Fire halts shooting on latest John Woo feature

Source: Xinhua  |   2008-6-11  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THE shooting of John Woo's new movie ''Chi Bi,'' or ''The Battle of Red Cliff,'' was stopped by a serious fire that killed one and injured at least three people, The Beijing News reported yesterday.

The fire broke out early Monday morning when the crew were shooting a scene at a location in a northern suburb of Beijing where a small smoking boat crashes into a large ancient war vessel.

A 23-year-old stunt man was killed in the fire, the local fire control department said. At least three others were sent to hospital. The fire is still being investigated.

John Woo was in Hong Kong, and the second unit director was in charge of the shooting, the newspaper said. The historical epic drama with a budget of US$80 million was claimed to be Asia's biggest movie production, featuring famed actors Tony Leung, Zhang Fengyi and Takeshi Kaneshiro.