Jackie Chan

Jet Li

Journey to the West, costarring two of the biggest stars in kung fu cinema - Jackie Chan and Jet Li - is set to begin shooting in Shanghai next year.

"All the hurdles have been overcome. The only problem left is the script. We need a script that he approves of and I approve of. If that goes well, shooting will start in March or April in Shanghai," Chan confirmed to the Associated Press after a press conference to promote his new action comedy, Rob-B-Hood.

Chan suggested it will be action-oriented fare, saying he and Li must defer to the movie's Hollywood backers. "It will be more American-style. It will be more suited to foreign audiences than Chinese audiences." The movie will be directed by an American.

Completely different from the older TV version, the new show will focus on fantastic fights beyond real time and space between Tangseng, played by Jet Li, and Sandy, played by Jackie Chan.

The movie takes the characters from the original novel and rewrites them
Chan also revealed his Rush Hour 3 schedule, spending about a dozen days in France starting in September, followed by ten days of shooting in New York and further filming in Los Angeles. He said the movie will be wrapped up by March or April next year. He is also due to shoot a film in Japan that translates as the Shinjuku Incident with Hong Kong director Derek Yee.

The classic Chinese novelJourney to the West (Xi You Ji) was written by Wu Cheng En of the Ming Dynasty. This novel and its characters (Xuanzang also named Tangseng, Sunwukong also named the Monkey King, Friar Sand also named Sandy, and Pigsy also named as Pig) have been well known throughout China since the late Ming dynasty.

The first TV version ofJourney to the Westwas shot in the 1980s and while some of the effects seem like complete cheese now, back then they were considered something of a milestone in TV.