Hong Kong-based Celestial Pictures has sealed three pre-sales on its upcoming martial arts drama My Kingdom, which is currently in post-production.

The film, starring Wu Chun, Barbie Hsu and pop idol Han Geng, has gone to Singapore’s Raintree MediaCorp, Malaysia’s Golden Screen and Indonesia’s PT Teguh Bakti Mandiri.

The three companies boarded the film without seeing any footage – Celestial is kicking off its distribution push on the film here at Filmart. Produced by Beijing-based Skyland Films and Andre Morgan’s DW Films, it tells the story of two brothers’ quest for fame, love and revenge against the backdrop of the Shanghai opera stage in the 1920s.

The film is directed by Gao Xiaosong, one of the up-and-coming filmmakers that Morgan is nurturing, with Hong Kong’s Sammo Hung as action director. “It’s a period film but it touches on pop culture references of today,” explains Morgan. “It will look different, with a fresh director telling a period story in a contemporary way.” 

Peter Poon, Celestial’s senior vice president, Theatrical Distribution, says the film is being readied for wide theatrical release across Chinese-speaking territories in August/September. He is currently in talks with distributors for Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China.