With the latest John Woo film, Manhunt, set to arrive on Netflix this Friday, the director suddenly seems back in style as he teams up with Lupita Nyong’o to remake his own 1989 classic film, The Killer.
The original film was a major part of the 1980s Hong Kong action scene – sometimes dubbed ‘Gun Fu’ – which Woo helped popularise, influencing many directors, and catapulted him to international superstardom, eventually leading to him coming over to Hollywood himself.
Woo is in negotiations with Universal and eOne to direct the film “with a twist”, which looks to be gender swapped lead roles as Nyong’o is in negotiations for the lead role.
The original film has important chemistry between both leads, so finding the right actor to play the detective role will be crucial, but this is great news for Nyong’o who, while appearing in huge films like Black Panther and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, hasn’t been given the lead roles she deserves since her 2014 Oscar win.
The studio is describing the remake as a “blistering thriller that blends espionage with extraordinary stunts, an assassin is sworn to protect a young woman she accidentally blinded during a mob hit years prior”. Which obviously sounds great, and a remake like this is much preferable when the original director is returning to put a new spin on his own film.
Now attention turns to who will star alongside Nyong’o, and hopefully this news will lead more people to check out the original Hong Kong film, and create a new breed of Woo fans that don’t solely remember him being responsible for Mission Impossible 2.
#Peace.Love.TheKiller
