For reasons we’re still trying to understand, John Woo has been trying to get an English-language remake of his cult classic "The Killer" off the ground for years — he was still talking it up last summer. A number of directors have circled and been rumored to be interested in helming the pic but so far no one’s driven the project far enough to get it in front of cameras. But it appears that has changed as a cast and a director have now been set and of course, this time, the reboot is being eyed for 3D.
Little-known South Korean helmer John H. Lee, linked to the the project in the past, is once again on board according to a sales announcement dug up by Deadline. Not only that, the film will have a script by Josh Campbell (never heard of him) and will star Jung Woo-Sung ("Reign of Assassins," "The Good The Bad The Weird") in the lead role. For those of you unfamiliar with the original, the plot follows an assassin who takes on one last job to raise money for eye operation for a singer he accidentally injures during a shootout. This leads to some pretty amazingly choreographed gunplay and lots of ketchup packets of blood. The remake will pretty much keep the same plot except transplant the story to Los Angeles.
Essential Entertainment will be repping the film at the European Film Market next month in Berlin, as they will be looking for buyers worldwide. We would imagine that if interest is low, it won’t get off the ground but considering the bunch of relative unknowns attached, the budget on this is likely going to be small. And with Woo giving the project his blessing (and receiving producer’s credit) we could see it getting the financing that will get it off the ground. We think this is a fairly dumb idea — hell, we’d rather Woo just post-convert "The Killer" into 3D rather than remake it in what will most likely be an inferior version. How do you replace Chow Yun-Fat? Answer: you don’t.
