Merrick here...
John Woo is producing a 3D, English language remake of the astonishing 1989 ultra-violent jamboree THE KILLER, which he directed. A remake of this film has been in the wind for some time, and has been mulled/proposed in various forms. Seems pre-destined to happen, it was merely a matter of what from it would take. While I'm not feeling any need, whatsoever, for remake of this amazing material, I'm vaguely comforted by Woo's shepherding of the show.
The original starred the mighty Chow Yun-Fat as an assassin struggling to pay for a singer's expensive vision restoration by undertaking one final hit. This time around, Jung Woo-Sung (THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE WEIRD) will take the part in a picture that'll be produced by Woo and longtime cohort Terence Chang. John H. Lee (ONEDAY, A MOMENT TO REMEMBER) will direct.
A press release went out about this project, although not everyone seems to have received it. As such, the below snippets are cribbed from THIS posting over at Deadline...
Producer John Woo said: “While all my films are special to me, THE KILLER is truly one of my favorites. We are thrilled to reinvent it as an English-language film and know it’s in capable hands by the incredible visual style and tender emotion John H. Lee brings to all his films.”
[EDIT]
Set in present day, an elite Asian assassin risks everything to protect a beautiful singer that he unintentionally blinded, but can only do so with the help of an LAPD detective who is trying to catch him.
The final 9 or so minutes of Woo's 1989 film have been slapped crudely onto YouTube. If you've never seen the picture and may be interested in doing so, I'd advise not letting this embed be your first exposure to the movie - consider renting it via Netflix, or looking into THIS DVD or Blu-Ray instead. If, however, you're looking for a refresher...or don't care about spoilers and just wanna get a sense of what the hell I'm talking about...
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