It was reported earlier this year that Ke Huy Quan will star in With Love, which comes from Universal and David Leitch and Kelly McCormick’s 87North. Jonathan Eusebio, who previously worked as a stunt coordinator and fight choreographer, will make his feature directorial debut with the movie after serving as a second unit director and stunt coordinator on projects such as Violent Night, Deadpool 2, Black Panther, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but it was announced that With Love is being written by Luke Passmore based on an original script by Josh Stoddard & Matthew Murray.
The Hollywood Reporter has now revealed that the project has set a release date for February 7, 2025. The movie marks the latest in a resurgence of action films by former stunt performers following the success of the John Wick franchise. As a response to the shaky cam days of the past with movies like the Bourne franchise, many action films that feature hand-to-hand combat with multiple foes are stepping one foot back to the glory days of Hong Kong cinema, which showcased longer takes and a wide enough frame to see what’s happening. With films like Monkey Man and Road House, there are a lot of opportunities for newer, fresher talent to carry the action torch.
Although Quan is actually a veteran of Hollywood films in a sense, having starred in pop culture movies like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies, his star is actually on the rise after he won the Academy Award for Everything Everywhere All at Once and is parlaying that to star in Loki season 2 and American Born Chinese. With Love will be his first lead role in a movie and as Everything Everywhere All at Once showed, he’s got the chops for fight scenes and can hold his own with the likes of Michelle Yeoh.
Additionally, David Leitch and his production company are some of the biggest names in action in Hollywood right now. Leitch’s latest project with Ryan Gosling, The Fall Guy, is a love letter to the stunt film world and has been collecting a bevy of praise after the film screened at SXSW. Steven Spielberg would even profess his love for the movie to Gosling at the Golden Globes, to which Gosling explained, “As far as I’m concerned it doesn’t matter anymore what happens. Steven Spielberg liked it. That was an all-time moment for me. I’m really excited for people to see it. I think it’s a really special movie.”