FROM THE NEWS ARCHIVES OF CINEMA CONFIDENTIAL

John Woo casts four in "The Battle of Red Cliff"
POSTED ON 09/01/06 AT 2:30 P.M.
BY ETHAN AAMES

Variety reports that John Woo has cast Chow Yun-Fat, Ken Watanabe, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Taiwanese supermodel Lin Chi-Ling in "The Battle of Red Cliff," his Chinese epic production in which he hopes will also be a Hollywood blockbuster.

Based on the 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 have estimated that 1 million soldiers took part in the battle of Red Cliff and Woo plans to set up six units simultaneously to shoot various scenes for the war epic.

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" screenwriter Wang Hui-ling will pen the screenplay.