To be certain, Doug Liman has no shortage of options for his next gig following his true-story political drama “Fair Game.” He told us last fall that he was still developing his gestating “Attica” project based on the infamous prison riots that occurred in Attica, New York in 1971 and that his untitled Moon project with Jake Gyllenhaal was still alive. And let’s not forget he’s got “All You Need Is Kill” somewhere in the works as well. Now Liman is adding another one to his growing plate.
THR reports the filmmaker is set to take on the based-on-a-true-story tale of Morris Abraham “Two Gun” Cohen. Born in London, Two Gun moved to China following WWI and despite an inability to speak Chinese wound up training the troops under Sun Yat-sen’s command in boxing and shooting. After Sun’s death, Two Gun fought alongside China against the Japanese in the 1930s and later joined the British Intelligence service.
“He’s a thief and a con man who goes to China with visions of self-aggrandizement, but while he’s there he falls for the country and for a woman. The story falls off the shelf without having to twist the facts.” Liman said about his attraction to the material. “It’s almost hard to believe it happened.”
The film will be financed by Beijing Galloping Horse Film & TV Production and produced by Rob Reiner and Alan Greisman in a truly east-meets-west film. Newbie Matt Brown penned the screenplay and the plan is to shoot the film on location in China, of course, once approval is given from the censors there. An Asian-based period pic/adventure story is certainly a gear change for Liman but definitely in his wheelhouse so we’ll be eager to see what he pulls together.
