Stuntman dies in bizarre fire filming John Woo epic

[PyrateJohn]

Stuntman dies in bizarre fire filming John Woo epic

Tue Jun 10, 2008 3:31pm EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/filmNews/idUSPEK30646020080611


BEIJING (Reuters) - A stuntman filming John Woo's new movie in
Beijing
was killed in a bizarre fire when a small boat rammed into the set of
an
ancient warship, state media said on Tuesday.


At least three people were injured in the accident during the
shooting
of the battle epic "Chi Bi," or "Red Cliff."


"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.


Woo, director of such hits as "Face/Off" and "Mission Impossible II,"
was in Hong Kong at the time of the accident.


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.


It stars Hong Kong's Tony Leung, the Chinese mainland's Zhang Fengyi
and
Takeshi Kaneshiro, whose father is from Japan and mother is from
Taiwan.