Tony Leung steps in, again, for Woo's Chinese epic

Casting for John Woo's latest film is being compared to a game of musical chairs, with officials announcing Thursday that an actor who had previously pulled out of the project has returned to replace another departed star.

Earlier this week, prominent actor Chow Yun-Fat stunned film fans by withdrawing from Woo's upcoming historical epic The Battle of Red Cliff just days after shooting began.

Now, producers say another of China's most famous actors will take his place: Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, who withdrew from the production himself earlier this year.

"[Leung] and Woo go back more than 20 years. When a situation like this happens, he's willing to help out," said publicist Wen Wengli of the state-run China Film Group, one of the lavish film production's investors.

When Leung left the $80-million US film earlier this year — to be was replaced by Taiwanese-Japanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro —a host of reasons for his departure floated about.

Some reports at the time said that producers questioned Leung's competence in speaking Mandarin while others suggested that Red Cliff's shooting schedule began too soon after his last project — Ang Lee's Lust, Caution — which didn't leave the acclaimed actor enough time to prepare.

Leung, winner of a host ofacting honours in Asia as well as at the Cannes Film Festival, has previously starred in such films as In the Mood for Love, Infernal Affairs, Hero and Happy Together.

Chow, who rose to international stardom in Woo's influential 1986 crime drama A Better Tomorrow, has most recently appeared in Curse of the Golden Flower, Bulletproof Monk and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Heis also set to appear in the upcoming third instalment of the Pirates of the Caribbean series.

On Monday, Chowmade the stunning announcement that he was quitting Red Cliff. He claimed to have received the script too late and said he didn't have time to prepare.

However, Woo's business partner, Terence Chang, disputed that claim and, in interviews, blamed Chow, saying the actor had issued a flood of unreasonable contract demands.

Red Cliff began filming last Saturday and officials said the production remains on schedule. Shooting is scheduled to take six months.

Based on an ancient, historic battle, The Battle of Red Cliff is a co-production between Woo's Lion Rock Productions and the China Film Group. Themovie is among several high-profile arts projects China is helping to finance for release in 2008, when Beijing hosts the Olympic Games.