Promotional materials for Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal Photos: CFP

While Zhong Kui, the well-known "King of Ghosts" from Chinese mythology, can often be seen adorning gates as a sort of guard against evil spirits, he is seldom seen represented on the small or big screen in China.

 This is about to change, however, as China's only 3D fantasy movie, Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal, is set to hit cinemas during this New Year movie season.

 The film follows Zhong as he battles various ghosts and spirits. Directed by Zhao Tiaoyu, the director of Deadly Delicious and The Law of Attraction, the movie features an A-list cast including Chen Kun, Li Bingbing and Yang Zishan, the rising star from hit movie So Young. On a Thursday press, the movie released a series of fantasy-themed posters, as well as setting the screening date on February 19, the very first day of Chinese lunar new year.

According to Chinese folk lore, the King of Hell bestowed Zhong the title of King of Ghosts after Zhong committed suicide over failing the imperial examinations. Gaining the power to hunt down and capture ghosts, he is said to return to his hometown every Chinese New Year's Eve. 

In the film, Zhong (played by Chen Kun) heads into the underworld to steal a magic box, with which he hopes to banish ghosts from the earthly realm and bring eternal peace to the world.

According to executive producer Peter Pau, who grabbed an Academy Award for cinematography for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, South Korean special effect studio Macrograph and New Zealand's Weta Digital, the studio behind Peter Jackson's The Hobbit, are working on the film's special effects and costume designs.

Global Times