Nick Cheung's new film 'The Trough' opens April 28

Award-winning actor Nick Cheung will see his new film, The Trough, hit local cinemas on April 28, marking the first time a feature he's directed is generally released in the Chinese mainland.

Rising to fame from a series of comedy hits and shifting to somber roles in the recent decade, Cheung is widely reckoned as one of the best actors in Hong Kong cinema.

At a Beijing press conference on Wednesday, Cheung said he put his personal thoughts into a crime thriller story, a mainstream genre of Hong Kong cinema.