syscom3
Pacific Historian
July 07, 2009
Min Lee, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Canadian Press, 2009
HONG KONG - "Mission: Impossible II" director John Woo's next movie will tell the story of the Flying Tigers - volunteer American pilots who defended China from Japanese attacks during the Second World War - his producer said Tuesday.
Woo plans to start shooting late this year, with most of the filming to take place next year, producer Terence Chang told The Associated Press in a phone interview. The project will be a collaboration with the government of southwestern Yunnan province, where some of the volunteer pilots were based, Chang said.
"The director hasn't shot anything in a long time. He's eager to film again," he said. Woo's last project was the US$80 million Chinese-language historical epic "Red Cliff," whose two instalments were released last July and January.
Chang said Woo's new film will be "very expensive" but declined to reveal the exact budget because the script hasn't been finalized. He said he hasn't secured funding for the movie yet.
The movie will feature U.S. Army Gen. Claire Chennault, the leader of the Flying Tigers, but also focus on the entire team of pilots that was credited with destroying 296 Japanese aircraft during seven months between 1941 and 1942, Chang said.
Woo's next film was supposed to be "1949," a romance set against the Chinese civil war of that year, but the project fell through because of a dispute with its Taiwanese investors.
Woo made his name in Hong Kong with stylish action thrillers like "A Better Tomorrow" and "Hard-Boiled" before moving to Hollywood, where his credits include "Broken Arrow," Face/Off" and "Mission: Impossible II." He returned to Chinese film last year with "Red Cliff.""
Chang also revealed details about another earlier announced project that Woo will supervise. He said the $10 million kung fu film called "The Sword and Jianghu" will star former Bond girl Michelle Yeoh and South Korean actor Jung Woo-sung.
That Chinese-language movie, which Taiwanese director Su Chao-pin will start shooting in Shanghai in October, is about the son of a Ming dynasty official who unwittingly falls in love with a female contract killer who murdered his father
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