Feng Xiaogang, whose two films in 2010 raked in 1.1 billion yuan ($167 million) and one tenth of the country's total box office, will now start on a project he has wanted to do for more than 10 years.

At a recent banquet hosted by Huayi Brothers, Feng's decade-long business partner, the 53-year-old director revealed he would start filming a story about "who our mothers are and where we come from".

He did not reveal further details, though he did say the writer has revised the script 15 times to make it "closer to the truth".