A still of "The Stool Pigeon" [Photo: CFP]

Chinese action thriller "The Stool Pigeon," directed by Dante Lam and starring Nicholas Tse and Nick Cheung, will be released on August 26, M1905.com reports.

Lam brought the cast from his previous film, "Beast Stalker," (2008) back for this new film. Other cast members includes Liu Kai-chi, Guey Lun-mei, Sherman Chung, Miao Pu and Lu Yi.

But the story in Lam's new film has no connection to the old one. "The Stool Pigeon" tells the story of an informer (Nicholas Tse) in a Hong Kong gang who helps a policeman (Nick Cheung) solve a criminal case.

Besides the same cast, the two films also share the theme of exploring human nature and fate.

Lam says he has always been interested in shooting an informant-themed film.

"There's no Hong Kong shoot-out film on this theme yet. It's a good subject for exploring human nature and I have done research with involved people in real life," said Lam.

Nick Cheung won Best Actor at the 28th Hong Kong Film Awards and 46th Taiwan Golden Horse Awards for his performance in the previous film, "Beast Stalker."