Cast member Sun Li promotes Jeffrey Lau's upcoming sci-fi movie "Robot" at a press conference in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province on December 15, 2008. [Photo: newssc.org]

Acclaimed Hong Kong director Jeffrey Lau held the first press conference for his futuristic film, "Robot". The film has been quietly shooting since the beginning of the year at an ancient town in Ningbo of Zhejiang Province.

The film blends slapstick comedy and romance with advanced technology. Budgeted at around ten million US dollars, the film features explosive battles between robots, and between humans and robots, replete with special effects.

The cast combines A-list stars from both the mainland and Hong Kong, including Wu Jing, Hu Jun, Sun Li, Ronald Cheng and Alex Fong.

Director Jeffrey Lau says that the idea for a Chinese robot came a bit later than "A Chinese Tall Story". He has been formulating the outline of "Robot" in his brain for ten years.

In this film, he sought to combine love stories with the latest filming techniques and advanced technologies. It was only after he watched "Transformers", did he made up his mind to shoot this film.

Jeffrey says that his robots will be well-versed in Chinese Kung Fu. He told designers that the robots must not only look unique, but also possess unique oriental traits.

The film is expected to go on general release in the summer of 2009.

(CCTV December 22, 2008)