By Taro Fujimoto

Entertainment Aug. 10, 2008 - 05:18AM JST ( 5 )

TOKYO —

It’s been 16 years since John Woo directed a Chinese film. He’s been busy making Hollywood films. But he knows that a lot is riding on “Red Cliff.” The ambitious two-part historical epic stars actor Tony Leung, 46, Taiwanese actress Chiling Lin, 34, Taiwanese actor Chang Chen, 31, and Japanese actors Takeshi Kaneshiro, 35, and Shido Nakamura, 35.

The film is based on a famous battle in divided third-century China that saw 2,000 ships burned, and draws from a period in Chinese history that has spawned comic books and video games.

“I will pay off my debts if the film is successful,” said Woo in Tokyo this week. He said he had invested a lot of his own money in the project due to budget issues. “That left me with enough for about two meals a day,” he joked. “Seriously, though, I think I’ve got something more valuable than money out of this production.”

The film is in two parts. The first part will be released Nov 1 nationwide after its debut at the Tokyo International Film Festival in October, and the second part will be released next spring.