Zhou Libo [sina.com]

Shanghai's homegrown star comic Zhou Libo, the most mentioned funnyman in 2009, will make his silver screen debut in the upcoming sequel of 1990s classic comedy "Flirting Scholar," the film's producer announced.

Immediately after declining the invitation from CCTV's 2010 new year's gala, a show hardly any Chinese entertainer can resist, the Shanghai-based comedian expressed his interest in the film through his agent, saying that "it will be a surprise for audiences to see Zhou's different performance in the film than on the comedy stage."

Zhou's role is still unknown for the sequel to "Flirting Scholar," a 1993 costume comedy starring popular comedian Stephen Chow and screen siren Gong Li.

It is reported last week that Zhou declined CCTV new year's gala director Jin Yue's invitation in person for he is fully booked in his own series of comedy shows scheduled around the 2010 Chinese new year.

Zhou Libo rose to fame with his original genre of comic drama, which he terms "Shanghai-style stand-up comedy." The city star, who insists to perform in Shanghai dialect, amuses the local audience by gagging about urban lifestyle and current affairs with his acidic wit. His comic shows are "non-scripted," acclaimed as "one person, one mouth, one show."

The comedian will soon launch a run of his new show "Crazy for Money" following the success of "A Laughable Talk on Big Shanghai" earlier this year.