Very rarely do filmmakers helm the remakes of their own films. In these cases, they are movies like 1993’s The Vanishing, in which director George Sluizer remade his original 1988 international thriller of the same name for an English-language adaptation in the United States with American stars Jeff Bridges, Kiefer Sutherland and Nancy Travis. Action legend John Woo would do the same, albeit to a smaller degree, as he remade his 1991 film, Once a Thief, into a TV movie in 1996.
The guns-a-blazing maestro is at it again. This time, with the movie that many regard as his best film, 1989’s The Killer, which starred his frequent collaborator, Chow-Yun Fat. According to World of Reel, Woo has already started production on the remake of The Killer, which will be taking place in France. The film is set to star Nathalie Emmanuel and Omar Sy. Emmanuel has had little slivers of action displayed as she drives alongside the rest of Vin Diesel’s family in the Fast & Furious franchise. And Omar Sy is no stranger to action, having starred in the Jurassic World movies, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and The Takedown.
Woo has commenced the occasion with a picture posted to his Instagram.
The production looks to be an international one, although the remake is planned to be released as a Peacock Original. However, with project delays due to the strikes, it could be possible that a theatrical release of some kind could be included in the future. With the ongoing strikes, it will be interesting to see how the production will continue with it being a Universal Pictures production. There is no word yet on how much the remake will stay close to the original’s plot. There are also minimal details on the project outside of Woo, the two leads, and the location.
John Woo has mostly returned to Hong Kong for his career. The prolific director has another movie that is set to be released this year titled Silent Night. According to World of Reel, that film is “set to be an action-driven story told with no dialogue. Rather, its plot is told visually with music accompanying the drama.” Woo is definitely a visual director and his movies have garnered notoriety thanks to his keen eye for action.