Beijing-based film studio Beijing Galloping Horse announced that Chinese director Ning Hao’s action comedy Guns N’ Roses has passed China’s censorship regulations and is ready to be released on Apr 24.

Ning [pictured], known for 2006 sleeper hit Crazy Stone and 2007 blockbuster Crazy Racer, has been absent from the Chinese movie scene for the past three years since his last film No Man’s Land did not receive a screening permit from Chinese censors, allegedly because the film’s shooting location in China’s controversial province Xinjiang.

Guns N’ Roses is the director’s biggest budget film at $8m, backed by Beijing Galloping Horse. Set in the 1930 in Manchuria, north-east region of China, the story is about a group of young Chinese men planning to raid a bank during the Japanese occupation of the region of China. Ning says it’s a coming-of-age film with adventures in a chaotic era.

First-time actor Lei Jia-yin stars in the film with Crazy Stone veterans Huang Bo, Guo Tao, Liu Hua and Yue Xiaojun. The film’s lineup of professionals include Let the Bullets Fly cinematographer Zhao Fei and Korean action director Yang Kil-young (Old Boy, Monga). Explaining the film’s English title, Ning Hao says it is to pay tribute to a kind of idealism that the band represents.

Beijing Galloping Horse will also handle international sales of the film. In addition to Guns ‘N Roses, the company is also the backer of several international projects in development including Two-Gun Cohen by Doug Liman and John Woo’s Love and Let Love (formerly known as 1949).  It recently partnered with US digital production firm Digital Domain Media Group to set up Digital Domain - Galloping Horse Studio.

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