Chinese director Zhang Yimou's upcoming film "Nanjing Heroes" set during the Japanese invasion of China will be released in Japan.

Actor Christian Bale plays an American priest in the Chinese film "Nanjing Heroes".

Film producer Zhang Weiping was quoted by Sohu.com as saying that the film had found a Japanese distributor, although he did not name a specific company or release date. Zhang also said the film's creative team included top Japanese movie artists such as production designer Yohei Taneda.

"Nanjing Heroes" is about a group of people making life choices in face of the Nanjing Massacre in 1937. The lead characters include an American priest working in Nanjing, 13 prostitutes and a group of wounded Chinese soldiers.

Hollywood star Christian Bale takes the role as the priest, while new Chinese actresses have been cast to play the prostitutes.

The movie's war scenes feature special effects by a team under the supervision of Joss Williams whose credits include "Band of Brothers" and "The Pacific".

The production team recently finished shooting the film. It is slated for release in China on December 16.