Chow Yun-fat and John Woo to reteam for War Of The Red Cliff

oscar_merkx · 08-16-2004, 04:55 PM

a dream team combination

http://www.empireonline.co.uk/site/n...?news_id=16091

Quote:

Seasoned observers of John Woo and Chow Yun-fat have long been torn by the Hollywood adventures of the fantastically cool Cantonese actor-director team. While it's good to see them doing well and raking in the big bucks, quite frankly their Tinseltown output hasn't been on the same level as their Hong Kong work.

For every Hard Boiled, there's a Paycheck. For every The Killer, a Replacement Killers. For every A Better Tomorrow, a bleedin' Bulletproof Monk. And to compound matters, Woo and Yun-Fat haven't managed to work together once since they made the big trip.

That's about to change. It was announced today that Woo and his muse will finally team up again — and to show how poorly they've been treated by Hollywood thus far, they're going back to China to do it.

The duo will collaborate for the first time since 1992 on The War Of The Red Cliff, a vast historical epic based on events that took place in China 1,700 years ago. The film, which will be filmed in the Chinese language and will cost an estimated $36 million making it the most expensive Chinese movie ever, is also based on a chapter in the popular, 600 years-old novel Romance Of The Three Kingdoms.

Yun-Fat has been offered the lead role, although details on specifics are somewhat scarce thus far. Woo and Yun-Fat have tried to get an English-language project, Land Of Destiny, off the ground but so far to no avail. Still, for cult fans, this news is something to delight in. What price now for John Carpenter and Kurt Russell to do The Thing 2, or Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell to reunite for Evil Dead 4?

Before embarking on The War Of The Red Cliff, though, Woo will make Spy-Hunter, with The Rock, and a short film for a UNICEF portmanteau project, All The Little Children. Yun-Fat, whose trademark stoic killer, bedecked in black suit, shades and twin handguns, inspired a generation of Hollywood action heroes, is next up for Chinese-language actioner Hua Mulan, with Michelle Yeoh.

Aaron Silverman · 08-16-2004, 06:41 PM

That's excellent news! However. . .

Quote:

to show how poorly they've been treated by Hollywood thus far

I have no idea how much of the quality of their recent films has been the result of studio interference, but that quote might have it backwards!

Kirk Tsai · 08-17-2004, 07:17 PM

I think Woo and Chow should have got back together a long time ago, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms is still my ultimate fantasy of a movie (broken down in parts), but I don't look forward to this pair doing this story. The War of the Red Cliff (if I'm guessing the translation correctly) is the most famous battle in the book, but it's going to be impossible to film. The amount of history and characters involved in this battle are going to be very difficult to film as a single movie. Plus I think both Woo and Chow's strengths lie in a modern sensibility, no matter how much romanticism or honor appeared in their work.

Kirk Tsai · 10-19-2007, 06:55 PM

Just an update

Red Cliff is now the biggest budget Chinese film of all time at $80 million. To give a comparison, Zhang Yimou's Hero was budgeted at $31 million, and Lee's Crouching Tiger at $15 M. It should be massive.

The film is to be divided in two parts in China, one before the 08 Olympics, one at the end of the year. I'm not sure how it will be released in the West. Chow backed out of the film, so the headliner actors are Tony Leung, Zhang Fenyi, Takeshi Kaneshiro, and Ken Watannabe.

I still have my reservations about the film, due to Woo, the cast, and magnitude of the film. Nonetheless, this is among my most anticipated films in 08. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is traditionally considered one of the four great novels/epics in Chinese culture, and the War of the Red Cliff is the central battle in 100 years of Chinese history.

EDIT: might be a good idea to strike Chow's name from the title of the thread



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