Chinese epics do battle

On the one side John Woo and Chow Yun Fat, on the other Andy Lau and Maggie Q.

Dec 12 2006

Han dynasty novel 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' is to form the basis of two forthcoming Chinese epics.

First up, and probably most newsworthy, is 'Battle of Red Cliff', a $50 million epic that will see John Woo re-team with long-time collaborator Chow Yun-Fat for the first time since 1992's 'Hard Boiled'. Tony Leung and Lin Chiling will also star, with 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' co-writer Wang Hui-Ling on scripting duties.

'Red Cliff' is set to shoot in China in March, at much the same time as 'The Three Kingdoms', based on the same source material but starring Maggie Q and Andy Lau.

Having not read the titanic tome, I'm unable to say what either film will be about, but I'm guessing they'll both involve love, honour and betrayal, with a few sword-fights thrown in for good measure. If anyone knows any more, feel free to comment below…

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