John Woo's The Battle of Red Cliff

[Hunter Rider]

http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=20464

Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a tidbit on the goings-on of John Woo from The Hollywood Reporter. It seems that he has 2 projects that'll take him back to China, one an English language film to shoot there and the other, a film called THE WAR OF THE RED CLIFF, to be shot in his native Chinese language. This is nothing but good news to me. He's had some good flicks in the US (I love me my FACE/OFF and if it wasn't for BROKEN ARROW I'd be writing for HARRY KNOWLES' COOL NEWS PLACE or something), but when he misses... good god does he miss. I'm happy to see him return to his element. Drink up that Chinese water and get you some of that fine cuisine. Power up, bud! You got another KILLER in you! I know it! Here are the details on the two flicks:

John Woo is going back to China to shoot a neo-noir thriller for Bristol Bay Prods.

The untitled project will be filmed in Beijing and will be produced in association with StudioCanal. Woo also will produce with Terence Chang through their production company, Lion Rock Prods. Caroline Macaulay of Lion Rock will be executive producer.

One of the appeals for the filmmakers was the chance to shoot in China and explore the country's seemingly contradictory duality of being a communist-run nation with a capitalist impetus.

The story involves an American visiting China who becomes entangled in a clash between the communist government and the underworld that is fueling the underground economy. Don MacPherson is writing the screenplay.

Bristol Bay is financing the movie, which will be in English.

CAA-repped Woo is prepping "The War of the Red Cliff," which will be his first movie shot in China and in the Chinese language since the Hong Kong action director broke into Hollywood in 1993 with "Hard Target." His U.S. oeuvre includes "Broken Arrow," "Face/Off" and "Mission: Impossible 2" as well as "Paycheck" and "Windtalkers."

Bristol Bay is the sister company to Walden Media and part of the Anschutz Film Group. Bristol Bay produced and financed "Ray" and "Sahara."

 

[Mentok]

Good news... Woo's hollywood films have never quite hit the mark. I hope he comes out with something good

 

[Hunter Rider]

Good news... Woo's hollywood films have never quite hit the mark. I hope he comes out with something good

Me too,i love Woo's HK movies and i enjoyed a few of his US ones but this is what he needs after Paycheck,hope he gets a good actor for the noir one as i already know he has Chow lined up for the War of Red cliff

 

[ord0g]

It's about time John Woo decided to go back to China to make a Chinese film. All his efforts in the US have been pretty piss poor to say the least. I can't wait to see Chow Yun Fat and John Woo team up again.

 

[Sava]

not all jis US films sucked, but yeah, good news

 

[the_ultimate_evil]

gee between, these,metroid,splinter cell,and masters of the universe, the guy has his plate full,

i personally take every john woo new film with a grain of salt

but personally i'd like to see masters first

 

[OtepApe]

It's about time Woo went back to China. Some of his US films have been ok, but nothing like his older stuff back in China.

 

[ROBOCOP CPU001]

woo needs to hook up with my favourite hk movie actor,

chow yun fat

after all the movies they made in the past you would think they would continue to make great action movie together,

 

[Darth Rockwell]

This guy makes great films if they are his foregin stuff but his US stuff is not that great. Can't wait for War of Red Cliffs

 

[Kable24]

Hopefully he stays there. His American movies have been crap, although I enjoyed Hard Target

 

[green]

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news07/070211i.php

Woo's "Red Cliff" Breaks Into Two
Posted: Sunday February 11th 2007 12:58am
Source: Variety
Author: Garth Franklin

John Woo's upcoming epic "The Battle of Red Cliff" will now be split into two versions - two two-hour films for Asian audiences, and a single two-and-a-half hour film outside the continent.

The most expensive Asian movie ever made, the original $50 million budget has already swelled to $75 million before shooting has begun reports Variety.

Why the split? Producer Terence Chang says "Asian audiences know all the ten main personalities and all the battles. The split gives us room for the set pieces and the character development."

Wang Hui-ling ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") penned the script. Chow Yun-fat, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Lin Chiling, Hu Jun and Zhang Fengyi all star.

Production now is set back by two weeks with filming running from March 28th through til late September in Beijing. Both Asian films will debut in 2008 (the first just before the Olympics), the international version's release date is unknown.

 

[Movies205]

I can see this bombing outside of Japan considering everytime a film that's longer has been compressed down it's ended disasterously because it usually shows... THe most recent example would be Kingdom of Heaven.

 

[Ronny Shade]

Hunrter rider is by far my favorite hype movie news informer.

Long live the Woo

 

[GoldenAgeHero]

i want a face/off 2.

 

[Hunter Rider]

http://www.24framespersecond.net/

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=+1]Tony Leung leaves "The Battle of Red Cliff" [/SIZE][/FONT]​

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]

Tony Leung has decided to step back from the lead of John Woo's mega budget Epic "Battle of Red Cliffs." Fans of Hong Kong actor Leung won't be able to see him in the upcoming "Battle of Red Cliffs," or "Chi Bi," as the star has decided to step back from the lead in the film. [/SIZE][/FONT]​

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Chinese web portal Sina.com says the film's director John Woo confirmed the Cannes Best Actor winner gave up playing Zhu-Ge Liang, a legendary military strategist in the ancient Three Kingdoms period, in the film. [/SIZE][/FONT]​

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Tony Leung has reportedly said the plot was attractive, but the six-month-long shoot was longer than he expected. Takeshi Kaneshiro (Confession of Pain, House of Flying Daggers) has been confirmed to take on the role and join the star-heavy cast, including Chow Yun-Fat, Taiwan supermodel Chiling Lin, and mainland actress Vicki Zhao. "Battle of Red Cliffs" will begin shooting later this month, and is slated to premiere next year.[/SIZE][/FONT]

Shame,Leung is a great actor.Still his replacement is also good

 

[Sava]

damn... i liked that guy

 

[Hunter Rider]

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=19914

No Red Cliff for Chow Yun-Fat
Source: MonkeyPeaches.com, Sina.com
April 16, 2007


Monkey Peaches reports that Chow Yun-Fat has dropped out of director John Woo's The Battle of Red Cliff, to which Ken Watanabe, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Taiwanese supermodel Lin Chi-Ling are still attached.

According to a statement Chow Yun-Fat sent to Sina.com, Chow resigned from John Woo's The Battle of Red Cliff last Friday not because of some unrealistic demands from him. Chow received the screenplay just one week before and the production had already begun. This gave him very little time to prepare for his role as he had to deliver his lines in Mandarin. Chow said he had agreed to take a pay cut for playing his role.

Based on the classic Chinese novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," the film is set in the final days of the Han Dynasty in the year 208 and covers the war that established the Three Kingdoms period, when China had three rulers.

 

[Sava]

what the hell is Woo doing?... he's lost two great actors :

 

[Darth Elektra]

wow, was looking for to this film but the great actors keep dropping.

 

[Hunter Rider]

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=19972

Leung Returns for Woo's Battle
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
April 19, 2007


Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, who quit director John Woo's The Battle of Red Cliff last month, will rejoin the $70 million production following co-star Chow Yun-Fat's sudden departure earlier this week.

Leung was set to be with the production in Hebei, outside the Chinese capital next week.

Producer Terence Chang would not say if Leung was rehired to replace Chow in the role of Zhou Yu. Leung previously was cast in the role of Zhuge Liang, but quit in March due to scheduling conflicts only to be replaced by actor Takeshi Kaneshiro.

A two-part production based on a decisive battle fought in China's Three Kingdoms period (220-280AD), the film is Woo's first Chinese language film after more than a decade.

 

[Sava]

thank god

 

[Movies205]

I still want Chow Yun-Fat... Come to think of it I need to rewatch The Killer

 

[Ronny Shade]

I hope ...I mean REALLY hope, that John and Chow are still cool. If there's anything worth looking forward to in cinema, it's Chow Yun Fat doing another John Woo movie.

 

[Darth Elektra]

Chow Yun Fat is back!

Apparently now he's back in John Woo's Chinese epic BATTLE OF RED CLIFF, which is like an 80 million dollar game of musical chairs at this point. If you're unfamiliar with the back-story, Chow Yun Fat was cast in the lead role of Zhou Yu, and Tony Leung was cast in the supporting role of Zhuge Liang. Then, Leung dropped out, to be replaced by Takeshi Kaneshiro (HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS), and a couple of months later, Chow Yun Fat dropped out too, citing his late receipt of the script as the reason. Now, in any movie production, this would be a fairly ridiculous circumstance (to have your 2 headliners drop out as shooting begins), but a couple of weeks ago, Leung returned to the project to take the role that Chow Yun Fat vacated. Are you still with me? Because now apparently, Chow Yun Fat has 'verbally agreed' to return to the film, now in an unspecified role. It's a ridiculous circumstance, but I still have high hopes for the movie. Stay tuned to find out which of the cast members is voted off the island next week!

Extra Tidbit: There were rumours that Chow Yun Fat left the project initially, because of a disagreement over his excessive 'Hollywood-esque' demands.

http://joblo.com/chow-yun-fat-again

 

[Gonking]

I don't like this director.