Stan Lee, the former head and current chairman emeritus of Marvel Comics, has recently joined forces with Chinese film production house Fundamental Films to create the first English-language film featuring a Chinese female superhero.
Titled "The Realm of the Tiger," the film will star Chinese actress Li Bingbing as the super heroine.
"We believe making female superhero films and other female-led action and sci-fi films will become a global trend in the future," said Cheng Jiaqi, president of Fundamental Films, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. "A female superhero will help this Chinese story stand out," Cheng added.
Sure enough, more and more female-centric films are being produced in China as a means of attracting female moviegoers.
According to Fundamental Films, the production studio will invest a fare share of the film's total budget, and will be heavily involved in the development, production and distribution of the film.
The plot and shooting timeline of "The Realm of the Tiger" have yet to be finalized, however. Fundamental Films is currently busy looking for a Western director to head the project.
The story will be based on a script written by Alex Litvak. Litvak was one of the writers behind "Predators," a 2010 action-adventure film.
China's state film authority has also yet to greenlight the project for official co-production status. An approval from the board will help "The Realm of the Tiger" get around the import quota usually imposed for films to be released in China.
This is not the first time Hollywood has reached out to Chinese filmmakers for a collaboration. Earlier this year, Huace Group signed a four-film development deal with Michael Uslan, the producer behind the "Batman" movies.