John Woo Woos Tony Leung Back to The Battle of Red Cliff

Thursday April 19, 2007 Hong Kong

Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, who quit director John Woo's "The Battle of Red Cliff" last month, will rejoin the $70 million production following co-star Chow Yun-Fat's sudden departure earlier this week, producer Terence Chang said on Thursday.

Leung was set to be with the production in Hebei, outside the Chinese capital next week, Chang, principal of Los Angeles-based Lion Rock Productions, said in a telephone interview from Beijing.

Chang would not say if Leung was rehired to replace Chow in the role of Zhou Yu. Leung previously was cast in the role of Zhuge Liang, but quit in March due to scheduling conflicts only to be replaced by actor Takeshi Kaneshiro.

"Leung's one of the best actors working in Chinese cinema today, I'm so glad that he's coming back to the production," said Chang, whose Lion Rock is co-producing with the Chinese state-run China Film Group Corp and Chengtian Entertainment, both based in Beijing, and with CMC of Taiwan, Showbox of South Korea, and Avex of Japan.

Asked if the film's shooting schedule had been affected by the rapid series of cast changes Chang said, "Nothing is affected because we have so many characters in the story and it's so complicated, one actor will not affect the production."

As to whether popular star Chow's sudden departure from the production caused any backlash from any of the film's many investors, Chang said, "I thought there would be, but there has been none whatsoever. They all welcome Tony."

A two-part production based on a decisive battle fought in China's Three Kingdoms period (220-280AD), the film is Woo's first Chinese language film after more than a decade.

credits: dailydumpling, asianfanatics.