JOHN WOO - WOO AND YUN-FAT STILL FRIENDS

Director JOHN WOO has played down reports his long-time collaborator CHOW YUN-FAT's exit from his latest movie has irreparably damaged their relationship, insisting the actor remains a "good friend". Yun-Fat was expected to start filming the $80 million (GBP41 million) Red Cliff last month (Apr07), but walked from the set claiming he didn't have time to learn his dialogue. He has been replaced by Tony Leung, who was originally cast in a different role before himself leaving the movie - only to return as Yun-Fat's character General Zhou Yu. And despite the shock of Yun-Fat's sudden exit, Woo still hopes to work with him again.