Director Raman Hui, known for his animation design in Hollywood's Shrek, will release his latest 3-D movie, Monster Hunt, in China. Jiang Dong / China Daily

Hong Kong director Raman Hui has worked in Hollywood for a large part of his adult life. He is best known for the hit DreamWorks animation Shrek.

Now, his Chinese fantasy movie, Monster Hunt, is set to be released.

The 3-D movie features a cast of computer-animated monsters and human stars, including mainland performers Bai Baihe, Jing Boran, Yao Chen and Tang Wei, and veteran Hong Kong actor Eric Tsang and actress Sandra Ng.

Hui says he had wanted to make an animated movie just for Chinese audiences for a long time.

"If China could make classics such as The Monkey King (1964), I believe we can produce more titles like this," the 52-year-old director told China Daily.

Although Hui had wanted a purely animated movie, Monster Hunt producer Bill Kong, president of Hong Kong-based Edko Film, believed a big-budget movie would be a safer choice for the market.

"It's much like gambling. I bet all the money on the film," Kong told media earlier.

Monster Hunt will hit Chinese mainland theaters on July 16.