Sean Lau
The project, budgeted at US$32 million, was first announced at the 2015 Hong Kong Filmart, which took place in March 2015, under the title The Deadly Reclaim, and was scheduled to start production in April and be released at the end of the year. Production began in June 2015 where on the 17th of the same month, a press conference was held on the film's outdoor set at the Keyan Scenic Area in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, China, where producer and director Benny Chan, action director Sammo Hung and cast members Sean Lau, Louis Koo, Eddie Peng, Yuan Quan, Jiang Shuying, Liu Kai-chi, Wu Jing, Philip Keung and Sammy Hung were present. The set took over four months to build. Sean Lau, who has not filmed a martial arts film in 20 years, was trained to use a whip to prepare his role as a guardian leader of Pucheng village. Louis Koo will portray the film's main villain, a ruthless warlord, while Eddie Peng will portray wanderer. On 19 June, the film's production company and distributor Universe Entertainment released a teaser trailer featuring behind the scenes footage and displaying a slated release date of 2016. Universe Entertainment released a second teaser trailer on 15 March 2016 under a new title, Call of Heroes.