Watanabe joins 'Shanghai' cast

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Japanese actor Ken Watanabe has signed on to star in "Shanghai," a big-screen drama set in China in the months leading up to Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.

Co-starring John Cusack and Gong Li, the English-language film is scheduled to start production in Shanghai next month, Variety.com reported Monday.

The movie is to be helmed Mikael Hafstrom, who previously directed Cusack in the supernatural thriller "1408."

Watanabe's screen credits include "Letters from Iwo Jima" and "The Last Samurai."