John Woo’s two-part Asian epic Red Cliff is making huge money in Asia, and part two is set to open January 15th in China.

The first part of “Red Cliff” was released in July, grossing $62.7 million in the same six key Asian territories. Part one was released in Japan this month and has taken $26 million to date from 2 million admissions. Japanese release of second part is set for mid-April. [Variety]

Courtesy of Twitch, here’s the trailer for part two.  The subtitles aren’t in English, but you don’t really need subtitles to watch Asians fight each other.  The project doesn’t have an American release date yet, but as Twitch points out, “ the Hong Kong DVD and BluRay releases are both fully English friendly and region free.”  I believe you can search for it under the original Chinese title, Red Criff.

*cuts off pinkie in penance*

After the jump I’ve got the English subtitled trailer for The Battle of Red Cliff, supposedly directed by John Woo, though no one fires two pistols at once and there aren’t any white doves.  The film is the first of two parts, telling the story of the Three Kingdoms period in Ancient China, and is the most expensive Asian-financed film ever made. 

Pay special attention to the guy shoulder charging the horse at around the 1:22 mark because violence against horses is awesome.  Every time I see a horse I want to punch it in its big, stupid horse face and yell "This one’s for Christopher Reeve!"

Also note that these aren’t the final subtitles.  You can tell because everyone in the trailer speaks a stilted, slightly ingrammatical form of English.  However, it seems more authentic that way because I’m incredibly racist.

A stuntman died on the set of John Woo’s new movie Red Cliff in Beijing.  Surprisingly, the cause had nothing to do with white doves or people shooting two pistols at once.

"The fire broke out early Monday morning when the crew were shooting a scene in which a small, smoking boat crashed with a large ancient war vessel," Xinhua news agency said.
At the point of collision, at which machines let out smoke, an unchoreographed flame jumped 30 meters (yards) into the air, the Beijing News said, citing crew at the northern Beijing location.

Good job, Reuters.  Glad you felt the need to explain to us what a meter is, and to tell us it’s the same as a yard – close enough, I guess.

The film, adapted from China’s classic novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," is set in 208 AD in the dying days of the Han dynasty, culminating in the battle of Red Cliff in which 2,000 ships were burnt. [Reuters]

The good news is that because it happened in China, there’s a lot less paperwork involved.  No lawyers, no insurance companies, no OSHA.  In China you tell a government official, "Hey, uh, so… Somebody died on the set."  And they just shrug and go, "Bumma, man.  Suck fo dat guy."