So, there’s apparently a remake of The Killer being developed at Universal. And John Woo will direct. And also, according to a new report from Deadline, he has tapped Lupita Nyong’o to play the lead!
This is very exciting news. Lupita Nyong’o is one of the very best actors working right now, and to see her headline an upcoming action film from someone like John Woo, is so inspired, it almost seems too good to be true. Sure Woo’s western films can be hit-or-miss, but it’s always worthwhile just to see what craziness he can put on screen.
They’re aiming for production to start later this year, and the film is written by Eran Creevy, which was based on an early draft by Josh Campbell and Matt Stuecken.
Normally, I would find the mere idea of doing a remake of The Killer to be near sacreligious, but given John Woo’s involvement (and with his upcoming Netflix film, Manhunt) it seems like he has a more personal investment in this, and is diving back into the high octane action genre, which he hasn’t really explored in a while.
If you haven’t seen the 1989 classic, it’s about an assassin played by Chow Yun-fat who accidentally damages the eyes of an innocent girl during a job. He feels guilty about it, and finds out there is a surgery that can fix her eyes or else she will go blind, so he decides to perform one last hit. All the while, a determined cop will stop at nothing to bring him down. It’s awesome in all the ways a John Woo movie can be. I highly encourage you to go watch it if you haven’t seen it already.
No release date has been set for the film, but I’ll be sure to keep you updated as we find out more information.