Shooting of the film started in Ningbo city in China's Zhejiang province on Monday, December 15.
Letv.com is the first internet company among China's burgeoning online movie sites to invest in film production. According to the film's producer, Zhuo Shunguo, Letv.com is the larger investor in the $10m film.
The film also marks Jeffrey Lau's first mainland production under his own Zhejiang-based production banner. In April, Lau (A Chinese Tall Story) and Zhuo co-established Leshi Zhenwei Productions Ltd. in Zhejiang Province, as a subsidiary company of Letv.com, specialising in film and TV productions.
Zhuo is a former production and distribution executive from Forbidden City & Trinity Pictures and Orange Sky Entertainment who has distribution credits for about 100 films in mainland China, including The Warlords and Red Cliff.
Hu Jun (Red Cliff) and Sun Li (Painted Skin) will lead the cast of the film, while Chinese action actor Jacky Wu Jing and Hong Kong actors Alex Fong, Ronald Cheng have also been recruited.
Set in the year 2046, the film is about a science lab that chooses a remote Chinese village to test its new robot cop.
According to Zhuo, Lau is also preparing comedies and action films and possibly an animation film with Letv.com.
Established in 2004, Letv.com offers two main services: on-line movie watching for authorised films, and free video-sharing among internet users.
In August, the company received investment of $7.7m (RMB52.8m) jointly from three Chinese private equity companies. According to Liu Hong, vice president of Letv.com, the company plans to go public in the next one to two years.
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