After Olympics, director Zhang Yimou plans to start shooting new movie in May or June

Post-Olympics, director Zhang Yimou plans new film

HONG KONG — Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou will start shooting a new movie in late May or June, his assistant said Monday, marking the “Raise the Red Lantern” director’s first project since designing the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics.

The assistant, Pang Liwei, declined to reveal the plot, telling The Associated Press in a phone interview only that the film will incorporate “comedic elements.” Pang said she didn’t know the budget of the movie.

Zhang, whose credits include “To Live,” hasn’t made a movie since the 2006 historical epic “Curse of the Golden Flower.”

Zhang wowed audiences with a stunning Olympics opening ceremony that saw retired Chinese gymnast Li Ning soaring through the air carried by wires to light the Olympic cauldron. The opening ceremony won a Peabody Award for excellence in electronic media.

China’s government has appointed Zhang as director of a gala celebrating the communist regime’s 60th anniversary on Oct. 1.