Rising star Zhang Hanyu, who spearheaded the band of brothers in Assembly (Jijie Hao), which grabbed 260 million yuan (US$36 million) at the domestic box office, is to be an officer again in The Cold Flame (Feng Huo).

Zhang Hanyu is seen in this photo of movie Assembly

Set to premiere on March 7, the film tells the story of an officer and a 14-year-old girl in the chaos of war in 1944. Zhang said his role in Assembly was like strong liquor, while The Cold Flame is more like a cup of green tea in the morning. The former has a strong impact visually and mentally, while the latter is more comfortable and cozy.

Zhang took the role in 2005, two years before he starred in Feng Xiaogang's Assembly. The art house film with a budget of only 2 million yuan (US$270,000) was not intended as a cinema release, until Zhang rose to prominence in Assembly.

(China Daily February 26, 2008)