LI Bingbing. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

Movie star Li Bingbing, best known for her work in Transformers: Age of Extinction, will headline the biggest-ever-budgeted 3D Chinese-Australian co-production, Nest, Darclight, the genre films offshoot of Arclight Films, announced on Sept 14 at the Toronto International Film Festvial.

Li Bingbing’s most recent film, on which Arclight holds worldwide sales rights, Zhongkui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal, earned $80 million in China earlier this year.

"We are excited to be working with the extremely talented Li Bingbing again, who is already a superstar in China and has a very broad appeal worldwide, winning the hearts of audiences as well as top box office numbers," said Ying Ye, managing director of Easternlight, and a producer on the film.

"With a mesmerizing story, the brilliance of director Kimble Rendall, the breathtaking talent of Li Bingbing and an A-List special effects team, Nest is perfectly positioned to be a major commercial success with thrill-seeking audiences all over the world," Ting said.

Li Bingbing is also taking on the role of producer for Nest.

Nest is the largest Chinese-Australian co-production to date, with investment funding from Screen Australia and Film Queensland, and features an award-winning team both in front of and behind the camera. Heading up visual and special effects is Oscar-winning CG House, Rising Sun Pictures, whose resume includes films like X-Men: Days of Future Past and The Great Gatsby.

"Nest is the first sci-fi thriller of its kind to be approved as a Chinese co-production," said Elliot Tong, head of Asian sales and acquisitions for Arclight Films. "The unrelenting script does justice to the genre and convinced the censors that now is the perfect time for it. We are poised to make a groundbreaking movie that will set a trend for a fresh, new breed of co-productions in China that work internationally."

renali@chinadailyusa.com