Recent reports claim that director John Woo has pulled out of the romantic epic, 'Pacific Steamer' (AKA '1949'). Taiwan-based film company Yashi Film, who own the copyrights to the movie, claim that negotiations have broken down with producer Terence Chang so a new director will have to be found.

Chang, a long-time associate of John Woo, was quick to respond to accusations and blamed Yashi Film for going back on previous agreements. He also claimed that they had sold the rights to a Taiwan TV station without the writer's approval.

"Director Woo is very fond of the story, for which he rejected several Hollywood projects. He has been reading the related historical materials for about half a year," Chang told the Wen Wei Po newspaper.

Apparently negotiations had already started with several A-list actors, including Chang Chen and Song Hye-kyo, so this news is likely to upset a number of schedules.