"Coming Home" actress Gong Li will be playing the White Bone Demon in the upcoming sequel of this year's Lunar New Year fantasy film "The Monkey King."
Gong will be joining Aaron Kwok who portrayed the Bull Demon King in the first installment and was promoted to replace Donnie Yen as "The Monkey King" due to his unavailability to take part in the sequel.
Reports revealed that Gong will be paid a hefty $40 million HKD for starring in the sequel as the villain, which was portrayed in the past by top caliber actresses such as Karen Mok, Kristy Yang and Ady An.
In the film, Gong will be displaying an array of 12 unique lavish looks as she portrays the shape-shifting villainess known as Baigujing, or the White Bone Demon, whose main objective is to devour the flesh of Buddhist monk Xuanzang, the story's central character.
During the announcement, Gong expressed her excitement in doing the project as this is reportedly her first 3D fantasy film experience.
"All of these are new to me, and I am full of curiosity. I believe the film will be magical and that I hope to be able to give the role justice," she exclaimed.
The production team of the "The Monkey King 2" has invited the 3D effects specialists responsible for the success of "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" to aid them in making the 3D fantasy film better than its predecessor.
Filming will be done in Wuxi as well as New Zealand before its scheduled release during the 2016 Lunar New Year.