The upcoming crime thrillerCold War 2stars (from left) Chow Yun-fat, Aaron Kwok and Tony Leung Ka-fai.[Photo provided to China Daily]

It has been 24 years since Chow Yun-fat last starred in a crime thriller, but he will make a comeback in Sunny Luk and Longman Leung'sCold War 2, which is set to be released in July.

The firstCold War, the directors' maiden effort, was a massive box-office success that starred Aaron Kwok and Tony Leung Ka-fai. It was the highest grossing Hong Kong film of 2012, earning $5.78 million locally and $40 million on the Chinese mainland.

It also dominated the Hong Kong Film Awards, bagging nine prizes including best film, best director, best screenplay and best actor.

When the directors started to work on the sequel in 2013, Hong Kong media reported that William Kong, the producer ofCold War, invited Chow to play the film's villain.

"I like the first film very much and I asked to play the role in the sequel," says Chow, who came to Beijing for the sequel's news conference on April 10.

Luk says the story ofCold War 2will explore the answers to the major pending questions in the first film.