Just as Foxy Brown led the blaxploitation charge in 1970's US, the Japanese had their own ass-kicking chick counterpart - Female Prisoner Scorpion.

The collection of four ultra-violent women in prison films detailed the lover of a bad cop who is falsely accused of a crime and sent to prison.

Meiko Kaji, who later went on to star in the 1973 cult hit "Lady Snowblood" which inspired "Kill Bill", played the role in all the films which were released twice a year in 1972 and 1973.

Now, Ryuganji is reporting that Mizuno Miki has signed on to take over Meiko's role in an adaptation that "merges Hong Kong kung-fu with wire-assisted action sequences".

The project is currently shooting in Hong Kong under the direction of Joe Ma ("Love Undercover" series), and co-stars Dylan Kuo as Miki's double-crossing copy boyfriend, as well as Ishibashi Ryo ("The Grudge 2") and Natsume Nana.

Since the cast is a collection of Hong Kong and Taiwanese actors, the dialogue will be tri-lingual -- shot in Cantonese, Japanese and English. A late 2008 release is planned.