CHINESE star Gong Li and U.S. actor John Cusack are set to feature in a new period drama set in Shanghai during World War II, entertainment industry press reported Tuesday.

Gong, whose recent movies include “Curse of the Golden Flower,” “Miami Vice” and “Memoirs of a Geisha,” has already signed to star in the film, “Shanghai,” the Daily Variety reported.

Veteran actor Cusack, who has earned glowing reviews for his performances in recent films “Grace is Gone” and “1408,” is still in negotiations with studio bosses from The Weinstein Co., the report added.

Cusack is being lined up to play an American who returns to Japanese-occupied Shanghai four months before Pearl Harbor to discover that a friend has been killed.

The film follows Cusack as he unravels the mystery of the death and gradually uncovers a cover-up, Variety reported.

The film is to be directed by Mikael Hafstrom with filming scheduled to begin in 2008.(SD-Agencies)