Kelsey Grammer Swing Vote Generic Q A

KELSEY GRAMMER
SWING VOTE
Generic Q&A
July 2008

Kelsey Grammer, 53, remains one of America’s most iconic TV legends. In 1984, he originated the character of radio shrink Frasier Crane on “Cheers.’ Nearly ten years later, his character became the premise for the successful spin-off “Frasier.” “Frasier” ran for over 10 years and, at one point, marked American TV’s highest-paid actor. Since then, Grammer has worked sporadically in front of the camera but off-screen he’s the Executive Producer of TV’s successful series “Medium” starring Patricia Arquette, and also supplies the voice of an occasional “The Simpsons” character, Sideshow Bob. In “Swing Vote” opposite Kevin Costner, he plays the American president. Grammer lives in Los Angeles with his third wife Camille and their two young children.

Was it terribly exciting playing the president?

Oh, it's just an acting job. And Air Force One was just a big, old dumb freight plane that they painted over afterwards. It's not quite as glamorous as it comes out looking. It’s the movie magic.

Weren’t you just a little psyched when you heard: “We’d like you to play the president”?

Oh, it's great. It's the biggest job in the land. Every kid, at least when I grew up, was taught that if you work hard enough and you dream big enough, anybody can become the president of the United States. And my performance as the president is certainly my version of what I think a president should be. I mean obviously we don't have him dealing with huge crises in this film. I think that would diminish the film's value because it’s about the American experiment, in terms of representation of the people and how important it is for a person to vote.

But the prospect of being Commander in Chief wasn’t enough in itself to persuade you to do the film?

What made me want to do the film was a scene that’s not even in it any more. My character goes to this Indian reservation, has some sort of controlled substance, is visited by an elephant and finds his heart again.

That doesn’t sound like presidential behavior.

What I think is really good about this film is that in the end, whether or not you stood on this side or that side of the political process, what united us, was the dream of what's possible. I think it’s entertaining, but when you reduce everybody down, there's just an American desire to make America better.

Is there any particular rationale behind deciding to star in a political film?

No, it's just fun. It's where we live, it's about being part of the contemporary culture.

You’re one of the few Republicans in Hollywood. Do you feel rather outnumbered?

Hollywood is tough but Hollywood also loves to take short views and be all riled up. That’s so not in my nature; I don't get adamant or radical. I am a guy who lives in the middle and that's where I think John McCain is. And as I’ve said before, change is kind of inevitable although, I don't believe in change in and of itself. I believe in focus and I think McCain's proven that he has focus and certainly credibility as well as a kind of ethical uprightness. His devotion in his career has been to do good and we know that about him which is really important.

Have you ever thought about running for public office?

I've thought about it before but no, now my devotion to my family and my wife and to their privacy has overruled that desire. My privacy is not an issue, but it's become a very mean world. The Internet has not made the world a better place; it's made it a meaner place. I mourn the loss of civility. But hopefully we can still make a personal difference, one on one.

And now TV gossip shows like TMZ film celebrities too. Have you ever been provoked into acting out on camera?

I'm actually pretty level-headed, so no matter how much I'm provoked, I am rarely moved to anger or to action. And if I'm ever moved to action, no one will know about it. I do think it’s all got a little out of hand.

Would you discourage your children from acting?

No, not if they have a desire to do it. My oldest daughter Spencer is an actress now and her mother was very bent on her becoming famous. I don't know why. So I had an extended long talk over her adolescence. I just told her that if all she’s really chasing is being famous, she can choose any number of ways to do that and most of them being bad choices. I said, “If you have a passion to act, if you believe in creating something that lifts people up and gives their hearts a break, then become an actress.” Being famous is not a job.

Don’t you think your celebrity endures?

I can imagine I have a lasting celebrity because of the power of television, honestly, and 20 years at it. Now, I have the luxury of maybe doing other things.

What are you doing next?

Oh, there's some stuff on the horizon which probably lends itself better to my life now because, you know, heart attack and rehab! I'm trying to rehabilitate my heart and I have to chill out a little bit. I don't think a long run is in the cards for me for some time, but shooting on set for a month or so, and then editing for six months might be just the ticket.

Has your heart attack given you a fresh perspective on life?

Well, fortunately my perspective was always pretty life-oriented. I love life, this just brought it home a little harder. There are some adjustments to make, and it certainly wasn't anticipated. I gained a little bit of weight and I started an exercise program which was basically “I'm going to lose all my weight in one day.” That was not wise, shall we say? Now there are actual steps I can take to fix it, so that's not so bad. My doctor said, “Well, you're not dying of cancer. You don't have a brain tumor. This is going to get better.” His bedside manner was pretty funny.

And have you taken active steps to change things?

Sure. I needed to care a little less and do a little more in my life and just enjoy my life a little more. That's a good thing. Each day is a little more precious now. The moments with my family are more valuable. My quest now is for greater knowledge, greater realization and understanding, and hopefully to be a good dad and do some good acting roles once in awhile.

Anything fun you really want to do?

Honestly, I want to explore the world more. I have a fantasy about travelling around the world that involves my family. It's not necessarily a realistic view! I want to get a big giant boat and live on it. It's not all really within my reach, but it's not impossible so I have dedicated myself to that vision. And I still want to get a music degree, go to college. I've always been a musician. I just have never really explored it as a career and I don't really intend to.

Kevin sings in this film and plays on stage with his real-life band. Are your musical styles compatible?

I'm a little more jazzy but I love Kevin, I think he's a fantastic filmmaker. He's so responsible about it. I really enjoyed the time with him and I hope to do something else with him actually. We've been chatting about something so we'll see.

Did you know him before this movie?

We had only met at a couple of charity things but I've always respected his work and I loved the way he approaches the process. He's a good actor and a good guy and that's always refreshing.

What about Dennis Hopper?

Oh, Dennis and I are buddies. We’ve known each other for several years. I am a big, huge fan of his. We just talk garbage and found a kinship through it.

You haven’t made many movies.

What do you mean? I have made a lot of movies [laughs hard]. I think one of the worst days I ever had was my Friars Club roast. There were a lot of my favorite comedians there but it was just horrible. One of the guys stood up and said, “I love Kelsey Grammer, I've seen all of his movie!” That was the best joke.

Josh Stern Swing Vote International Generic Q A

Josh Stern
SWING VOTE
International Generic Q&A
July 2008

So how did this movie come about for you?

It started with my writing partner Jason Richman and I. He had an idea: Wouldn't it be great if the election came down to one man's vote? I thought “Wow, that's a great idea.” We were both feeling sort of apathetic about our country at the time and apathy's always sort of dangerous for any culture. So we said, “Let's write a movie about the importance of involvement.” We were feeling that duality that Kevin Costner represents in the movie, of being sort of non-engaged, yet at the same time, there's always that little voice saying maybe you should do something.

And did the last US election play into it at all?

Yes. Because of the Electoral College system it came down to that one county in Florida that swung the state. And I think it rang a bell for this country: That who you end up with for the next four years could come down to one county with 400 people. So even though this is a fantasy, that was really the springboard for the conceit.

Were you influenced by anyone or any film?

I'm a big Frank Capra fan. felt like there was a great opportunity here to create a film that had those levels: the comedy that kind of flows into drama and a subtle darkness and message without hitting people too hard on the head with it.

Did the film’s coming out in an election year help it?

I think it helped and hurt it. I think all distributors internationally and domestically are afraid of political dramas. Historically, I don't think that political dramas or comedy fare as well because people just don't necessarily want to see their politics on the screen. And they don't want to see another guy playing the president, who's not the president. You know, there's an artifice to those movies, but I think we get around that by grounding it in the father/daughter relationship.

Was it a deliberate decision to portray both the Democratic and Republican candidates - Dennis Hopper and Kelsey Grammer - as decent men?

Well, I think we found there to be hypocrisy on both sides, and we skewered both sides, I think.

How did Kevin Costner come to be the star?

He plays these American everymen really well but it was very important that this was a sort of warts-and-all performance. He is a leading man, an iconic guy, who comes off not necessarily very sympathetic. He’s a mess. His hair is a mess and he’s just a wreck in this film. This is not about movie star “lighting.” But, I think that he embraced it, and I'm really grateful that he trusted me in being able to gauge his performance. He would often say to me, “Was that too much?” and I'd always reassure him that he was in the zone and was doing well. I just think he quintessentially hit the character plus he has a very, very keen sense of movie moments.

The second most important character is Costner’s character’s daughter played by an incredible child actress, Madeline Carroll. How did you find her?

Oh, Madeline was a find and thank God she worked because if she hadn't have worked, the movie would not have worked at all. I found her at an open call. We had been looking at some Hollywood actresses and she had only done a couple of things, but she came in, up against all these sort of big shots in the little girl acting world, and there was just something about her.

Can you talk about casting the other main roles?

I think Kelsey Grammer is inspired casting as the president. I think an unfortunate habit of the industry in America is that it likes to compartmentalize its actors unlike Britain or other European countries. Here, you’ll have an actor who has been made famous from TV and then you're putting him in with Costner, an iconic American film actor, and never the twain shall meet. But Kelsey is a Juilliard-trained actor, a brilliant actor and I thought it was very interesting to put Kevin, who has this very natural, understated American presence, in a room with someone who was from a different world. It’s also like putting Dennis Hopper with Nathan Lane. They really worked off each other really well too, because I think on some level they were kind of unknown territory for each other. There were times when Dennis just was cracking up and couldn’t get through a scene because Nathan was making him laugh. Nathan would go, “What’s up?” and Dennis would say, “You're funny, that's what.”

Did you know that Kelsey and Dennis were already friends who also have their political differences?

I know! It couldn’t have worked out better. And no, I didn't really know that at the time. But I think everyone sort of left their politics outside the door on this film. No one brought it to the set, and that was interesting. People often ask me if there was a lot of political discussion about these issues in the movie. Not really.

There are quite a few ‘issues’ satirized in the film. How did you decide which issues to go for?

We were struggling to decide what should be the top three or four issues to skewer; issues that would sort of translate down the road, because we also wanted the movie to have legs and not feel dated. So we assumed abortion is never going to go away in this country, gay marriage ain't going to go away in this country and neither is the issue of immigration. So we thought we were safe there.

Ultimately it’s kind of a hopeful film. Was that how you wanted it to conclude?

I think that there is still cynicism, and that was what we were trying to overcome. But with the last speech of the movie, we really felt we needed to find a voice for that cynicism, and at the same time, try to find hope in it.

Isn’t it a little nerve-wracking directing an Oscar-winning director?

Yes, but Kevin was very respectful of my process and the vision that I had for the movie, so he showed up and he did his thing. He had some suggestions in his scenes, mainly to do with the acting, but he really let me run with it and have my vision, so it was a great experience. He was very, very good about it. I think if I was to put words into his mouth, he would say he gained trust in me early. I do think when you're working with anybody who’s huge, at any point in your career, you have to gain trust. It doesn't take much, but once you do, they can then really focus on their character and not be afraid that the movie won’t be good.

Costner is also very good at making dislikable characters appealing. How important was that here?

It's so important. It was the only way it would work because I knew that we needed a character who inherently has that trust with an audience and who inherently has an ability to have innocence in a weird way, behind his deeds. I think audiences forgive when they feel it comes from a place of innocence or non- information and he is good at that. There's no malice behind it. It couldn't be about, “Oh he's just a monster,” and so by minute eleven you hate him and I can't rehabilitate him. We wanted to keep him somewhat real, and we wanted his realization to be subtle and small.

You got a lot of big American media personalities to take part: Larry King, Chris Matthews, Bill Maher. What made them do it?

I think that people want to get involved in projects that have a good heart to them. And the other thing is when I first started, I told production we needed clearances for all the real news outlets. I don’t like when films have CLY instead of CNN and stuff like that. All of a sudden, every van has another bad graphic on it and you're not in the real world.

What’s next for you?

Right now, I'm working on a version of King Lear. I’m in talks with Anthony Hopkins and some great actors so we’ll see.

That's pretty different.

Yeah, I don't want to be pigeonholed!

Paula Patton Swing Vote Generic Q A

PAULA PATTON
SWING VOTE
Generic Q&A
July 2008

Paula Patton, 32, studied film at the prestigious University of Southern California and was happily carving out a niche for herself producing documentaries. Then she realized she liked her work but didn’t love it, and decided to become an actress. She landed her first film in 2005’s “Hitch” opposite Will Smith and Eva Mendes and the following year beat out scores of bigger names to win the female lead in “Déjà vu” with Denzel Washington and Val Kilmer. She scored the same role opposite Kevin Costner in “Swing Vote”, playing a local TV journalist who breaks the story that one of the town’s residents can basically pick the new American president. Off-screen, Patton is married to successful singer Robin Thicke and lives in Los Angeles, CA.

How did you get this role?

It’s called a casting couch and sometimes you have to use it. [Laughs.] I was in Bucharest, so it wasn’t easy to get on that couch. I read the script, laughed out loud, and said, “I'd do anything to be in this film, what can I do?” I was told they really needed to meet people but then I heard Josh Stern (director) wanted to talk to me on the phone. We talked for about an hour and a few days later they called and said, “You got it!” Over the phone! I thought, “Oh my God, it's a miracle”. I was very happy.

What did you talk about for an hour?

I wanted to make sure that I got my political history down and knew what I was talking about. And I just went through the script, and made sure I knew what I wanted to achieve with the character, how I saw my character in a detailed way and how great I thought the script was because it really was.

What about the film’s other leading lady Madeline Carroll [she plays Costner’s daughter]?

I am saying here and now, Madeline Carroll is the new Jodie Foster, that's it. Jodie Foster, watch out. OK, she's got a few years to catch up to Jodie Foster, but she's really remarkable.

Your character is so ambitious she stoops to deeply unethical lows to get her story. Ever been tempted to trip up your competitors in any sense?

I think we all struggle with it to be honest with you. I think in America we live with this sense of ‘win at all costs, by any means necessary’. If you do that, you're obviously going to cross some moral lines for yourself and for others. It’s a weird tight-rope to walk and in the end, I'd rather be the victim. So I'll settle for a little less fame and have my soul in the end. Rather that than lose my soul to it.

How competitive are you if there’s a role you really want?

I'd be lying to you if I said this didn’t happen. You’re at home with your family, commiserating about a role lost. There are definitely moments where you go, “Ah, should have been me,” but generally I really try not to get into that competitive state with others, because it really does eat away at me and it doesn't make me any better. I try to just compete with myself. I try to do the best I can do, and I can’t do any better than that.

Did you benefit greatly from Kevin’s experience?

Oh, it's a gift, because there's so much knowledge and wisdom. And besides being an incredible actor, he's also an amazing director. The man is a master craftsman who understands the entire world of a film. I really liked just sitting there and listening and watching him work, and he’s very generous. He always makes sure that all the other actors are comfortable and getting their best workout. He’s not selfish in any way. He's always saying, “You know what would be funny, is if you did that?” which is really a kind gesture and one that doesn’t impede your work by any means.

You’ve worked as a producer. Might you direct in the future?

I definitely see myself getting back behind –the-scenes, but I don't know about being a director. Directing is a really difficult job but I never like to say never.

How long have you been a film fan?

Since I was a little girl, I loved movies. My mom took me to see foreign films and they were kind of an escape for me so really, any way that I can be a part of the movie-making process, I'll take it!

Do you remember your first film?

I don't, but I remember one that made an impact: “Pollyanna.” I remember really liking that as a young child.

Did you also think about acting when you were really young?

I think I probably wanted to perform from the minute I could walk and talk. I would always be putting on plays, embarrassing my brother in front of his friends. I'd be like “Come on, I’ve got a show!” I went to a performing arts high school but then during my teenage years - I don’t know what happened, maybe I got insecure - I decided I didn't want to pursue acting as a profession. So then I went to USC film school, graduated and worked behind the camera for quite a while before working my way up to producing documentary-type shows for Discovery Channel.

So why did you decide to go back to acting?

I just felt, “Well, I like this but I don't love it”. And I had a problem with that. I really wanted to be passionate about something so that you don’t mind being up late at night, or getting two hours’ sleep because you wanted it that badly. I had this sort of revelation I'll never forget at 27. I thought, “I loved to act, that's what I loved to do since I was a little girl”. So I started taking lessons and bing, bang, boom.

You also star in the psychological thriller “Mirrors” with Kiefer Sutherland. What’s your relationship to him in that?

He plays my estranged husband. It was great. He’s an intense actor. He always goes to level ten, which is so great to work off of.

Are you a 24 fan?

I really am, and you've got to love that they had the first black president. Psychic, huh?

So that means you’re a Barack Obama fan?

Oh yes. When I saw the photos in the paper of him in Iraq, I just thought, “God, this looks right”. I feel hopeful, I really do.

Do you think “Swing Vote” has a political message?

It’s that we have to all stop being so apathetic. Unfortunately, quite frankly, technology, as great as it can be, it has also made us slaves to our work. I have friends who have their Blackberry by their bed at night. So many people never stop working so how can you be politically active? How do you know what's going on? And all you have time for is your family and wondering how you're going to put gas in your car and get food on the table. For many people it’s beyond apathy. They feel their situation is hopeless and that’s the biggest problem. Whatever you're doing, we need to be politically active, and be civic-minded. That's the only way that change can happen.

Have you always voted?

Always. I come from a family that is very involved in social issues and politics. My mom was a schoolteacher in an inner-city for 27 years, she gives food at the mission, she tutors illiterate kids. It's like she never stops. And my dad has been a criminal defense lawyer but for people who can’t afford the defense they need. My brother has always been involved in community service as a Big Brother. I did more of that in college and now I'm one of those selfish, awful people. And I'm not even a celebrity.

But you and your husband are quite the Hollywood celebrity couple.

I don't really see it that way to be honest with you. I actually don't really see us that way because we've known each other since he was 14 and I was 15. Our lives aren't that at all, and the success is all very new for him. I’ll get hit by a truck, nobody's noticing me, but they notice him a lot. I really enjoy his success, and I'm just really thankful because people noticing you definitely helps your career. But all the other stuff that comes with it is a little frightening to be honest with you. The thought of losing your privacy isn't very exciting. My husband and I had lunch at The Ivy one day last year because we do like the food there. It was raining cats and dogs and we thought nothing of it but then this swarm of photographers appeared. I don’t think I’ve been on that street again since.

Will babies figure in your future?

That clock is ticking for me, so I need to tackle that soon. It scares me though because honestly I'm a child and I'm not quite used to the idea of having a child, but I definitely want one. I just wish I could reverse that clock. I just want to enjoy myself a little bit longer!

Kevin Costner Swing Vote Generic Q A

KEVIN COSTNER
SWING VOTE
Generic Q&A
July 2008

Kevin Costner, 53, had his most successful professional year in 1991, the year “Dances With Wolves” - which he directed and starred in - won Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture. Prior to that, Costner had made his name as a sexy leading man, wooing the likes of Sean Young and Susan Sarandon in films like “No Way Out” and “Bull Durham.” These days, Costner divides his time between homes north of Los Angeles and a ranch in Colorado with his second wife Christine Baumgartner and their one-year-old son Caden. He has three older children with first wife Cindy whom he sees regularly. His new film “Swing Vote”, financed largely by Costner himself, sees his playing a down-on-his-luck blue-collar worker with drinking and parenting problems and whose vote is about to decide the next American president.

The success of the film totally hinges on having the right girl to play your daughter Molly. Can you talk about finding Madeline Carroll?

We needed somebody more than just a cute girl. You can find cute all day long. We needed somebody with a real understanding of what was going to be asked of her and that doesn’t just grow on trees. But Madeline really stood out. You see child actors all the time but it’s not often that they really emerge as something more than just cute. Madeline really performed in a way that made this father-daughter thing work. The movie wouldn’t work if Madeline didn’t. I owe her a lot.

You’ve put a lot of your own money into the film. Isn’t a political comedy a dicey commercial prospect?

Movies at their core will always be about people set against the backdrops that we choose. Our backdrop is the political system. In this instance, it’s a comedy, so we’ve got a comedy set against the backdrop of politics, but our core is really the relationship that exists between a man and his teenage daughter. She’s had to do entirely too much as a person, and has kind of reached the end of her rope. She’s frustrated that he can’t seem to do the smallest thing for her. But, ultimately, you feel that there’s this love for each other.

But Bud is at times an immensely dislikable character. Did you worry about being seen that way?

I was never afraid of that. I thought there was a lot to Bud and that we didn’t have to hit you over the head with it. In the end, when Bud is forced to really look at himself, you realize that he takes a very sophisticated look at himself. I think Bud, in a way, talks to the apathy that maybe all of us will feel. He talks to the disenfranchised. He understands that, but he doesn’t lecture.

Who do you make movies for?

I make movies for men. I look for common ground for all men. I just happen to look for movies that have good female parts in them. You hear a lot of times about there not being great female parts in movies. Not in mine!

“Swing Vote” does not showcase Kevin Costner, movie star, at his most glamorous and handsome. Can your ego stand it?

Well, it’s absolutely what I should be doing. I’m taking a role that’s not leaning on outward beauty or outward anything and is leaning on the character of a person that’s going to take you through a story. My wife still thinks I’m good-looking and I can walk down the street and maybe get a few head-turns. Maybe it’s because I’m famous, maybe it’s because I am good-looking. I don’t know. I don’t really worry about it. I guess if I was trying to appeal to eighteen year-olds, maybe I would be a little nervous, but that’s not who I try to appeal to. I couldn’t do that in a million years.

You said recently you were fearful of fatherhood second time around. Does it now give you energy?

It doesn’t give you energy. A child doesn’t give you energy. A child makes you use your energy. But yes, I had a family and I have loved having that and continue to nurture that in the way I can. So the idea of starting one over again was not something that I needed to do or needed to get right the second time. But I felt as I was going forward in my life that this was important to my wife and, if you take somebody as your partner, I think what’s important to them has to become important to you. That being said, I had to come to that decision, and my decision was really clear. It’s like, “I either move away from this woman because I can’t be that person she wants me to be, or I stay and I just like all of it”. We all have choices in our life – I had to make one. I just went for love. It might not be practical. But I went because I didn’t want to lose the love I had. And Cayden’s a good guy.

It sounds like you did agonize over the decision.

I just didn’t know. I swear that there’s no book on “What do I do?” There are guys going, “Stay single, dude, stay single”. That’s a real drumbeat out there: “Why do you want to tie yourself up with this?”

Did you think you would fall in love again?

We all have that chance. It’s like an elevator away. And when it happens, it’s a mystery. I have some guy friends who fall in and out of love once a week and I hate that. It’s boring. And it becomes hurtful to someone. Because it’s disingenuous. When I fell out of love, I never reinvented it until I met Christine. I never had a thing because I just didn’t do it. I had seen those situations end bloody. They just do. Especially if you use the word “love”. And two months later, you don’t love her. That’s a hard conversation to have with somebody, so don’t use the word. Just don’t bring that word up and I didn’t for three or four years. If you’re a woman that’s pretty unusual. You’re thinking, “Are you ever going to say that to me?” But I think the moment you do say it, there’s some reality in there that’s almost like concrete. It’s not business as usual.

Are you a guy who believes things happen for a reason?

I guess. I don’t know. I don’t profess to understand. It’s still a mystery. It’s not like my life has worked out perfectly right now. My life is in flux and yet I have an order to it at this moment. But it always feels like a fluid situation in life. I think we all do better giving other people advice than taking it.

Are you cynical about America’s political process?

Oh God, every day you are.

Bud’s a bit of a loner in the film. Do you ever feel that way?

I kind of stand alone but not because I’m a loner. It’s just I’m not afraid to go it alone. I’ve found myself isolated a lot in this community. I financed the movie after I was told it doesn’t have a big international appeal. I was told, “You won’t get any money overseas”. I said, “Ok, I’m a practical person, I understand what you’re saying. It’s an American comedy. It’s not going to play internationally. I get that. But does that mean that the movie shouldn’t be made?” So I thought, “You know what? I think I am going to make it.” So that’s where I stand alone sometimes. And not even because I want to.

It wouldn’t be the first of your films you’ve battled to get made. Wasn’t “Dances With Wolves” another?

Yes, and they didn’t want to make “Field of Dreams” either. They didn’t want to make Dances. There’s a lot of movies I’ve made they didn’t want to make – “Open Range.” But that’s okay. I thought they could be made. I thought they had value. They maybe don’t have mega-value but they have value, right? And they have value to me. I’d like to be in a movie that made $200 million. I have been. But that’s not my value. I’d like to do that because my ego would like to be a part of that, right? I’ve got one after all!

Red Cliff" has become the biggest-grossing film of all time in China in dollar terms

Part one of the John Woo-helmed "Red Cliff" has become the biggest-grossing film of all time in China in dollar terms.

China Film Group, which is both a major investor in the pic and its Chinese distributor, said Monday that the film had passed the symbolic 300 million yuan mark ($43.7 million) on Sunday, 42 days after its June 30 release.

The total makes the film comfortably the biggest-grossing Chinese-made film of all time, beating previous record holder Zhang Yimou's "Curse of the Golden Flower," which made $37.5 million in 2006-07.

"Red Cliff" bested this year's top performers, "Forbidden Kingdom" and "CJ7," each with some $27 million, several weeks back.

"Cliff's" dollar total is also ahead of "Titanic," which in April 1998 became the biggest-grossing film of any origin, though conditions were different a decade ago.

For a start, appreciation of the Chinese currency has given the "Cliff" comparison a boost. At prevailing 1998 exchange rates, "Titanic" achieved $38.7 million, though in local currency terms it is still ahead of "Red Cliff" with 320 million yuan.

More telling, the cinema industry was in the doldrums in China at the end of the 20th century. The modern multiplex era was four or five years away from starting, and filmmakers could not muster the $80 million financial resources Woo and producing partner Terence Chang were able to employ.

Still, "Red Cliff" is helping to drive the Chinese box office to new heights.

On Thursday, Zhang Hongsen, deputy director of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television Film Bureau, forecast that box office earnings in China this year will expand by $100 million to exceed $583 million.

"Red Cliff's" second installment is skedded to hit Asian screens in January, just in time for the Chinese New Year holiday.