Jackie Chan, Zhang Ziyi tapped for movie about Mount Everest conquest
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Jackie Chan (left) and Zhang Ziyi are being roped in for the film, based on the true-life account of how a Chinese trio became the first in the world to climb Mount Everest's North Ridge in 1960.
PHOTOS: FACEBOOK/JACKIE CHAN, INSTAGRAM/ZIYIZHANGLOVE
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BEIJING - China's film industry is set to scale a new peak with shooting started on a Mount Everest movie.
To ensure that the film, tentatively called Climbers, reach new box-office heights, the producers have roped in big names Jackie Chan, Wu Jing (Wolf Warrior 2) and Jing Boran (Monster Hunt).
Zhang Ziyi is also being tapped to play a meteorologist who assists the mission, according to trade publication Hollywood Reporter.
Films with a nationalistic streak have been lapped up at the Chinese box office, with recent movie The Wandering Earth, for example, orbiting high with a plot detailing how Chinese astronauts saved the Earth from a rapidly expanding sun.
While that story was fictional, Climbers' is based on the true-life account of how a Chinese trio became the first in the world to climb Mount Everest's North Ridge in 1960.
They left a small statue of Chinese leader Mao Zedong on the summit of the world's highest mountain, before making a descent to help a fourth team member who was unable to complete the climb.
The movie, directed by Daniel Lee, is slated for release next year
