Beijing-based Huayi Brothers has boarded the $70m action drama, previously known as the untitled J&J Project due to the dual casting of Jackie Chan and Jet Li, as local investor and co-producer.

Huayi Brothers has sent the project, under the tentative title King Of Kung-fu, to the Film Bureau of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) for approval.

Shooting of the Sino-US co-production is scheduled to start this May in China 's Hengdian World Studios, according to Huayi Brothers president Wang Zhonglei.

Wang also confirmed that Chinese actress Liu Yifei will be playing one of the two female roles in the film.

Produced by Casey Silver and financed by Relativity Media, the film is set to be directed by Rob Minkoff (Stuart Little) with Yuen Woo-ping overseeing action sequences.

The script, written by John Fusco (Hidalgo), is loosely based around two characters from the classic Chinese novel Journey To The West - the Monkey King and Sand Monk. The story begins with a child accidentally travelling back in time to ancient China by touching a magic cudgel.

Jet Li will play both the Monkey King and Sand Monk while Jackie Chan will play a modern character, according to Huayi Brothers.

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