Producer and director John Woo speaks at the launching ceremony of "Jianyu Jianghu" in Shanghai on Tuesday, November 3, 2009. [Sina.com]

Producer-director John Woo's new film "Jianyu Jiangwu", literally "the rain of swords in the martial art world", has begun filming in Shanghai, sina.com reports.

A co-production of Hong Kong's Media Asia and mainland's Galloping Horses Film, "Jianyu Jiangwu" boasts a stellar cast including Malaysian kungfu star Michelle Yeoh, South Korea's Woo-sung Jung, Taiwan's Chen Chang, and Hong Kong's Kelly Lin.

Yeoh plays an lady assassin who falls in love with a postman (Woo-sung Jung), neither is aware the man's father was killed by her gang nor that he is a trained martial artist. Their love blossoms but then the past comes back to haunt them.

Cast member Michelle Yeoh poses at the launching ceremony of "Jianyu Jianghu" in Shanghai on Tuesday, November 3, 2009. [Sina.com]

John Woo said it was his favorite martial arts screenplay over the years and he had been waiting for such a chance to cooperate with Michelle Yeoh.

Angeles Woo, daughter of the "Face/Off" director, got a minor role as a mysterious killer.

John Woo's long-time partner, Terence Chang of Lion Rock Productions, will also work alongside him.

Chang describes the film as a combination of "Face/Off" and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" set in China's ancient Ming Dynasty.