Woo says Chow still ‘good friend’

Chow Yun-fat’s last-minute pullout from John Woo’s new Chinese historical epic, “Red Cliff,” threatened to split up one of Hong Kong cinema’s most famous partnerships.

Woo made Chow an icon after casting him as a trench coat-wearing, gun-toting gangster in the 1986 Hong Kong classic “A Better Tomorrow.”

But Woo told reporters Thursday that although Chow’s withdrawal from “Red Cliff” was a heavy blow, he still considers him a “good friend.”