John Woo's THE WAR OF THE RED CLIFF!!!

http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=20813

Hey folks, Harry here - and this just ****ing rocks! Woo back in the country making unmolested badassness? ****ing A! And with this cast? Swords instead of guns - gotta have Chow two fisting sword play down a bannister of a pigeon shop! Heh. Personally - this has got to be prime geek real estate for dream films. Come on John kick the world's teeth in and make them say, "Thank you, Kick me again!"

Hey guys, long time reader, first time contributor from Sydney.

Saw an article in the "Australian Chinese Daily" about the new John Woo epic. I'm sure they're talking about "The War of the Red Cliff". (A period "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" style epic) my father translated to me. The article says that John Woo has cast the following actors to play roles and it looks like it could be his come back film that we've all been waiting for.

The Infernal Affair duo Andy Lau and the great Tony Leung, Ken Watanabe and the one and only, Mr Chow Yun Fat.

Definately exciting news for John Woo fans, (refreshing and hopeful news for old school John Woo fans). Chow Yun Fat and John Woo have always created masterpieces, Tony Leung included with Hard Boiled. Andy Lau is a good addition but Ken Watanabe puts icing on the cake! It's been awhile since Woo has done a Chinese period epic so it'll be interesting to see what he brings to the table. (with the recent additions of Hero and House of Flying Daggers it will be a tough).

 

I think so to,it certainly has a great cast

 

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=16305

Woo Casts Four in The Battle of Red Cliff
Source: Variety
September 1, 2006


John Woo has cast Chow Yun-Fat, Ken Watanabe, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Taiwanese supermodel Lin Chi-Ling in his Chinese costumer, The Battle of Red Cliff, a co-production with the China Film Group.

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.

Historians reckon 1 million soldiers took part in the original battle of Red Cliff. Woo plans to set up six units to simultaneously shoot various scenes for the war epic.

Woo is again teaming with longtime associate Terence Chang to make the film, which is aiming for release in the runup to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

"Red Cliff" is due to start shooting in March from a screenplay by Wang Hui-ling (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon).

 

Hopefully it will see Woo return to form

 

icing on the cake

 

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=20122

Woo And Chow Together Again!
Battle Of Red Cliff finally goes ahead
Source: Variety


Bobby and Marty, Johns Ford and Wayne, QT and Uma, Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi… the list of great pairings in cinema is a long one – and it certainly isn't limited to Hollywood. Great news today then, that another legendary twosome, John Woo and Chow Yun-Fat, is set to re-team on Woo's period action project The Battle Of Red Cliff.

It'll be the first time the duo who brought us Hong Kong action classics like The Killer, A Better Tomorrow and Bullet In The Head have worked together since 1992's Hard Boiled (the one with the 20 minute shootout in a hospital, where Chow puts the cotton wool in the baby's ears), and the platinum line-up doesn't finish there. Tony Leung is also starring, and the script has been knocked into shape by one of Crouching Tiger's screenwriters, Wang Hui-Ling.

The story is taken from part of a huge Han dynasty novel called Romance Of The Three Kingdoms (no, we've not read it yet either), which is also the source material for another forthcoming Asian film, The Three Kingdoms, starring Andy Lau and Maggie Q.

The project has actually been teetering on the edge of the starting line for a while, with several studios trying to get it off the ground at one time or another, but they've all had trouble acquiring distribution rights in the Asian territories – a problem which has been all but overcome in the last few months.

The Battle Of Red Cliff is currently scheduled for release in 2008 (not least because Chow is filming Pirates 3 as we write this, and John's Christmas card pile isn't going to sign itself), with cameras set to start turning over from March 2007.

 

Int'll trailer.

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