Maggie Q has been cast to play the lead role in Chinese Fifth Generation director Tian Zhuangzhuang's epic drama The Warrior And The Wolf, which is being produced by Hong Kong's Bill Kong and partners from Japan, China and Singapore

She will star opposite Japanese actor Joe Odagiri (Tokyo Tower, Shinobi) and the cast also includes Taiwan's Tou Chung-hua (Lust, Caution). Based on a short novel by renowned Japanese writer Inoue Yasushi, the project is currently filming in the mountains of Xinjiang Province in north-western China.

Maggie Q's credits include international movies such as Die Hard 4 and Mission: Impossible III, as well as Chinese epic Three Kingdoms: Resurrection Of The Dragon.

'I've liked Maggie's roles in Mission: Impossible III and Die Hard 4. And then I saw her in Three Kingdoms and was very impressed by her performance as a historical character,' said Tian.

'Her presence certainly brought gravity and energy to the war epic. This time, in The Warrior And The Wolf, Maggie is playing a completely different kind of historical character, and we expect to see her bring forth a new yet equally powerful gravity to the film.'

The film marks a change in direction for Tian who has directed acclaimed arthouse films such as The Blue Kite, Springtime In A Small Town and more recently The Go Master. In a story of two warriors in ancient China (Odagiri and Tou), the film will display more action and visual effects than any of Tian's previous movies.

Maggie Q will play a tribal woman that Odagiri runs into, when his army is trapped in the Harran village, taking shelter from a severe blizzard.

Kong is producing with Japan's Satoru Ogura (Kamikaze Girls, Princess Racoon), Song Ge, chairman of Beijing-based Perfect World Culture Communication Co and Daniel Yun of Singapore's MediaCorp Raintree Pictures.

Other behind-the-camera talent includes Oscar-winning costume designer Emi Wada, visual effects supervisor Ellen Poon (Shrek 2, Hero) and DoP Wang Yu (Suzhou River, The Go Master).

The film is scheduled for release in late 2009.