File photo: Chinese director Chen Kaige is seen in a file photo. Chen is planning on a film adaptation of Yuan Dynasty play "The Orphan of Zhao," Chinese media reported Tuesday. [rednet.cn]

Is Chen Kaige determined to make more retro films? With his latest offering, "Mei Lanfang," yet to open, his next project is in the offing - an adaptation of a classical play.

The internationally acclaimed director is preparing to adapt "The Orphan of Zhao," a Yuan Dynasty play known as the first to be introduced to Europe, Xinwen Wubao reported Tuesday.

The newspaper cited a source close to Chen as saying that the director has talked with South Korean actor Jang Dong-Gun and hoped to collaborate with him again.

Jang starred in Chen's 2005 blockbuster "The Promise."

"But director Chen has thrown himself into carefully editing 'Mei Lanfang' and any preparation for 'The Orphan of Zhao' would be merely in it's early stages," the unnamed insider told Xinwen Wubao.

Chen Kaige has not confirmed the rumor.

"The Orphan of Zhao," about a revenge story, is sometimes compared to Shakespeare's "Hamlet." It was translated into French by a missionary named Joseph Henri Marie de Prémare in 1731, and since then it has been inspiring many runs on European stages.

Chen's "Mei Lanfang," a biopic of the late Peking Opera legend Mei Lanfang (1894-1961) and featuring Leon Lai and Zhang Ziyi, is set to open in China during the New Year holidays.

(CRI July 30, 2008)