China's most famous actress Fan Bingbing may soon make a comeback to the big screen after mysteriously going missing last year and then getting fined £100 million for dodging taxes.
The 37-year-old superstar, once the richest actress in China, will reportedly begin filming an all-female James Bond-style spy thriller called '355' late this year.
Dubbed 'China's screen empress', Fan was cast by the film alongside Jessica Chastain, Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, and Lupita Nyong'o before the sensational tax scandal brought her career to a standstill.
Chinese actress Fan Bingbing (far left), who went missing last year and then was disgraced by a sensational tax scandal, will reportedly make a comeback to the big screen with all-female spy thriller '355'. The film's cast are pictured posing during last year's Cannes Film Festival
Fan tasted Hollywood success with a role in the 2014 blockbuster 'X-Men: Days of Future Past'
The highly anticipated film, with British-born American director Simon Kinberg at the helm, will move forward with its original cast, according to Variety.
But the film, with an estimated budget of $75 million (£57 million), has lost support from its Chinese investors.
Huayi Brothers, Fan Bingbing's former employer and one of China's largest entertainment companies, told Variety that it had pulled out of the project.
'The decision could reflect a determination that Fan remains a toxic figure in China and that importing a Hollywood title starring her would be too difficult,' the report said.
The 37-year-old Chinese actress (far right) will star alongside (from right to left) Penélope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Jessica Chastain and Lupita Nyong'o in the Simon Kinberg film
This has been the first announcement of Fan's future projects since she was disgraced by the tax scandal and had to beg forgiveness from the people and the Communist Party in China.
The news of her possible comeback has gathered much attention in her home country.
A relevant trending topic page on Weibo, China's equivalent to Twitter, has been read more than 310 million times. Web users
