Didn't see a thread about this movie, so thought I'd start one.
It's directed by Feng Xiao Gang, one of the most popular moviemakers in mainland China. His previous films include A World Without Thieves with Andy Lau. The current film has just finished principle photography. Post production is expected to take five months, involving considerable CG work. Even though it's the director's first period work it has generated a great deal of international attention, due to the success of his previous films and the stellar cast. General release is planned for October, with international debut aimed possibly for the Toronto Film Festival. Below is a rough synopsis:
At the end of the Tang dynasty warlords once again divide the country into feudal kingdoms, and proclaim themselves kings and emporers. The emporer of one of these kingdoms dies suddenly, and his brother (Ge You, a Feng regular) ascends to the throne. Impiously he takes the widowed, beautiful young empress (Zhang Zi Yi) for himself. Although by rites she is the stepmother of the dead emperor's son, the prince regent (Daniel Wu), the prince and her grew up together as children and would have married if she had not been selected as the empress. The prince is not an ambitious man, prefering instead the life of an artist, but he suspects that his uncle, the new emperor, may have had a hand in his father's death. The desire for revenge combined with the empress's wish for him to unseat his uncle and become emperor himself thrusts him on a dangerous road of rebellion and retribution.
Unbeknownst to the prince and his uncle, a powerful court official has also long coveted the throne and the empress. He too schemes to become the emporer. His daughter (Zhou Xun) however loves the prince, and seeks to help him against the wishes of her clan. The official's son (Huang Xiao Ming, the new Yang Guo in ROCH05) has also been thrown into the chaotic struggle, to protect his naive sister and the honor of his family.