Tsui Hark and Andy Lau team for Phantom Flame

According to THR, Tsui Hark (Seven Swords) will direct Andy Lau (Infernal Affairs) in the period martial arts suspense thriller Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame, which starts shooting in Hong Kong and China this May.

Hark and production company Huayi Brothers, are looking to bring to life an imaginary case solved by a real Tang Dynasty detective. The story begins when the mysterious deaths of a series of loyal subjects threaten to delay the year 690 A.D. inauguration of Empress Wu, China’s only female leader. In an effort to solve the crime, the would-be leader calls the infamous Detective Dee (played by Lau) back from exile, where she cast him eight years earlier.

Dee accepts the challenge and partners with a commander and a “Ghost Doctor”, who is a master of disguise, to solve the crimes. Tsui has not chosen the rest of the cast, which will follow him on his shoot to Hong Kong, Beijing, Hangzhou and Henan.