Zhang Yimou's upcoming martial arts epic Shadow, starring young actor Wu Lei, will open on Sept 30.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Cheng Wu, vice-president of Tencent and CEO of Tencent Pictures, says Venom marks the company's first collaboration with Sony that he hopes will allow them to explore more projects across multiple fields such as film, television, music and games.

As the third installment of Xue Xiaolu's directorial franchise examining the struggles and ambitions of overseas Chinese, The Whistleblower is highlighted alongside the Jackie Chan action flick Project X as an example of Tencent Pictures' ambitions to create influential blockbusters. Both the movies have had a portion of their budgets supplied by the tech giant-backed newcomer.

At the recent global debut of Shadow at the Venice International Film Festival, Zhang showed up at Monday's event in Beijing with actor Hu Jun, who plays a general.

"I've shot films for many years and always strive to create great stories," says Zhang, adding that he enjoyed cooperating with co-financers like Tencent Pictures, Le Vision Pictures and Perfect Village on his latest venture.

Interestingly, in a recent statement released by Le Vision Pictures, Zhang revealed that he regretted to having taken the role as director on the Sino-US coproduction, The Great Wall.

With a budget of around $150 million and starring Matt Damon, the film bombed at the box office and was regarded by some as a taint on Zhang's career, the first Chinese mainland director to win a Berlin Film Festival's Golden Bear for his 1988 drama Red Sorghum.

"I underestimated Hollywood's strict system of curbing (directors), which I completely dislike. It's quite different from the freedom that a Chinese director would be allowed to enjoy in China," said Zhang.

He says he was persuaded to take up the project as his agent believed The Great Wall would open in around 150 countries, affording him unprecedented global coverage, but the "catch" was that he had no right to revise even one line of the script.

Except for Shadow, a fictional story set in the Three Kingdom period (220-280), the series Qing Yu Nian (Celebrating an Affluent Year) is another key production rooted in Chinese history.

Adapted from the popular online novel of the same title, Qing Yu Nian is a thriller that follows the story of a young man, whose unraveling of a fatal poisoning case leads to the discovery of his true identity.

In an exciting moment for costume drama fans, the main cast of Story of Yanxi Palace appeared at the event to promote their new ancient China-themed drama The Legend of Hao Lan.