Sometimes a story comes along that is just a little too easy to make fun of. Hugh Jackman is a well known stage performer and avid singer and dancer, so putting him in a film directed by Wayne Wang makes cracking jokes like shooting fish in a barrel.

All phallus jokes aside, there is a bit of real news buried within the jokey headlines. The Oriental Morning Post (Via Coming Soon) is reporting that the acclaimed novel from Lisa See, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, is being adapted in Shanghai by the aforementioned Wayne Wang, and Jackman has stepped into the male lead. Replacing Zhang Ziyi in the female lead is Li Bingbing, who may be less recognizable, but whose name is infinitely more fun to say.

Snow Flower is the story of two females who are slaves to their 19th century Chinese traditions. Working in servitude, women who are secluded from the world develop their own secret language in order to communicate with one another and develop friendships. Production has begun in China and Jackman will join them in February.