Taiwan director Yueh Hsun Tsai (right) and young heart-throb Mark Chao promotes "Black & White" at the Beijing Film Academy on June 11 (CRIENGLISH.com)

Taiwan director Yueh Hsun Tsai and young heart-throb Mark Chao promoted the film at the Beijing Film Academy Monday.

During the press conference, director Tsai said they had moved up the launch date to June 19 from June 21.

The action thriller will go up against Pixar's 3D blockbuster Brave in an effort to gain a slice of the market for the summer slots.

Produced by Wolf Chen, Black & White will also star Crazy Stone star Huang Bo.

Huang and Chao will be supported by Hong Kong model-turned-actress Angelababy and Taiwan starlets Terri Kwan and Ivy Chen.

The story follows a young detective (Chao) who needs help from a retired gangster (Huang) to solve a murder, and the gangster needs the cop to find some stolen goods.

Black & White: Episode 1 is the prequel to the smash-hit 2009 TV series of the same name.

(CRIENGLISH.com June 12, 2012)