Last year, it was announced that John Woo would remake his best film, an action classic, “The Killer.” Well, it’s begun production in Paris.
The French remake stars Nathalie Emmanuel and Omar Sy. We’re not really sure how close to the original this one will be, but the 1989 film follows an assassin who takes on one more assignment to help pay for the surgery of a singer he accidentally blinded.
This is slated as a Peacock Original film, whether it gets theatrical distribution is still unclear. I’m not entirely sure why Woo would want to mess with perfection, “The Killer” is one of the best, if not, the best, action movie of the 1980s.
Woo already has another film ready for release this year, that one’s titled “Silent Night”, and it sounds way more ambitious — set to be an action-driven story told with no dialogue. Rather, its plot is told visually with music accompanying the drama.
Woo was, once upon a time, one of the best and most successful action directors out there, he made a name for himself with such Hong Kong classics as “The Killer,” “Hard Boiled” and “A Better Tomorrow.”
Then Hollywood came calling in the early ‘90s and the results were very mixed, his best one was 1997’s inventive “Face/Off,” but he also had plenty of duds including “Mission: Impossible II” “Windtalkers,” and “Paycheck.”
Woo has been mostly dabbling in Asian cinema these last twenty years, he’s only released two films over that time span, including 2008’s well-received “Red Cliff.”