Chow Yun Fat starring as Chow Yun-fucius

Well, at least no one can say that he isn't versatile. After years of playing bad-ass gangsters and Kung Fu masters, Chow Yun-Fat has most recently popped up in Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and the soon-to-be-released, anime-turned-movie Dragonball Evolution. Soon, however, he'll have all eyes on him in a movie chronicling the life and times of Confucius.

Along with "propaganda pic" The Great Cause of China's Foundation (starring Andy Lau) and a Zhang Yimou (of House of Flying Daggers and the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremonies fame) epic, this still-unnamed film is part of a government push to celebrate 60 years of Communist rule. It will be jointly produced by state-run China Film Group and Beijing-based Dadi Cinema, and will be directed by well-known female director Hu Mei. Chen Daoming, despite being the popular choice to play the film's main character, has been slotted into a secondary role as Lao Zi, the founder of Taoism, while Zhejiang's Zhou Xun will star alongside as the female lead.

The RMB 150 million (USD $22 million) biopic will begin filming in Hebei province next month, but Chow has already gotten a head start on the requisite fu-manchu.

Image from Rotten Tomatoes