Director John Woo, actors Wang Xueqi, Shawn Yue, Leon Dai, Guo Xiaodong and Li Zonghan attend the press conference in Beijing on August 19, 2010, promoting the latest film "Reign of Assassins." [Photo: CRIENGLISH]

John Woo's new multi-million dollar martial arts film "Reign of Assassins" set up its official website on Thursday, August 19, and released posters of the twelve leading roles.

Director John Woo, actors Wang Xueqi, Shawn Yue, Leon Dai, Guo Xiaodong and Li Zonghan attended the press conference in Beijing. At the conference, director Woo said he would like to be Jing Ke, a famous assassin during the Warring States period, if he could be a historical martial arts figure.

The upcoming film, budgeted at 14 million dollars, stars Michelle Yeoh, Jung Woo-Sung, Wang Xueqi, Barbie Hsu, Shawn Yue, Kelly Lin, Leon Dai, Paw Hee-Ching, Pace Wu, Guo Xiaodong, Li Zonghan and Jiang Yiyan. The all-star film has popularly been called the "film without a supporting role."

John Woo, praised for his ability to depict the friendship between men in his work, has decided to turn his attention on women. The director explained, "'Reign of Assassins' is not a film that simply focuses on kung-fu and hatred. In fact, it tells a romantic love story.''

However, all his actresses were absent from the conference. When the five main actors were asked about their collaboration with the actresses, , Dai summarized that Michelle Yeoh had strong and tender tempers in the same body, while Barbie Hsu was good at performing and very accurate.

In the posters, the twelve astrological horoscopes are used to describe each character. For instance, Michelle Yeoh, of course, is a Pisces girl, and actor Wang Xueqi belongs to Leo.

At the conference, the five actors were divided into two groups, a group of good guys and a group of bad guys, according to their characters in the film.

The three actors in the group of villains, Wang Xueqi, Leon Dai and Shawn Yue, described their combination as a cleaning company, which takes charge of killing aliens. They also showed off their own weapons, such as sword, double blades and a pair of long chopsticks.

The film will be released nationwide on September 28.