Magnet, the genre section of Magnolia Pictures, announced today that is has acquired North American distribution rights to Peter Ho-Sun Chan’s “Warlords.”

Starring Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro and directed by Peter Ho-Sun Chan, “Warlords” was released in Asia in 2007 and won eight Hong Kong Film Awards including Best Director and Best Actor for Jet Li.

“I was very impressed by ‘Warlords,'” said Magnolia President Eamonn Bowles in a press release. “It’s very well made and has a Hong Kong action film dream cast. We’re excited to be bringing it to North American audiences.”

The film takes place in the midst of the Taiping Rebellion in the 1860s. Li plays General Pang who joins a group of bandits led by Er Hu (Lau) and Wu Yang (Kaneshiro) after his soldiers are massacred. The three make a pact to become blood brothers, but the oath turns sour as political deceit and a love triangle emerge.

“Warlords” is based on the same historical event that inspired the Shaw Brothers classic, “Blood Brothers.”

Magnolia plans to release “Warlords” in late summer.

Magnet is the genre arm of Magnolia Pictures (www.magpictures.com), specializing in films from the vanguard of horror, action, comedy and Asian cinema.

About The Author

Terri Schwartz was a Blast Contributing Editor from 2008-2009.

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