HONG KONG – A Hong Kong movie company said Wednesday it has invested in American director Oliver Stone's biopic of US President George W. Bush, a rare Chinese leap into financing a Hollywood film.

Emperor Motion Pictures said in a statement that it is one of the investors in W, along with American independent movie company QED, Switzerland's Condor Films, Hong Kong's Global Entertainment Group and Australia's Omnilab Media Group.

"I've always admired Oliver Stone's work. I'm very excited to work with him this time," the statement quoted company chairman Albert Yeung as saying.

As part of the deal, Emperor owns the movie's distribution rights in mainland China, Hong Kong and gambling enclave Macau.

Emperor Motion Pictures publicist Rainy Tao declined to say how much the company invested in the $30 million (€19.4 million) movie.

The statement said Josh Brolin stars as Bush, Elizabeth Banks as Laura Bush, and James Cromwell as former President George H.W. Bush.

Ellen Burstyn plays Barbara Bush, Thandie Newton portrays Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Jeffrey Wright plays her predecessor, Colin Powell.

Stone has said that the film, which will focus on the life and presidency of Bush, won't be an anti-Bush polemic, but, as he told Hollywood trade publication Daily Variety, "a fair, true portrait of the man. How did Bush go from being an alcoholic bum to the most powerful figure in the world?"

W' will be Stone's third film dealing with presidential matters, following Nixon, and JFK. The filmmaker has been an outspoken critic of the administration's decision to invade Iraq.

Stone's films also include the Vietnam sagas Born on the Fourth of July and Platoon, which won four Oscars including best picture and director, and 2006's World Trade Center, about two policemen buried in the rubble of the twin towers after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The movie was to start filming this past Monday in the US state of Louisiana, with a planned North America release date of October 17, Emperor's statement said.

The deal marks a rare investment by a Hong Kong movie company in a Hollywood film.

Emperor Motion Pictures is mainly known for its Chinese-language films.

It is a division of Emperor Group, which has a movie joint venture with Jackie Chan and is known for its large stable of Hong Kong stars.

In previous Chinese investments in Hollywood movies, China's Huayi Brothers invested in the recent kung fu movie The Forbidden Kingdom, starring Chan and Jet Li.

Hong Kong's Shaw Brothers invested in director Ridley Scott's 1982 sci-fi classic Blade Runner. - AP