Benny Chan and Corey Yuen present Shaolin

Benny Chan’s new film SHAOLIN is getting a lot of buzz for several reasons.

One, is that it has been officially sanctioned by the famous Shaolin Temple. Two, the big stars in the cast: Andy Lau, Nicholas Tse, Wu Jing, Fan Bingbing and Jackie Chan are all on board.

Andy Lau plays Hao Jie, a warlord who returns to Shaolin after his family is massacred by a rival warlord, played by Nicolas Tse. Jackie Chan holds a supporting role as a cook, but who is really a Shaolin master in disguise. Cory Yuen is the choreographer from Transporter, The One and most of Jet Li’s films lends his talents to Shaolin.

The film was shot in a painstakingly-detailed, life-size replica of the original 5th century temple, and true to history, was burned down at the end.

China is plunged into strife as feuding warlords try to expand their power by warring over neighboring lands. Fuelled by his success on the battlefield, young and arrogant Hao Jie sneers at Shaolin’s masters when he beats one of them in a duel. But the pride comes before a fall. When his own family is wiped out by a rival warlord, Hao is forced to take refuge with the monks. As the civil unrest spreads and the people suffer, Hao and the Shaolin masters are forced to take a fiery stand against the evil warlords. They launch a daring plan or rescue and escape.

No release date has yet been set, but is expected sometime in 2011.

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