Here’s some news that should get Hong Kong action movie fans salivating: Chow Yun-Fat, who rose to icon status in late '80s/early '90s, is set to take on a role in the upcoming Let the Bullets Fly.

The movie, which began shooting in September, is a comic Western set during the feudal days of 1920’s China. Actor Ge You, whose work has mostly been in mainland Chinese movies, stars as a conman who tries to buy his way into the government, which brings him into the orbit of Chow’s character. Bandits and warlords are also said to figure into the screenplay. Let the Bullets Fly is directed by Jiang Wen, who last directed the critically-acclaimed The Sun Also Rises (no relation to the Ernest Hemingway novel).

For months, Chow had been rumored in tabloids as joining the film’s cast, but we got the confirmation from Twitch, which in turn, got it from this Chinese-language news site. Hopefully, Let the Bullets Fly will help rejuvenate the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End actor’s career internationally; Chow last appeared as Master Roshi in the live-action adaptation of Dragon Ball Z, which tanked in the U.S.
 
Let the Bullets Fly is scheduled for release in Asia in fall 2010.