John Woo denies removing Andy Lau

Acclaimed director John Woo recently dismissed rumours that he has benched actor Andy Lau from his new movie, "Love And Let Love".

As reported on Groove Asia, it was alleged that Andy Lau demanded to be given film cut rights to the new project, causing the director to replace him with the cheaper Wu Xiubo.

In a press statement released recently with producer Terence Chang, Woo denied the report of Wu Xiubo replacing Andy Lau, and revealed that Andy had to withdraw from the project due to a clash in schedules.

The "Red Cliff" director clarified, "The movie was originally scheduled to start production in March. But it was postponed until July due to various reasons. However, Andy had already arranged for a concert tour in the second half of the year and had to start rehearsals in June. Thus he had to resign from this film."

Woo also revealed that both he and the "Blind Detective" actor have always wanted to work together for years, and did not expect that scheduling conflicts would prevent them from such an opportunity.

"However, we hope to be able to work with Andy again in our next film," the director concluded.

Meanwhile, "Love And Let Love" also stars "The Grandmaster" co-stars, Zhang Ziyi and Song Hye-gyo.

Source: Yahoo Entertainment