Director Steven Spielberg arrives at the 78th Academy Awards in Los Angeles in this Sunday, March 5, 2006, file photo. (AP)

Steven Spielberg will join filmmaker Zhang Yimou in designing the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Zhang, whose films include "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers," was named Sunday to lead a team that includes Spielberg.

"I've promised not to direct any films in the next two years so as to make full preparations for the Olympics," Zhang was quoted as saying in the official Xinhua News Agency.

Zhang said his hiatus will start after he finishes his latest project, "The City of Golden Armor," starring Chow Yun-fat and Gong Li.

He is to stage the world premiere of countryman Tan Dun's opera "The First Emperor" for New York's Metropolitan Opera later this year. It wasn't clear how that commitment would be affected by his new Olympics role.

Spielberg's films include "Schindler's List," "Saving Private Ryan" and "Munich."