If you liked Crouching Tiger, get set for Precious Sword, Golden Hairpin. Bob and Harvey Weinstein are planning a Lord of the Rings style series of fantasy films based on the series of novels that inspired Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Written by the late Wang Du Lu, the five books of the "Crane-Iron Pentalogy" was seen to have given rise to the Wuxia (martial arts chivalry) genre of Chinese literature.

The former Miramax chiefs have acquired worldwide rights to all five novels, of which Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was the fourth. The others are Crane Frightens Kun Lun; Precious Sword, Golden Hairpin; Sword Spirit, Pearl Light; and Iron Knight, Silver Vase.

The books, which document the struggles of four generations of fighting men and women during the Qing dynasty, may pose problems for an adaptor. Although loosely based on the fourth novel, Ang Lee's 2001 film cherry-picked elements from Wang's other books.

Announcing the purchase, Harvey Weinstein said that he foresaw "a series of great films, much like the Lord of the Rings trilogy... I think this is the opportunity to create something revolutionary".

Weinstein maintained a producer's credit on Peter Jackson's trio of films based on the JRR Tolkien epic, although he was not actively involved in the production.