Actors Ge You (right) and Jiang Wen

With his formidable box-office power, Chinese actor Ge You is determined to help the new movie "Let the Bullets Fly" make a domestic splash, although its director Jiang Wen seems to have his eye on the Western market.

Ge You, one of the most sought-after Chinese actors today, has confirmed his involvement in director-actor Jiang Wen's latest gangster film. He will play a swindler who tries to buy a position in the government.

Ge You has been a long-standing contributor to China's box office takings. His latest romantic comedy, "If You Are the One", directed by Feng Xiaogang, was the most profitable Chinese film last year.

As well as Ge You, "Let the Bullets Fly" will also star Jiang Wen himself and another "internationally acclaimed big-name", according to a source close to Jiang Wen. Tabloids speculate it's likely to be "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" star Chow Yun-Fat.

The film will only be the second cooperation between the top actors Ge You and Jiang Wen, after the 1996 historical drama film "Qin Song" ("The Emperor's Shadow").

Jiang Wen, who is a frequent guest at Western film festivals, released posters for "Let the Bullets Fly" last month as he sought for international distributors at the Cannes Film Festival. The posters describe the film as "a comic Western legend".

The director is yet to give his film a Chinese name.

Filming is slated to begin in August in southern China's Guangdong Province.

(CRI June 11, 2009)