Jet Li breaks film salary record

Jet Li has starred in Chinese martial arts films like Hero

Jet Li has broken the record as the highest earning actor in a Chinese-language film after raking in 100m yuan (£6.5m) for his latest movie.

The 44-year-old action star will receive the record-busting salary for his role in The Warlords, a war epic based on a Qing Dynasty story.

Nearly half of the 300m yuan (£19.3m) budget for the film went to the cast.

He also held the previous salary record for his role in the 2002 film Hero, where he earned 70m yuan (£4.6m).

Director Peter Chan said Li was a "guarantee" for global sales.

"Without Jet Li, we would not dare to invest 300m yuan in a Chinese-language film," he told Xinhua news agency.

Chinese-language movies have registered a string of hits in the past few years, such as Ang Lee's martial arts tale Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and ancient history epic, Hero.

The former national kung fu champion made his name in Hong Kong films in the 1990s before moving on to Hollywood, where he starred in films including Lethal Weapon 4 and Kiss of the Dragon.

He is currently filming The Mummy 3, playing a resurrected ancient Chinese emperor.

The Warlords is due to be released in Asia in December.