The Deal Report

MOVIES
+ Action master John Woo is going back to A.D. 208 — and not a minute earlier! — for Red Cliff, a film about an epic Chinese battle. Producer Terence Chang describes the way backstory: ''Two weak kingdoms unite and fight against the stronger one from the north.'' Old Woo collaborator Chow Yun-Fat (The Replacement Killers) will star with Tony Leung (2046).

+ Heroin kingpin Frank Lucas found a more perfidious use for the Far East: shipping drugs from Asia to the U.S. His life is the subject of director Ridley Scott's American Gangster, featuring Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington. Says rapper T.I., who plays Washington's nephew, ''Everybody involved has extreme talent. I'm just there learning.'' Speaking of ne'er-do-wells, T.I. will also appear as a used-car salesman in For Sale, ''the first film on Grand Hustle, my own production company.''

(Additional reporting by Lindsay Soll)

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