Chinese film director and author Guo Jingming is working with Kris, formerly of Korean boy band EXO, on an “exciting project,” the director told reporters in the 17th Shanghai International Festival in Shanghai, China, on Monday. 

“(Wu) Yifan is a good actor,” Guo said, using the Chinese name of the embattled singer, in the press conference for “Tiny Times 3.0,” the latest installment of his romantic melodrama trilogy “Tiny Times.”

The 31-year-old director achieved Chinese stardom though bestselling Chinese novels for young adults, including “City of Fantasy” and the “Tiny Times” series. The film versions of the “Tiny Times” trilogy brought him popularity as a director as well.

“Wu Yifan and I will come up with a very exciting and cool project … We cannot give out many details at this point, but you will eventually get the whole picture.”

Guo also told reporters, “I have not even started writing the script yet, but once we get the project started, we will have a discussion,” the director said, suggesting that he is thinking of casting Kris for his next film.

Earlier in June, Guo and Kris were seen communicating on social network services, without having made any concrete arrangements. But the online interaction led critics to expect that Kris will most likely appear in the film version of one of Guo’s novels, either “Huan Cheng” or “Tiny Times 4.0.”

This is the first time that someone in the Chinese entertainment scene has officially confirmed a working arrangement with Kris. On May 15, the boy band singer filed a lawsuit against his Korean agency, SM Entertainment, to revoke his exclusive contract, alleging an inhuman workload and poor treatment.

The filing came only eight days before EXO’s concert at Olympic Gymnastics Stadium in Seoul on May 23, arousing a fiery debate among EXO members and fans. The concert was held without Kris.

After the filing, the singer became estranged from his Chinese colleagues, who called him a “betrayer,” and the agency, which was caught off guard by his legal moves.

EXO originally consisted of 12 members and had two subunits: EXO-M, the Chinese unit, and EXO-K, the Korean unit. EXO-M now has six members, with four Chinese members, Kris, Luhan, Lay and Tao, and two Korean members, Xiumin and Chen.

The ongoing lawsuit has led to increased public attention in the boy band and SM, the country’s most successful entertainment agency in terms of sales.

By Chung Joo-won (joowonc@heraldcorp.com)