Donnie Yen's salary has rocketed to 20 million Yuan ( nearly US $ 3 million) per film following his performance in "Ip Man 2", Chinafilm.com reports.

Yen's salary now exceeds that of Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau and actor Tony Leung, but trails some way behind Jackie Chan's 103 million Yuan (US$ 15 million) and Jet Li's 68 million Yuan (nearly US$ 10 million).

According to the report, investment company Polybona believes there's a good chance that Donnie Yen will take over from Jackie Chan and Jet Li as the new king of kung fu movies.

Donnie Yen was offered US $ 3 million to play the lead role in "Guan Yunchang", a movie about a great general from the historical Chinese novel "Romance of Three Kingdoms".

"With his great performances, he's box office gold and worth every penny of his $ 3 million salary. I'm very interested in working with him," said Daniel Lam, president of Universe International Holdings Limited in Hong Kong.