BEIJING, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- "White Snake," an animated film co-produced by Light Chaser Animation in China and Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States, will hit the big screen in China on Jan. 11.

The film is set 500 years before the Chinese folktale it draws its inspiration from, "Legend of the White Snake," which features the romantic tragedy of a young man named Xu Xian and the white snake maiden Bai Suzhen.

As a folk legend remembered and celebrated by the Chinese people for centuries, it has seen various film adaptations through the years.

Rather than being another adaptation of the tale, the film aims to reveal to the audience how destiny ties the two leading characters in the tale together hundreds of years ago, said Zhao Ji, one of the directors.

This is the first time Warner Bros. has participated in a co-production animated film project. It is also the first Warner Bros film that tells a Chinese folk story.

The year 2018 has seen huge success in Chinese-American co-productions such as the co-produced action thriller "The Meg," which raked in more than half a billion U.S. dollar in the global box office.