John Woo

Red Cliff Director, John Woo, on Next Secret's Out with Leonard Maltin

Leonard Maltin sits down with John Woo to discuss the director's war epic, Red Cliff, which tells the story of a legendary civil war in early-third-century China.

With thousands of extras in its battle scenes, Red Cliff is the most-expensive production in the history of Asian movies. The movie opens as power-hungry General Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) seeks permission from the Han dynasty Emperor to organize a southward-bound mission designed to crush the two troublesome warlords who stand in his way, Liu Bei (Yong You) and Sun Quan (Chen Chang). Red Cliff shows the events during the end of the Han Dynasty and right before the Three Kingdoms period in ancient China.

Tune in for the Secret's Out premiere on Friday, November 27, at 6:30 PM ET/ 3:30 PM PT. Or catch one of its encore showings.

• Red Cliff
• John Woo
• Leonard Maltin's Secret's Out

Exclusive: Forget the Romance, Stick to Fighting, Fans Tell John Woo

Hard Boiled director John Woo told us he would like to make a romantic movie, but that's not what his fans want from him. Among his many avid followers, Woo counts noted directors Oliver Stone, Martin Scorsese, and Quentin Tarantino,

Woo's latest epic, which opens in New York on November 18 and in L.A. and other markets on November 25, shouldn't dissapoint. Billed as the most-expensive production in the history of Asian movies, Red Cliff features thousands of extras in its battle sequences. The movie tells the legendary story of the final bloody days of the Han Dynasty in A.D. 220.

The famed action master loves old Hollywood musicals, especially those featuring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Woo revealed during the taping of an episode of The Charlie Rose Show, set to air closer to the movie's release, that his balletic war scenes are actually choreographed with those classic musicals in mind.

• Red Cliff
• John Woo

John Woo to Shoot World War II Movie

The MTV Movies Blog reports that director John Woo announced in a Chinese press conference that he will be directing an epic about the "Flying Tigers," volunteer American pilots who flew against the Japanese from bases in China's mountainous Yunnan region during World War II.

The Chinese-born Woo is best-known for his Hong Kong action movies from the 1980s and early 1990s, including the must-see landmarks The Killer and Hard Boiled. He later made a foray into Hollywood with Face/Off, Mission: Impossible II, Paycheck, and another WWII picture, Windtalkers.

The new project, whose literal English translation is Flying Tiger Heroes, has a reported budget of $160 million and will star both Chinese and American actors. Empire had this quote from Woo regarding the project:

This is an extremely important production. Currently, basic preparations for shooting work have already been made, and in a month, we'll confirm the script. This Yunnan-themed film emphasizes China-US friendship and the contributions of the Flying Tigers and the people of Yunnan during the War of Resistance.

• Flying Tiger Heroes
• John Woo