For years, director John Woo has been developing a remake of his awesome 1989 film The Killer (buy it HERE). At one point, Lupita Nyong’o was signed on to play the assassin role that had been played by Chow Yun-Fat in the original film. That version of the project fell apart when Nyong’o had to step away due to scheduling issues – but Woo just dusted himself off and kept working on the remake. Last summer, it was announced that Lupin‘s Omar Sy had signed on to star in the film, and now Deadline reports that Sy is being joined in the cast by Nathalie Emmanuel of Game of Thrones and the Fast and Furious franchise.
Details on the roles Sy and Emmanuel will be playing in the remake of The Killer have not been revealed.
Starring Chow Yun-Fat, Danny Lee, and Sally Yeh, the original The Killer was about an assassin who accidentally damages the eyes of a singer. The two fall in love, and he decides to perform one last hit in order to pay for a corneal transplant to prevent her from going blind.
A remake of The Killer has been stuck in development hell since long before Woo decided to direct it himself. It’s been getting developed, scrapped, and re-developed for decades now. Walter Hill was going to direct it at one time, John H. Lee was going to direct at another. The likes of Richard Gere, Denzel Washington, and Michelle Yeoh have been considered for roles throughout the years. Now it looks like it might finally make it into production at the Peacock streaming service, with Woo at the helm.
Woo will be directing the remake from a screenplay by Josh Campbell and Matt Stuecken, with rewrites by Eran Creevy and Brian Helgeland. Which is the same script the project had when Nyong’o was attached to star.
Universal Pictures’ Executive Vice President of Production Development Sara Scott and Creative Development Executive Jacqueline Garell are overseeing this new version of The Killer, which is being produced by Chuck Roven and Alex Gartner. The remake is expected to make its Peacock debut by the end of the year.
Are you looking forward to seeing what John Woo does with The Killer this time around? What do you think of Omar Sy and Nathalie Emmanuel leading the cast? Let us know by leaving a comment below.