Sharpshooter | Zhang Yimou

[Cremildo]

Chinese authorities have officially registered and approved a new Korean War-era film from director Zhang Yimou whose Chinese name translates to “The Coldest Gun.”

It will be written by Chen Yu, the screenwriter who also partnered with Zhang on his upcoming crime thriller “Under the Light,” and produced by Li Feng Culture, a small firm whose only credit to date appears to be as a minor co-producer on the patriotic National Day film “My People, My Homeland,” which hit cinemas Oct. 1 and has made $289 million so far. According to an official government filing that emerged online Wednesday, the project has been approved by Chinese authorities and can move forward with shoots.

The film will tell the story of a 22-year-old sniper named Zhang Dagong as he fights against U.S. troops during the Korean War. He is based on the real-life personage Zhang Taofang, a Jiangsu native born in 1931 who joined the Chinese army in 1951 and hit the battlefield in Korea the next year, where he reportedly set a record by killing or wounding 214 American soldiers with 435 shots in 32 days. He passed away in 2007. [+]