A return to Asian film

HONG KONG -- After 16 years directing Hollywood movies, John Woo is returning to Chinese film with an ambitious two-part historical epic that he hopes will also appeal to Western audiences.

“Red Cliff,” whose first installment is due out in Asia this month, is based on a famous battle in divided 3rd century China that saw 2,000 ships burned. It draws from a storied period in Chinese history that has spawned comic books and video games.

Expectations are high for the movie.

Loaded with Asian stars, including past Cannes winner Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Taiwanese-Japanese heartthrob Takeshi Kaneshiro, and backed by investors from China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, Woo says he has already spent more than $70 million on the project -- a huge sum by Asian filmmaking standards.

Hollywood trade publication Variety says “Red Cliff” is the most expensive Asian production ever.

Critical reception is also at stake for the director, who has not made a full-length movie since two lackluster Hollywood productions: the 2003 sci-fi flick “Paycheck” and the 2002 war film “Windtalkers.”

Woo, a Hong Kong native who has made such hits as “Face/Off” and “Mission: Impossible II,” has not directed a Chinese movie since the 1992 action thriller “Hard-Boiled.”

It hasn’t been an easy transition back to Chinese film.

The main stars of the movie, Leung and Chow Yun-fat, whom Woo cast as the iconic gangster Mark in his 1986 movie “A Better Tomorrow,” backed out at the last minute, although Leung later returned to the cast.

A stuntman died in an accident, and torrential rains washed away part of an outdoor set in northern China.

Producer Terence Chang said it took time to navigate the Chinese film industry and for Woo’s multinational crew to get used to working with Chinese crew members.

“It’s not just the language barrier. They have to get used to each other’s culture and thinking,” Chang said.

Likening “Red Cliff” to “Gladiator” and “Troy,” Woo said the largest scenes in the movie involved as many as 2,000 actors and crew members and that the two installments include about 1,300 special-effects shots.

Woo said he’s wanted to make “Red Cliff” since finishing “A Better Tomorrow” but lacked the resources and technological expertise until now.