Chinese director Lu Chuan (pictured), whose award-winning film City of Life and Death focused on World War II's Nanjing Massacre, is going further back in time for his new film to depict another turning point in China's history.
Lu's next drama will depict a famous meeting that occurred in 206 BC and heralded the fall of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC).
Shooting on Banquet at Hongmen was expected to begin in June next year and the film slated for release at the end of 2010, Lu told a press conference in Beijing.
Xiang Yu (232-202 BC), the most powerful rebel of the Qin Dynasty, orchestrated the banquet to kill Liu Bang (256-195 BC), Xiang's biggest rival who later founded the Han Dynasty. Liu managed to escape the banquet and later led his army to defeat Xiang.
Banquet at Hongmen has become a colloquial Chinese term to refer to treachery or a trap hidden in an act of goodwill.
"I'll let the camera roll back to ancient times, but tell a story with a modern insight," Lu said.
Lu, 38, is considered one of the most talented young directors in China and won global acclaim for Kekexili: Mountain Patrol.