him on his shoot from Hong Kong and Beijing to Hangzhou and Henan.

[source: Hollywood Reporter]