Zhang Yimou Makes First English-Language Film 'The Great Wall'

Renowned Chinese director Zhang Yimou is all set to direct "The Great Wall," his first English-language film.

The film, set with a budget of $135 million, will be a historical action film with sci-fi elements and a huge twist in the plot.

The language and budget for the period-action epic "The Great Wall" was revealed earlier this week by Legendary East CEO Peter Loehr at the U.S.-China Film Summit held in Downtown Los Angeles.

"Legendary East is trying to do the same kind of thing as in the U.S., that is to make large, very visual pictures. They will be no different technically to what we do elsewhere," Variety quoted Loehr as saying.

Loehr added that the film will be made for the international audience, pointing out the difficulties they have to face to make a film that will be accepted and liked by the global audience.

One of the reasons why Zhang has been considered to direct the film is that the successful director has handled big budget movies and events in the past.

His film "The Flowers of War," released in 2011, was made with an estimated production budget of $94 million. It was the most expensive Chinese film ever made.

He was also well appreciated for directing the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Summer Olympic Games in 2008.

The director of critically acclaimed films such as "Red Sorghum," "House of Flying Daggers," "Codename Cougar" and "Ju Dou" has been planning a Hollywood entry for quite some time now.

While the shooting for the film "The Great Wall" is set to begin only in February 2016, the casting is already under way. As per Collider, Bryan Cranston was recently reported to play a pivotal role in the film. However, there has been no official confirmation regarding that so far.

The production company, LeVision, where Zhang works as artistic director, is a co-investor to the film.

The worldwide distribution of the picture will be done by Chinese companies Pictures Worldwide and China Film Group.