Chow Yun-fat has joined mainland Chinese actor Ge You in the cast of Jiang Wen’s action comedy Let The Bullets Fly.

The $18m film is currently in production and slated for release in autumn 2010. Hong Kong-based Emperor Motion Pictures (EMP) is co-producing with Jiang’s company, Beijing Buyilehu Film, and other partners.

Chow will play a visionary triad leader in the film, set in China during the 1920s, when the country was torn apart by feuding warlords. Jiang also stars in the film as a bandit who proclaims himself mayor of a remote provincial town.

“To us there is no one else more suitable for the role than Chow Yun-fat,” said the film’s producer Ma Ke. “He expressed his interest very early on and had reserved the second half of 2009 for the filming. It was a matter of working out the script to everyone’s satisfaction. We’re very happy that he’s finally on board.”

The script had undergone nine rewrites with 10 different endings before it was finalised on Monday.

EMP, which will start selling the film at the upcoming American Film Market (AFM), previously worked with Jiang on his 2007 Venice competition entry The Sun Also Rises.

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