|
Chinese title |
|
Chi Bi |
|
|
|
Literal title |
|
Red Cliff |
|
|
|
English title |
|
Red Cliff |
|
Status |
|
In production |
|
|
|
Release date |
|
2008 (Asia) |
|
Plot outline |
|
In 208 AD, the joint force of two warlords Sun Quan and Liu Bei defeated the much stronger invading army of warlord Cao Cao. Based on several chapters of classic Chinese historical novel Romance Of Three Kingdoms. |
|
|
|
Official Sites: n/a |
|
|
|
Posters: n/a |
|
Trailer: n/a |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
RED CLIFF Theme Song Video (Sina.com) |
|
||||
|
|
July 17, 2008 |
|
||||
The song, titled "Heart, War", was written by Japanese composer Tarowu Iwasiro, with the lyric by Taiwanese writer Francis Lee, and performed by Tibetan singer aLan.
Click here to see the film(dvd)
|
|
|||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
RED CLIFF - EPISODE I Review (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
|
||||
|
|
July 14, 2008 |
|
||||
Red Cliff, a tiny little place at the approximately center point of the Long River (Yangtze River) of China, has never been a city, a town or a village. It is so small that even today, historians are still debating about the exact location of the cliff. Even though, Red Cliff has become very famous nowadays, only because there was a battle, in gigantic scale, occurred at the place exact 1800 years ago. On the river, the alliance of two southern warlords, Sun Quan and Liu Bei, defeated the much stronger northern warlord Cao Cao. By the end of the battle, Cao’s might fleet was burned to ashes and his land-based troops were completely crashed. Soon after, the mighty Han Empire collapsed and three kingdoms were established by Cao’s oldest son, Liu Bei and Sun Quan.
Most people know about the battle because of a well-written and not very historically accurate novel Romance of Three Kingdoms. The novel has become very popular ever since it was published in the 14th century and has been the basis for countless opera plays, movies, TV series, comic books and even video games. Probably because the size and the complexity of it, Battle of Red Cliff had never been featured on the big screen until John Woo decided to do it, if my memory is correct.
Because the story is very long, it has to be cut into two episodes when released in east part of Asia. Of cause, a much shorter one-piece version will be released in the rest of the world. Judging from Episode I, John Woo’s Red Cliff is much closer to the novel than the history and it also contains plots, which are neither based on the history nor found in the novel. And yes, there are pigeons, white pigeons, lots of them, whether you like it or not.
|
|
|||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| RED CLIFF Part 1 Character Poster, Mainland Chinese Edition (Sina.com) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
June 21, 2008 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Producer Terrence Chang Talks about the Bumpy Road of Making RED CLIFF Set (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) | ||||||||||
|
|
June 18, 2008 |
|||||||||
A fatal accident, occurred earlier this month on the Beijing set of Red Cliff, which killed one stuntman and injured six others, suddenly put the most expensive Asian movie project into the hot zone. Yesterday during a forum discussion as part of Shanghai International Film Festival activities, producer Terrence Chang talked about how difficult it was to make the period war movie, which was not supposed to be part of the discussion. According to The First, a Beijing-based newspaper, this is what Chang said:
The mainland (China) has the best cinematographers, art directors and action choreographers, but has no good assistant directors, and producers who can handle international finances just don’t exist. (The mainland) is also weak on CG effects. We hired an American company (to do the CG effects). But we had about 1500 CG effects and later two Beijing-based companies got involved. The on-set special effects are even worth. Sigh! We hired so many people we shouldn’t hire. We asked a Hollywood (team) to handle the on-set special effect and they are very good at making effects with water and fire. But once they came to China, we found out the way of Hollywood just didn’t work in China. They told us, to make the water and fire scenes work, they needed to install two underground pines, one for fire and the other one for water. This was so costly, several million dollars (US), and we couldn’t afford it. Later we heard in some Korean movies, the water and fire effects were handled very well, then we just hired a Korean team. But it turned so ridiculously. Because of culture difference, the Korean said they would only set things on fire and would not be responsible for extinguishment. Then we had to hire people from The August 1st Film Studio (note: a Chinese military-owned studio good at making war movies) to help us put out the fire.
John Woo, supposed to attend the forum as well, did not show up. Terrence Chang admitted that Woo was in Beijing to deal with the after mess of the accident. Chang said they would look after people's interest first and would handle the matter properly.
Chang also said the making of Red Cliff was on a bumpy road. He has worked with John Woo in the Hollywood for many years. In 1997, Woo returned to China and made a movie with the subject of sports and felt belonged here in China. In 2004 Woo said he planned to make Red Cliff in China and he was very exiting about the idea. An agreement was reached with China Film Group Corporation the very next year. But due to problems in finance, the script and casting, the production did not start until 2007. The movie is financed by overseas investors (of the US, Japan and South Korea), and 14 Chinese companies, including Shanghai Film Group, Orange Sky and Poly-Bona, headed by China Film. The money are from all over the world, therefore it is made for people of all the whole world and it must let everyone understand. This means Red Cliff may not be very close to the original Three Kingdoms story. Fans of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the original novel provided the basis for the story of Red Cliff, have already begun firing at John Woo’s adaptation, which includes many plots not found in the novel. Plots like, warlord Cao Cao launching the attack on warlord Sun Quan at Red Cliff, because he is eyeing on Xiao Qiao, the young and pretty wife of Zhou Yu, the chief military commander of Sun Quan.
It was difficult to come out a story good for everyone, and they had to re-write the script over and over again. Some cast members also had their own demands on the script, which made the process even longer. Then it was finally done just one month before the start of the principal shooting. Started from February 2006, the production' team and the art department traveled to 13 Chinese provinces to look for the right place to build the set and finally they decided to pick a reservoir of Hebei Province's Yi County, about 120 km southwest of Beijing.
When the filming was about to kick-off, Chow Yun-Fat, who worked with John Woo in such classic movies like Hard Boiled and was the first and the only cast member committed to the project in many years before, quit the project and then Leung Chiu-Wai followed his footsteps. Later Leung was asked back to replace Chow and Takeshi Kaneshiro was called in to replace Leung. Shooting An indoor set built inside the biggest soundstage of Beijing Film Studio remained basically unused and only had to be torn down to make way for another set of Chen Kaige's Mei Lanfang. A set located to the southwest of Beijing City was seriously damaged by flood water last summer. Soon after, a part portion of the script appeared on the Internet which made the studios on high nerve. Production went overtime and over-budgeting forced at least one Chinese studio quit and more money, partially from Woo's own pocket, was pulled in to keep the project running. The fatal accident is the most recent and most tragic setback for the movie. Terrence Chang said filming was halted right after the accident, occurred during a pick-up shooting handled by a Hong Kong team. It will be resumed after the Beijing Olympic and will end by September. The releases will not be re-scheduled. |
||||||||||
|
|
| RED CLIFF Accident Claims Life of a Stuntman (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) | ||||||||||
|
|
June 10, 2008 |
|||||||||
A stuntman was killed and six others were injured during a fire accident early yesterday morning on a small set of John Woo's historical war drama Red Cliff. John Woo has arrived at Beijing, where the set is located. According to a statement released by the production team, the scene was filmed involved a small fire boat crashing to an enemy battle ship. The shooting itself was running smoothly and then heavy wind suddenly made the fire uncontrollable and both vessels were consumed by flame in just a few seconds. When the fire was extinguished by local fire fighters, remain of a 23 year old stuntman was discovered among the debris. It is suspected that cheap flammable material used during the filming is a major factor of the fatal accident. Yesterday's filming was only a pick-up shoot and was handled by a Hong Kong stunt team rather than the team involved in the principal shooting. Part 1 of the film will be released on July 10 in Asia and these shots will be included in the second part, which will comes out in Asia in December. A single and short cut of the film will be released outside of Asia. Release in the UK, France, Germany and Italy have been secured during the Cannes Film Festival. Negotiation is currently underway for distribution in North America. |
||||||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| RED CLIFF POSTERS (...) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
June 3, 2008 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
RED CLIFF 9 Minute Promo Reel (Sina.com) |
|||||
|
|
May 22, 2008 |
|||||
This promo reel is shown right now in Cannes.
|
||||||
|
|
|
|
RED CLIFF Character Posters (Sina.com) |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
March 21, 2008 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
These posters are displayed at the Hong Kong International Film Mart by the film's Hong Kong distributor Mei Ah Entertainment. Part 1of the 2-part Asian edition of the historical war epic will be released in Asia starting July 10, 2008.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
RED CLIFF Japanese Teaser (Sina.com) |
|||||||||||||
|
|
March 9, 2008 |
|||||||||||||
The official Japanese website of John Woo's Red Cliff, the most expensive Asian movies, has just been updated with a teaser trailer.
( |
||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
Taiwanese Trailer for John Woo's RED CLIFF (Yahoo! Taiwan) |
|||||||
|
|
February 1, 2008 |
|||||||
The first trailer of John Woo's US$80 million historical war epic Red Cliff has been released in Taiwan today. Local TV station TVBS-N has aired the trailer tonight and Yahoo! Taiwan is currently hosting it online. The trailer is tailored specifically for Taiwan because two Taiwan-born actors, Chang Chen and Lin Chi-Ling are shown in front of everyone else. Sill in post-production, Red Cliff will be released in east part of Asia in two separate movies, while in the rest of the world, it will be in a single but shorter version.
The story is set in 208 AD, the mighty Han
Empire was falling while China was controlled by warlords.
Powerful northern warlord Cao Cao led his troops marching to the
south in attempt to crash the south. Two warlords, Sun Quan and
Liu Bei, set up an alliance to defend their territories.
|
||||||||
|
|
|
|
John Woo's RED CLIFF Got an Official Japanese Site (..) |
|||||
|
|
January 10, 2008 |
|||||
Not much is available from the site and everything is in Japanese only. The "Introduction" talks a little bit about the project. The "Cast" only mentioned Leung Chiu-Wai and Takeshi Kaneshiro, two of many leads of the historical war epic. A mini-biography is included in the "Director" section. The "Movies" contains a short cliff of John Woo making a speech to people in Japan. He said the movie was about wisdom, friendship, courage and solidarity. You may register at the "Mail Magazine" to get more info about the film in the future, all in Japanese of cause.
|
||||||
|
|
|
|
Shooting of John Woo's RED CLIFF Broadcasted Live on TV (Sina.com) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
November 18, 2007 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Yesterday morning from 10:50 to 12:20, China's CCTV made a 150-minute live coverage of the filming of John Woo's historical war epic Red Cliff. What was shown in the coverage is the filming of a battle scene of the joint force of warlord Sun Quan and Liu Bei breaking into warlord Cao Cao's camp. Footages of the making of several other battle scenes were also shown during the coverage.
Clips of live report: A B C D E
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Another Round of Spy Photos of John Woo's RED CLIFF (Southern Metropolitan Daily / Sina.com) |
|
|||||||||
|
|
August 13, 2007 |
||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
More Spy Photos of John Woo's RED CLIFF (...) |
|
|||||||||
|
|
July 18, 2007 |
||||||||||
Two scenes John Woo's historical war drama The Battle of Red Cliff got exposed. The first scene (left), shot at a tank training field less than 100 miles southwest of Beijing, shows General Zhao Yun (Hu Jun) and his soldiers. The second scene (right), shot at a reservoir nearby, shows some divine ceremony requested by warlord Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi).
Click here and here for more spy photos.
It appears that Cho Yun-Fat would not return to the production for any cameo. *Sigh* Also, as one of many financial backers, Tokyo-based Avex Entertainment have arranged two Japanese to join the cast. Actor Shido Nakamura ( Letters from Iwo Jima, Death Note, Fearless) will play General Gan Ning and actress Koyuki (The Blue Wolf: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea, Always - Sunset on Third Street, The Last Samurai) will play an unidentified role. |
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
RED CLIFF Production Photos and Video, by a Paparazzo (...) |
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
June 20, 2007 |
|||||||||||||||||
These photos and video, acquired by Sina.com, were believed taken during the production of John Woo’s Red Cliff a few days ago. It shows soldiers of warlord Cao Cao being mobilized inside their own camps. A miniature chopper was used to make aerial shots and after a day of filming, the chopper crashed to the crowd. There is no word on whether anyone was hurt during the incident.
A few boats covered by straw men were spotted on the location, a reservoir doubling for the Long River (Yangtze River). In classic historical novel “Roman of the Three Kingdoms”, Commander Zhou Yu, lord Sun Quan’s man, ordered Zhu Geliang, the chief advisor to Liu Bei, to manufacture one hundred thousand of arrows in three days. These two lords are allies against Cao Cao. Zhuge Liang then ordered to make hundreds of straw men, put them on about twenty boats and launched a phony attack on Cao Cao fleet in a foggy morning. Cao suspected the attack might be a trap and ordered archers to fire at the enemy. Many of the arrows got embedded in the straw men. By the end of the “battle”, Zhu Geliang collected arrows more than he was asked to make. This story is based on a real historical event, occurred about five years after the Battle of Red Cliff. (Thanks to "xiaoyouxi's " contribution.)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
RED CLIFF Set Visit Photos (Sina.com) |
||||||
|
|
June 2, 2007 |
||||||
Who visited the set? The top executives of China Film group, one of the major financier of the historical war drama, and a deputy of the Chinese Film Bureau, which is in charge of movie censorship. The title image shows a cuju game held at warlord Cao Cao's camp. Cuju is a ancient Chinese similar to modern soccer / football. The set was built on the shore of reservoir in Hebei Province's Yi County (southwest of Beijing).
|
|||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|
First Shots of RED CLIFF in Production (qq.com) |
|
||||||||||||
|
|
May 14, 2007 |
|||||||||||||
These shots shows Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro, left) and Lu Su (Hong Yong) discussing a plan to persuading their masters to set up an alliance against the invading army of warlord Cao Cao. The scene was shot at a set built in the 1980s for a TV adaptation of Romance of Three Kingdoms. |
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
Chow Yun-Fat to Cameo in John Woo's RED CLIFF? (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
|
||||
|
|
May 14, 2007 |
|||||
According to today's print of Hong Kong's Oriental Daily, Chow Yun-Fat, dropped out of John Woo's Red Cliff last month, has orally agreed to play a small role in the project. Reportedly, he will play General Huang Gai, who suggested to his superior, Zhou Yu (Chow's previous role now played by Leung Chiu-Wai) that he would pretend to surrender to warlord Cao Cao and create an opportunity for a surprise attack on Cao's fleet. On the night of the "surrender", Huang's ships, loaded with firewood, hays and grease, approached Cao's fleet and set everything on fire. In Roman of the Three Kingdom, the classic historical novel this movie is partially based on, Huang openly called for a surrender and Zhou ordered Huang to be beaten in front of everyone, just to make the phony surrender real. Chow's role will be very small and all his scenes will be done in just three days. |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
|
|
RED CLIFF Press Conference (...) |
|||||||
|
|
May 10, 2007 |
|||||||
A press conference of John Woo's Red Cliff (formerly known as The Battle of Red Cliff), was held this afternoon in Beijing. It didn’t tell us much. We won’t get any clear idea about this mega-budget historical drama without some stills or trailers. So, please be patient.
Title image (Left to right): Tong Dawei (as Sun Shucai), Song Jia (as Li Ji), Hu Jun (as Gen. Zhao Yun), Lin Chiling (as the younger Qiao sister), Zhang Fengyi (as warlord Cao Cao), Leung Chiu-Wai (as Gen. Zhou Yu), John Woo, Takeshi Kaneshiro (as Zhu Geliang), Chang Chen (as warlord Sun Quan), Zhao Wei (as Sun Shangxiang), You Yong (as warlord Liu Bei) and Hou Yong (as Lu Su).
Click here and here for more snapshots and videos from the press conference.
Related stories: "Battle of Red Cliff" team meets with media, China Radio International Online East Asian nations join in huge film production, The Hankyoreh Woo says Chow Yun-Fat is still a friend, Associated Press / Fox News Eyeing China's tastes, Hong Kong films play it safer, Associated Press / Los Angeles Times |
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
|
|
|
Leung Chiu-Wai Re-Joined RED CLIFF? (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
|||||||||||||
|
|
April 18, 2007 |
|||||||||||||
According to Sina.com, producer Terence Chang just said Leung Chiu-Wai agreed to come back. He would play general Zhou Yu, the role Chow Yun-Fat abandoned. Last month Leung resigned from the project and his role, Zhuge Liang, the top advisor to warlord Liu Bei, was assigned to Takeshi Kaneshiro.
Click here for 29 snapshots of nearly completed sets and prop ships. |
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
Shots of RED CLIFF Set (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||||||||||
|
|
April 17, 2007 |
||||||||||
These pictures, taken by Tianjin Daily, shows the set of warlord Cao Cao's commanding center and one of five battle ships built with steel and wood. A reservoir is used to double for the Long River (Yantze River), where the real battle occurred.
|
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
|
|
Chow Yun-Fat Talks about His Departure from John Woo’s RED CLIFF (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||||||
|
|
April 16, 2007 |
||||||
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. Also, he did not believe the US-based insurance company played any role in his departure. Chow also hoped this incident would not affect his friendship with John Woo and producer Terence Chang.
|
|||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|
Chow Yun-Fat Is Leaving John Woo's RED CLIFF? (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||||||
|
|
April 15, 2007 |
||||||
Not sure how credible this one is. According to Sina.com, Chow Yun-Fat is no longer attached to John Woo's US$80 million war epic The Battle of Red Cliff. Reportedly, out of the objection of an US-based incurrence company, financial backers of the costly project have decided not to accept some demands, including a lump-sump payment of an unknown figure, from Chow Yun-Fat. Another reason for his departure is that he is too old for play her role, Zhou Yu, who is supposed to be a young man. Please wait for further update.
|
|||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|
Shooting of John Woo's 80 Million Dollar (US) RED CLIFF Begins Today (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||||||||||
|
|
April 14, 2007 |
||||||||||
Production of John Woo’s meg-budget historical drama Red Cliff (The Battle of Red Cliff) has officially begun with a short ceremony held on CCTV’s studio in Zhuozhou of Hebei Province, about 40 miles southwest of Beijing. Several pictures were distributed to the press. The first scene shot is about warlord Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) meeting with the puppet emperor and imperial ministers to discuss his plan of attacking other warlords I the south. Shooting will take place in CCTV’s studio in Zhuozhou (to utilize some existing set built for several TV series, including a TV adaptation of “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”), two reservoirs in Hebei (for most war scenes) and Beijing Film Studios (for some interior scenes).
|
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
|
|
John Woo's Latest Comment on his RED CLIFF (CHI BI) (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
|||||||
|
|
March 31, 2007 |
|||||||
Earlier this week, John Woo showed up at a ceremony for contracting Beijing-based CineLabs to develop all celluloid films of the war epic. He said he was very surprised that Leung Chiu-Wai quitted the project and he respected Leung’s decision. Chang Chen is still attached and Liu Ye has not joined the cast (an earlier report said Chang Chen's role was taken by Liu Ye). He has made a few shots of a new born pony and the mother horse, which would be included in the movie. He said the number of people working in the project had reached to around 800 and the set had been built, adjacent to a reservoir in Hebei Province (near Beijing). Lin Chi-lin is learning the ancient skill of knot-making, Chow Yun-Fat is practicing his lines (will be delivered in Mandarin), and Hu Jun and Zhao Wei are preparing their fight scenes. According to The Beijing News, the set of warlord Cao Cao's commanding center, camps and trenches have almost completed. A large number of warships, siege vehicles and other props have also been built. Principal shooting will begin by earlier April and will last for about six months. |
||||||||
|
|
|
|
RED CLIFF Casting Adjustment 2 - Liu Ye Replaces Chang Chen (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
|||||||
|
|
March 24, 2007 |
|||||||
According to several Chinese newspapers, Chang Chen (The Go Master, Three Times, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) has left John Woo’s The Battle of Red Cliff and his role, warlord Sun Quan, has been offered to Liu Ye (Dark Matter, Curse of the Golden Flowers, The Promise). Based on the real historical event and classic novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Battle of Red Cliff will feature the decisive battle (208 AD), which split the Han Empire into three kingdoms. At the turning point of the battle, the joint fleet of Sun Quan and Liu Bei destroyed the invading fleet of Cao Cao in Red Cliff with fire.
Earlier this month, Leung Chiu-Wai resigned from playing Zhuge Liang, the chief advisor of Liu Bei. He said he would need more time to prepare for his role but there was little time left before shooting. Reportedly, delivering his line in Ancient Chinese with Mandarin was the major challenge for him. His role now goes to Takeshi Kaneshiro.
Title images: (L) Liu Ye in Curse of the Golden Flower; (R) Chang Chen in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. |
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
|
RED CLIFF Casting Adjustment - Leung Chiu-Wai Replaced by Takeshi Kaneshiro (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
|||||
|
|
March 6, 2007 |
|||||
Leung Chiu-Wai has quit John Woo’s The Battle of Red Cliff (aka. Red Cliff) due to some “schedule conflict”. His role, Guge Liang (the top advisor to warlord Liu Bei), now belongs to Takeshi Kaneshiro, according to Sina.com. Reportedly, the principle shooting of the war epic will last about six months, too long for Leung to handle.
Title images: Leung Chiu-Wai (L) and Takeshi Kaneshiro (R) in Confession of Pain.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
Heavy-Weight Cast List of John Woo's THE BATTLE RED CLIFF Announced (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||||
|
|
February 16, 2007 |
||||
Producer and president of China Film Group announced the list of the major cast member of John Woo's upcoming US$75 million historical drama The Battle of Red Cliff yesterday.
Chow Yun-Fat - as Zhou Yu, the top general of warlord Sun Quan. Leung Chiu-Wai - as Zhuge Liang, the top adviser of warlord Liu Bei. Lin Chi-ling - as the younger Qiao sister, wife of Zhou Yu. Zhang Fengyi (The Emperor and the Assassin, Farewell My Concubine) - as warlord Cao Cao, who attempted to defeat Sun Quan and Liu Bei. Chang Chen (The Go Master, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) - as warlord Sun Quan. You Yong - as warlord Liu Bei. Hu Jun (Getting Home, Lan Yu) - as Zhao Yun, a general of Liu Bei. Zhao Wei (The Post-Modern Life of My Aunt, Warriors of Heaven and Earth) - as Sun Shangxiang, sister of Sun Quan and future wife of Liu Bei.
Other cast members include Tong Dawei (Lost in Beijing), Kou Si, Sun Chun and Song Jia. |
|||||
|
|
|
|
Status Update on John Woo's RED CLIFF (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||||
|
|
February 10, 2007 |
||||
Last week in Beijing, John Woo said the production of his ambitious The Battle of Red Cliff would begin by the end of March and would last about six months. The current script he has is the ninth but not the final. Woo said the story was more based on the real history and less on Romance of the Three Kingdom, the famous historical novel. So far only Chow Yun-Fat, Chang Chen and Lin Chi-Ling are signed. Other actors, include Leung Chiu-Wai, Chen Baoguo, Collin Chou, Zhang Jingchu, Zhang Feng Yi and Zhao Wei are still negotiating with Woo. Ken Watanabe may have already detached frpm the project. The Chinese title has already been changed to Red Cliff. Not sure about whether the English title has been changed. Set construction at a reservoir in China's Hebei Province is near complete. About 2000 vessels will be used to shot the battle scene. A 3-D model of the reservoir and the mountains surrounding the reservoir has been given to an unnamed effect company. The reservoir will be transformed to the Long River (Yangtze River) and the mountains will be made more southern (the location is hundred miles north of where the real battle took place.) Five US-based computer effect companied have been contracted to do the CG jobs. Woo said he would take Troy as the benchmark for doing CG shots of the movie (Why not The Lord of the Rings?) The budget has soared from US$50 million to US$70 million. The movie will be cut to two editions - the two-part Asian Edition and the non-Asian edition. Does this mean the non-Asian edition will be shorter? |
|||||
|
|
|
|
John Woo Singed RED CLIFF Deal with China Film Group (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) | ||||
|
|
August 29, 2006 |
||||
Yesterday John Woo and producer Terrence Chang's Lion Rock Production signed a deal with China Film Group, headed by Han Sanping, over jointly producing historical war drama The Battle of Red Cliff. Asian Union Film and Media has dropped out of the film project and has begun pushing for a TV version of the same subject. The battle occurred in A.D. 208, during the final days of China's Han Dynasty. In the battle fought by over one million soldiers, two warlords, Liu Bei and Sun Quan, set up an alliance and defeated the army led by invading warlord Cao Cao from the north. In Red Cliff, on the southern bank of Long River (Yangtze River), the allied force launched a surprise attack and torched Cao Cao's mighty fleet and camps on the northern bank. The movie is based on classic Chinese novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms." Set construction has already begun in Yi County (Hebei Province), about 120 km southwest of Beijing and about 1000 km north of the real Red Cliff. A local reservoir will be used to double for Long River. Works on costumes, miniatures and special effects have also started since February. Four US-based effect companies have been selected to do the CG shots. For the war epic, Woo will set up six units to shoot different scenes simultaneously. John Woo said the cast only has three members, Chow Yun-Fat, Leung Chiu-Wai and Taiwanese supermodel Lin Chi-Ling. Casting of other role will be finalized once the script is done. Lion Rock covers up to 70% of the film's total budget, which is over US$50 million, and the rest of the cost is shared by several Chinese investors. Production will begin by March next year. |
|||||
|
|
|
|
John Woo Cast Ex-Super Model Lin Chi-Ling for THE BATTLE OF RED CLIFF (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
|||
|
|
May 8 2006 |
|||
John Woo just personally announced that Taiwanese ex-super model Lin Chi-Ling was cast for his historical war epic The Battle of Red Cliff. According to some rumor, she will play the wife of General Zhou Yu, played by Chow Yun-Fat. Lin is very popular, especially in Taiwan, but her acting experience is only limited to several TV commercials.
|
||||
|
|
|
|
John Woo's THE BATTLE OF RED CLIFF to Start in 2007 (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
|||
|
|
April 29, 2006 |
|||
John Woo's long time partner producer Terence Chang told Associated Press that the shooting of the historical war drama The Battle of Red Cliff was set to start in 2007 in order to release it just before the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. Chang said the project was backed by China Film Group Corp., the biggest state-own studio in China. He also mentioned a few battle sequences from the script, including "the burning of 2,000 boats with horses jumping around on them" and another sequence involving "a booby-trapped battleship". A new writer, Wang Hui-Ling (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) has joined the writing team now working on the eight draft of the script. Also according to several Chinese newspaper, Asian Union Films, another state-owned studio involved in the project, just announced that mainland actor Liu Ye was in talk to join the cast and he would meet director John Woo next month. Apparently, Dong Ping, the president of the studio was impressed by his performance in Jasmine Women and his height (1.86 meters). Dong also said that they had reviewed the resumes of many mainland Chinese actors and actress and the casting was also open to talents from Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia. Chow Yun-Fat is still the only member of the cast.
|
||||
|
|
|
|
John Woo's THE BATTLE OF RED CLIFF Gets a New Writer (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||||
|
|
March 21, 2006 |
||||
According to Shanghai Morning Post, screenwriter Lu Wei (To Live, Farewell My Concubine) has been asked to polish the script of The Battle of Red Cliff, written by Zou Jingzhi (Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles), Lan Xiaolong and Wang Qian. Lu Wei said he John Woo did not want to make a martial-art flick or an actioner, he wanted to make a historic epic. Based on classic Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, this high-budget project will be a dramatized retelling of a real historical event, the Battle of Red Cliff (A.D. 208), during which two warlords Liu Bei and Sun Quan, jointed force to defeat a much stronger warlord Cao Cao. So far Zhow Yun-Fat is now the signed actor and the cast may also include Leung Chiu-Wai, Ken Watanabe, Chen Baoguo, Collin Chou, Zhang Jingchu and Lin Chiling. |
|||||
|
|
|
|
John Woo's THE BATTLE OF RED CLIFF May Go into Production This Fall (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||||
|
|
February 19, 2006 |
||||
Production of John Woo's ambitious epic war story The Battle of Red Cliff is expected to begin this September. According to this project's Chinese partner Poly Huayi Media, shooting will be done entirely in the mainland China and possible locations include Beijing, Dali region of Hubei Province, Red Cliff of Hubei Province and Hengdian World Studios of Zhejiang Province. Yuen Wo-Ping has basically agreed to take the responsibility of action director. Actors like Ken Watanabe (Batman Begins, The Last Samurai), Leung Chiu-Wai (2046, Infernal Affairs) and Colin Chou (Fearless, The Matrix Reloaded) are in talk to play some of major roles. Mainland Chinese actress Zhang Jingchu (Seven Swords, Peacock) and Taiwan-born ex-supermodel Lin Chiling are rumored to join the cast.
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
Production Dates Set for John Woo's THE BATTLE OF RED CLIFF (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||||
|
|
December 6, 2005 |
||||
According to newspaper The Beijing News, shooting of John Woo's historical war epic will begin next September. Dong Ping, president of Asian Union Film, told the paper that the overseas rights were all been sold out and its Japanese rights were the highest for any Chinese Language Film. So far, only director John Woo, screenwriter Zou Jingzhi, production designer Time Yip, cinematographer Gu Changwei and Chow Yun-Fat are officially involved. Dong said the departments of cinematography, art and costume would start working this months. Many actor have made their test shots and Chow Yun-Fat is still the only member of the cast.
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
John Woo Talks about THE BATTLE OF RED CLIFF (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
|||
|
|
September 5, 2005 |
|||
During an interview with Sina.com, John Woo briefly talked about his upcoming historical war drama The Battle of Red Cliff. The real Battle of Red Cliff occurred in 208, in which the Han Dynasty reached its final years and warlord Cao Cao just took control of the northern part of China after wiped out other warlords in the North. He marched to the south in attempt to unify the entire empire. The relatively weak warlord Liu Bei was quickly defeated and was forced to run south. Liu Bei sent Zhuge Liang to meet warlord Sun Quan and set up a coalition against Cao Cao. Their combined force of about 50,000 men confronted with Cao Cao's army with tens thousands of men and a strong fleet In Red Cliff, across Long River (Yangtze River). In October, the coalition force launched a surprise attack with a small number of fireships. Under heavy wind, Cao Cao's battleships and camps along the shore was easily burnt to ashes, and Cao Cao was forced to retreat to the north. In Romance of Three Kingdoms, a 14th / 15th Century fiction by Luo Guanzhong, the Battle of Red Cliff is retold in a dramatized fashion. In the novel, Cao Cao is ambitious and treacherous, Liu Bei is kind but weak in will and mind, Zhuge Liang is extremely smart, and Zhou Yu is a young and arrogant commander consumed by his jealousy of Zhuge Lian's wisdom. The upcoming movie will be based on the novel but Woo wants to change something. Cao Cao will not be treacherous, Liu Bei will not be weak and Zhou Yu will not be jealous of anyone. Woo said the war epic will contain many large war scenes with much focus on the battle on Long River. He also said he was not interested in making people flying in midair in The Battle of Red Cliff and it would be laughable if it turned out to be a martial-art film. |
||||
|
|
|
|
Leung Chiu-Wai and Ken Watanabe Join John Woo's THE BATTLE OF RED CLIFF? (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||
|
|
July 22, 2005 |
||
According to the Chinese media, the answer is yes. Reportedly, Ken Watanabe will play Cao Cao, the northern warlord chased Liu Bei, played by Chow Yun-Fat, to the south, and Leung Chiu-Wai will play Zhuge Liang, a strategist and the closes advisor to Liu Bei, who helped Liu to unit with southern warlord Sun Quan to defeat Cao's army with a decisive battle in Red Cliff. Screenwriter Zou Jingzhi has completed the third draft of the script, which has yet got John Woo's final approval.
Chow Yun-Fat has not been working much since Bulletproof Monk and he is currently set to star in zombie western The Wretched, Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and The Aunt's Postmodern Life, a drama set in modern day Shanghai. Leung Chiu-Wai has not been in any ancient costume for a while and some of the recent works include Hero, Infernal Affairs trilogy and 2046. Japanese actor Ken Watanabe have stared in three Hollywood production, The Last Samurai, Batman Begins and the upcoming Memoirs of a Geisha, which have made him shine internationally. |
|||
|
|
|
|
Sony Pictures Is Negotiating BATTLE OF THE RED CLIFF (Screen Daily) |
||||
|
|
June 25, 2005 |
||||
Producer Terence Chang recently told Screen Daily that he is in advanced negotiations with Sony Pictures for worldwide rights outside the greater China and Japan for John Woo’s historical drama Battle of Red Cliff, jointly produced by Chang and Woo’s Lion Rock Productions, Beijing based Asian Union Film as well as China Film Group. Asian Union and China Film will handle the film’s distribution in the mainland China, CMC Entertainment Group will probably partner with 20th Century Fox to distribute it in Taiwan, and the Japanese rights has already sold to Rentrack, with team up with a studio for the theatrical release. Distributor for the city Hong Kong is unknown.
Woo intents to bring a team of LA talent, from assistant directors to art department and visual effects, to the Shanghai shoot, which has boosted the budget from US$36 million to US$50m. Chang said people from Sony Pictures didn’t flinch when he talked about the budget.
Woo’s plan of remaking Jean Pierre Melvilleˇs Red Circle for Paramount is developing very slowly and he is considering doing Red Cliff first, probably starting in the summer of 2006. Chang reconfirmed Chow Yun-fat’s appearance in the project but did not say which character he would play. He also said “the female lead billed as ‘the most beautiful woman in China,’ was yet uncast.“
Battle of Red Cliff will be based on part of classic Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which dramatically chronicled three regimes once ruled China from the 2nd Century to the 3rd Century. Occurred in 208 AD, Red Cliff was a decisive battle, in which two warlords, Sun Quan and Liu Bei defeated the invading northern warlord Cao Cao
(Thanks to "Paul".) |
|||||
|
|
|
|
John Woo to Shoot Untitled Thriller in China (TomYumGoongmovie.com) |
||
|
|
June 14, 2005 |
||
The Hollywood Reporter reports John Woo is going back to China to make two feature films. One is Battle Of the Red Cliff, which has been mistranslated as "The War of the Red Cliff." Red Cliff could not be classified as a war, since it was part of the civil war at the turn of the 2nd and the 3rd Centuries. Woo's another project will be an untitled thriller. |
|||
|
|
|
More Wish List for John Woo's BATTLE OF RED CLIFF (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||
|
February 5, 2005 |
||
John Woo just made another trip to Beijing for the preproduction of US$ 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.
|
||
|
John Woo's Star Wish List For BATTLE OF RED CLIFF (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||
|
November 30, 2004 |
||
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).
|
||
|
John Woo Talks About BATTLE OF RED CLIFF (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||
|
November 11, 2004 |
||
Yesterday John Woo received an honorary degree of Doctor of Social sciences at at Hong Kong Baptist University. At the ceremony, he said the production of Battle Of Red Cliff would start in China in 2006, though the script was still not ready. From the gigantic project, Woo would cast some of his old friends like Chow Yun-Fat, Leung Chiu-Wai and David Chiang.
|
||
|
John Woo To Direct Live-Action HE-MAN (Variety) |
|||
|
October 6, 2004 |
|||
According to Variety, John Woo is set to direct a live action adaptation of He-Man, which will be co-produced by Fox 2000 and Woo's Lion Rock Production. The screenplay will be written by Adam Rifkin. No date is given and it seems the project is still in the very early stage.
Currently John Woo and his Lion Rock are working on historical epic Battle Of Red Cliff with Chinese company Asian Union Film and Media. According to Hong Kong's Oriental Daily, John Woo denied the report that Chow Yun-Fat had refused to join the project. Woo has asked him to play Zhuge Liang, the top advisor to warlord Liu Bei. Chen Daoming, who portrayed the king in Hero, is in talk to play Liu Bei.
Related Story: Woo masters 'He-Man', by Dana Harris, (Variety via Yahoo! News)
|
|||
|
|
|
John Woo Briefs On BATTLE OF RED CLIFF (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||
|
September 25, 2004 |
||
During an interview with China CCTV in Beijing, John Woo has briefly talked about his vision of the upcoming epic, based on several chapters of classic historical novel Romance Of The Three Kingdoms. Woo said, "Romance Of The Three Kingdoms, especially the part featuring Battle of Red Cliff, is the best example for showing the spirit of loyalty and righteousness among our Chinese." It was also the best example for showing the wisdom of our China, he said, and for combats of the battle, he would blend Sun Tze's art of war into the storytelling. He would also emphasize a little bit on the romance side of the epic by inserting stories of several small characters.
In 208 AD, the joint force of two warlords Sun Quan and Liu Bei defeated the much stronger invading army of warlord Cao Cao. Shortly after the battle, the Han dynasty officially ended and China split to three. Written by Luo Guanzhong at the turn of the 14th and the 15th century, Romance Of Three Kingdom was a fiction based on the Chinese history during the 2nd and the 3rd centuries. It chronicled the fall of Han Dynasty, civil war among warlords, founding of three new empires and the final reunification under a new Dynasty. |
||
|
|
|
John Woo Arrived In Beijing To Initialize BATTLE OF THE RED CLIFF (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
|||
|
September 16, 2004 |
|||
The Beijing News reports John Woo and his long-time partner, producer Terence Chang have arrived in Beijing to meet Dong Ping, the president of Beijing based studio Asian Union Film and Media, which will co-produce the historical drama with Woo and Chang' Lion Rock Picture. Among the actors Woo would like to work with, there are Chow Yun-Fat, Jet Li, Leung Chiu-Wai, Chen Daoming and Jiang Wen. Of cause, casting them all would make the project ultra expensive. A team of three are working on the screenplay. The pre-production will take at least a year and shooting will begin in late 2005 or early 2006. Budget of the project is a record of US$ 50 million. Woo said he would do Spy Hunter and All The Invisible Children first. His long overdue Land Of Destiny was still not ready, because the American writers were unable to come out a script portraying the Chinese correctly, he said.
|
|||
|
|
| Two BATTLE OF THE RED CLIFF Battle For Supremacy (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) | |
|
August 16, 2004 |
|
Battle of the Red Cliff was featured in Romance of Three Kingdoms, a classic epic of Chinese history during the 2nd and 3rd century. Now there are two Chinese studios pushing for their own projects based on the same section of the same novel. Asian Union Film and Media (Poly Huayi Media) has teamed up with John Woo and his Lion Rock Picture to depict the story on the big screen. Some rumor suggests Chow Yun-Fat has been cast. Earlier this year Shanghai Film Studios announced its own project of Battle Of The Red Cliff, without mentioning any detail on the cast and crew. Both projects are attached with a budget big enough for building a medium-size power plant and neither studio is backing up.
|
|
|
|
|
John Woo Made BATTLE OF THE RED CLIFF Deal With Chinese Studio (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||
|
August 11, 2004 |
||
According to Beijing based newspaper Star Daily, John Woo's Lion Rock Picture has sign a deal with Chinese studio Poly Huayi Media over jointly producing Battle Of The Red Cliff, based on part of classic Chinese novel Romance Of The Three Kingdom. President of Poly Huayi Media, Dong Ping said budget of the project was no less than 300 million yuans (US$ 36 million) which would be the most expensive film ever produced by Chinese film industry. Reportedly, John Woo has been working on the adaptation for decades and only reached the deal with Poly Huayi Media very recently. Romance Of the Three Kingdoms is a 14th / 15th Century fiction based on China's history from the 2nd to the 3rd Century, during which, the Han Dynasty split into three empires and then reunited under Jin, a new region. Battle Of The Red Cliff will feature Cao Cao from the north commanding an army of nearly one million to attack two other warlords Liu Bei and Sun Quan down the south and after a series of dramatic events, Cao was finally defeated at the Red Cliff.
In a letter to Poly Huayi Media, John Woo wrote the story of "Battle of the Red Cliff" was in gigantic scale with multiple layers of elements. It featured characters with distinctive personalities and battles conducted with brilliant strategies. He said the film would not be a martial-art feature, but rather an moving story at epical scale.
According to Dong Ping, filming would start as early as next year. Currently, John Woo is shooting Spy Hunter with The Rock in the States. Poly Huayi Media is a half private and half state-own enterprise, which just opened for business last December.
|
||
|
|
| John Woo To Adapt ROMANCE OF THREE KINGDOMS With Chow Yun-Fat (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) | |
|
June 4, 2004 |
|
According to Hong Kong paper Oriental Daily, John Woo is planning to do a historical epic based on part of classic Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. So far, Chow Yun-Fat is the first and the only one being named. Woo would not include or exclude any actor or actress from the future casting, although it will be a Chinese only cast. Written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th and 15th Century, Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a grand scale book depicting the Chinese history in the 2nd and 3rd Century, during which China split into three kingdoms following the fall of Han Dynasty, and after decades of war and peace, reunified under a new dynasty, Jin.
It is not the first time John Woo expressed his wish to make the film and it will not happen in the very near future, because the preparation would take a while. Woo will do Spy Hunter for Universal first, with "The Rock" and the a film for UN Children's Fund, along with eight other directors.
Woo said he might do a sequel to his Face/Off. News of a girl to get world's first face transplant has excited some script-hungry Hollywood producers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Directed by |
|
John WOO |
|
|
|
Writing credits |
|
ZOU Jingzhi |
|
LAN Xiaolong |
|
WANG Qian |
|
WANG Hui-Ling |
|
Lu Wei |
|
CHEN Han |
|
GUO Zheng |
|
LUO Guanzhong (novel) |
|
|
|
Cast |
|
LEUNG Chiu-Wai |
|
Zhou Yu |
|
Takeshi KANESHIRO |
|
Zhuge Liang |
|
ZHANG Fengyi |
|
Cao Cao |
|
YOU Yong |
|
Liu Bei |
|
CHANG Chen |
|
Sun Quan |
|
HU Jun |
|
Zhao Yun |
|
LIN Chi-ling |
|
The younger Qiao sister |
|
ZHAO Wei |
|
Sun Shangxiang |
|
TONG Dawei |
|
Sun Shucai |
|
HOU Yong |
|
Lu Su |
|
WANG Qingxiang |
|
Kong Rong |
|
KOU Si |
|
? |
|
SONG Jia |
|
? |
|
|
|
Shido NAKAMURA |
|
Gan Ning |
|
Koyuki |
|
Produced by |
|
Terrence CHANG Bill KONG HAN Sanping |
|
|
|
Production Management |
|
HU Xiaofeng |
|
Cinematography by |
|
L?/font> Yue |
|
|
|
Production / costume design |
|
Tim YIP |
|
|
|
Action chreography |
|
Dion LAM |
|
|
|
Production by |
|
China Film Group Corp. |
|
Lion Rock Productions |
|
Taewon Entertainment |
|
Visualizer Entertainment |
|
Huayi Bros. |
|
Showbox |
|
Mei-Ah Films |
|
Avex Entertainment |
|
CMC Entertainment |
|
etc. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|