Li Yifeng stars as military strategist He Changgong, Zhu Yawen as Premier Zhou Enlai and Liu Ye as Chairman Mao Zedong. Most of the actors playing Chinese military leaders from the 1920s in the new film are young pop idols. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The Founding of an Army, directed by Andrew Lau, is listed on Chinese social media as one of the most anticipated films. Xu Fan reports.

The upcoming 90th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army is seeing many military-themed movies and TV series hitting the screens.

The Founding of an Army directed by Andrew Lau, a Hong Kong filmmaker known for his stylish action sequences, is listed as one of the most anticipated films on some movie portals and the Chinese social media.

A follow-up to The Founding of a Republic (2009) and Beginning of the Great Revival (2011)－about the birth of New China and the Communist Party of China－the new movie is about the early history of the Party's armed forces in the late 1920s.

It starts with Chiang Kaishek's annihilation of Communist members in Shanghai on April 12, 1927, and chronicles the formation of the Party-led armies through milestones such as the 1927 Nanchang Uprising and 1928 joining forces at the Jinggang Mountain.

As a tribute to the PLA's 90th anniversary, which falls on Aug 1, the movie is set to open in Chinese mainland theaters on Thursday.

While the upcoming PLA anniversary has brought new focus on the movie, the film was in the news earlier for other reasons.

"When reports appeared that I would direct the movie (in 2016), many people asked, 'Why a Hong Kong director?'" says Lau.