John Woo's "The Battle of Red Cliff"
Hopefully getting out of Hollywood will let John Woo regain his stride. The cast can't hurt either.
The upcoming historical drama Battle Of Red Cliff is by John Woo's most ambitious so far. It will be based on one part of classic Chinese novel Romance Of The Three Kingdom. It will depict the battle fought with over one million men in 208 AD. During the battle the joint force of two warlords Sun Quan and Liu Bei defeated the much stronger invading army led by warlord Cao Cao. Shortly after the battle, the Han dynasty officially ended and China split to three kingdoms. According to Chinese newspaper Chinese Businessmen, the Beijing based Asian Union Film and Media, which is co-producing the project with John Woo's Lion Rock Production, has a wish list for the stars it wants. Chow Yun-Fat to play Liu Bei; Jet Li to play Zhou Yu, the favorite general of Sun Quan; Leung Chiu-Wai to play Zhuge Liang, the top advisor to Liu Bei; Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi to play the Qiao Sisters (the elder sister was married to Sun Ce, the elder brother of Sun Quan, and the younger sister was married to Zhou Yu)....Reportedly, Ken Watanabe will play Cao Cao, the northern warlord chased Liu Bei... Screenwriter Zou Jingzhi has completed the third draft of the script, which has yet got John Woo's final approval.
...John Woo just made another trip to Beijing for the preproduction of US$ 50 million historical drama Battle of Red Cliff. During his staying in the city, Woo talked to screenwriter Zou Jingzhi (Qian Li Zou Dan Ji), cinematographer Gu Changwei (Farewell My Concubine, Ju Dou), costume and production designer Tim Yip (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), according to Chinese paper Nanfang Daily. Dong Ping, the president of Beijing based Asian Union Film and Media, told Beijing News that the score will be composed by Tan Dun (Hero, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Su Cong (The Last Emperor) or Ryuichi Sakamoto (Femme Fatale, The Last Emperor), and cinematographer Lee Ping-Bing (In the Mood for Love) may also get on board. Dong has assured that Chow Yun-Fat and Jet Li would be in the project. The script will be done in March and the shooting might begin by the end of this year. Battle Of Red Cliff is co-produced by Asian Union Film and Media and John Woo's Lion Rock Production.
(via monkeypeaches)