Maggie Q will headline ‘The Warrior And The Wolf’, a high profile historical actioner being helmed by Chinese director Tian Zhuangzhuang. The film is a co-production between Edko Films of Hong Kong, Japan’s Ogura Jimusyo Co, China’s Perfect World Culture and MediaCorp Raintree Pictures in Singapore.

Q steps into a role originally destined for Tang Wei, the mainland actress who was banned from Chinese screens after her risqué turn in ‘Lust, Caution’. Ironically, director Tian (‘The Blue Kite’, ‘The Go Master’) was also prevented from working in China for several years following controversial scenes in a number of his earlier films.

The big-budget effort also boasts a stellar technical crew including Oscar winning costume designer Emi Wada (‘Hero’, ‘House of Flying Daggers’), effects designer Ellen Poon (‘Shrek 2′, ‘Hero’) and cinematographer Wang Yu (‘Suzhou River’, ‘Zhou Yu’s Train’)

Shooting of the combat epic is already underway in the Xinjiang province with an eye to a late 2009 release.