When you think of Shanghai in 1941, the first name that comes to mind is John Cusack. Actually, that name would never come to my mind but it did come to the mind of the producers of Shanghai and they are in negotiations with Cusack to star in their WWII era drama.

Variety says Shanghai is about an American (presumably Cusack) who is in the titular Chinese city right before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. At that time, the Japanese Army occupied Shanghai and Cusack’s character will try to solve a murder and also falls in love for good measure. The love interest will be played by Chinese actress Gong Li.

The movie will reunite Cusack with his 1408 director, Mikael Hafstrom, and was written by Hossein Amini, who last wrote the bomb The Four Feathers. I’m game for anything Cusack is in and a period picture is somewhat rare for him, so this should be fun to watch. Filming will begin in China in 2008.