Actor Takeshi Kaneshiro (center) in a scene from the movie. Photo provided to China Daily

Woo reveals that the first time he heard the story of the Taiping from Taiwan scriptwriter Wang Hui-Ling (who wrote the script for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), he was deeply impressed by what he saw as a Chinese version of the Titanic sinking.

The Titanic, a British passenger liner, sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1912 after colliding with an iceberg during its maiden voyage from Southampton in the United Kingdom, to New York.

Titanic the movie, directed by James Cameron and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, was a mammoth worldwide hit and broke box-office records in China in 1997.

When Woo was preparing to shoot The Crossing late in 2011, however, he found he had lymph cancer. It was only after four surgeries and more than a year's rest that he could get back to work.

More than 20 A-list actors in Asia called the movie's producers to say they wanted to participate in the movie project.