(China Plus) Chinese fantasy adventure film "Asura," which features Oscar-winning costume and set designers, will hit theatres on Friday.
Up-and-coming Chinese actor Leo Wu Lei plays one of the lead roles.
At the premiere in Beijing, he recalled the hardships he encountered shooting a scene with actress Zhang Yishang, who plays his love interest.
"In one scene, we had to chase and battle against each other between narrow cliffs. We had done a lot of preparations for that. Between the cliffs is just a narrow space, which confined us to move in a nimble way. For that scene, parkour masters were brought in to design our movements and also gave us a lot of training."
Hong Kong veterans Carina Lau, Tony Leung Ka Fai, along with Wu Lei – together play the same role as the titular three-headed demi-god.
American actor Matthew Knowles also plays a role in the new film.
Based on Buddhist mythology, "Asura" is believed to be the most expensive production ever in China at a cost of around 100 million US dollars.
The directorial debut of Chinese filmmaker Zhang Peng, who began working as a Hollywood stunt coordinator, the film features an international cast and a veteran Hollywood production team, despite being a Chinese-language film.
Source: China Plus by Xu Fei