Legendary action-cinema master John Woo and international superstar Tony Leung reunite for the first time since the 1992 classic HARD BOILED in RED CLIFF, the epic historical drama based on a legendary 208 A.D. battle that heralded the end of the Han Dynasty.

Although released some time ago in Asia, the movie is finally set for its US release 18th November 2009. RED CLIFF was originally split into two films, the first film originally debuted back in June/July 2008 with the second part released earlier this year (January) in South East Asia. Both films separately had run times of 2 hours each. But unlike The Kill Bill Movies, The RED CLIFF US release will see the movies combined into a new theatrical cut of 2 hours and 40mins.

It will be interesting to see just how this new US release translates after the cuts, but given that the original had quite abit of filler and setup I’m sure they may be able to just about get away with this new cut without losing too much from the original films.

RED CLIFF is also available On Demand and via Xbox Live HD for those who are unable to watch at the cinemas.

RED CLIFF was first immortalized in the classic Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Although written over seven hundred years ago, the novel is still widely read all over Asia and has spawned more than a dozen videogames and numerous comic books. Thus, John Woo created two versions of the film: a two part, five-hour version for Asian audiences and a single two-and–a half -hour version for other territories. When the first part was released in Asia in July 2008, it went on to gross over US$124 million and broke the box office record previously held by TITANIC in mainland China. With an estimated budget of US$80 million, RED CLIFF is the most expensive Asian-financed film to date.

“We wanted to make a Hollywood blockbuster in Chinese that would appeal to non-Asian audiences as well. We worked very hard to create a version of the film that maintains the integrity of the action and character development of the story, while excising some of the cultural details that could be considered unnecessary for Western audiences not intimately familiar with the historical mythology,” notes Producer Terence Chang, Woo’s long time collaborator.

RED CLIFF is the third film in Magnet Releasing’s “Six Shooter Film Series V2,” a series of six films focusing specifically on action cinema, featuring some of the most exciting action films available today from around the globe. RED CLIFF was preceded by ONG BAK 2: THE BEGINNING and BRONSON, with three other films to follow over the coming months including DISTRICT 13: ULTIMATUM and THE WARLORDS.

Magnet and Magnolia are doing a fantastic job with their foreign movie releases and I will certainly be looking forward to more of their foreign releases in the future.

Source: MagNET, Magnolia Pictures