The most expensive movie ever made in China is off to a good start. John Woo's Red Cliff, which stars Tony Leung Chiu-wai (pictured) and Takeshi Kaneshiro, is rumoured to have cost more than US$80 million but so far is doing exceedingly well across every Asian region where it has opened, according to all the industry trade magazines' websites over the weekend.
In Hong Kong, where it premiered on 60 screens, it made HK$2 million just on its opening day, Thursday. Similar big numbers were registered on the mainland and in Taiwan and Korea.
In fact, film pundits predict Woo's period epic will gross US$15 million (more than 100 million yuan) just from the four-day weekend on the mainland. That's not bad consolation for a film that has been cursed by troubles with casting and budgeting headaches, and a stuntman killed during shooting. It seems that, for the action master-director, there is a better tomorrow.