Latest in John Woo

UPDATE, 4:36 PM PST: Got some clarity on Adam Wingard’s plans for Face/Off. He is approaching the film as a sequel to the original hit film, as opposed to a remake as I had been told when I broke the story. But I believe the leads will be re-cast. EARLIER EXCLUSIVE, 12:38 PM PST: Paramount Pictures has chosen You’re Ne…

There is good news and bad news about John Woo’s forthcoming remake of his 1989 crime drama The Killer. The good news is that it’s still being made. The bad news is that Lupita Nyong’o is no longer attached to the project. The iconic director shared the news about Nyong’o leaving the project with Deadline at the Hawaii…

Iconic Hong Kong filmmaker John Woo (Face/Off, Mission: Impossible II, A Better Tomorrow) will be honored at the 39th edition of the Hawaii International Film Festival. In addition, the fest revealed its lineup which includes Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit as its opening night film and will feature Maui native Destin Dani…

EXCLUSIVE: Paramount Pictures is giving a face lift to Face/Off, the 1997 John Woo-directed action thriller that starred John Travolta and Nicolas Cage. The studio will reboot the film, with new cast. Oren Uziel has been set to write the script, and Neal Moritz will produce and David Permut will be executive…

EXCLUSIVE: U.S. arthouse buyer Film Movement has picked up North American rights to seven movies for its classics label, including John Woo's first contemporary action film Heroes Shed No Tears (1984) and Viggo Mortensen starrer The Reflecting Skin (1990) by Philip Ridley (U.S. rights only). Also new to the label are…

EXCLUSIVE: John Woo and Universal Pictures are teaming on a new version of his 1989 Hong King crime classic The Killer. It is intended as a star vehicle for Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o. She is negotiating to play the assassin, a role originated by Chow Yun-fat. The studio has the film on a fast track, with Woo…

The BFI London Film Festival has added four titles to its lineup, including three fresh from the Venice Film Festival and one that heads to New York at the end of this month. Alex Gibney’s No Stone Unturned will screen in LFF’s Debate strand. From Jigsaw Productions and Fine Point Films, the documentary reopens the…

Venice Film Festival chief Alberto Barbera has added a trio of titles to the program for the 74th edition which begins later this month. World premiering out of competition is John Woo’s Manhunt, while L’Ordine Delle Cose by Andrea Segre will have a Special Screening and Italian documentary The Enigma Of Jean Rouch In…

UK-based Catalyst Global Media is partnering with John Woo and his team in Los Angeles on crime thriller Cognition. The eight-part series is based on an original idea by Alex Garcia Lopez (Utopia, Misfits). He is writing and will direct with production beginning in 2016. Described as a neo-noir, Cognition will follow…

Veteran filmmaker John Woo is the helmer of such iconic movies as 1989’s The Killer, 1992’s Hard Boiled and later Face/Off (have John Travolta or Nicolas Cage ever been better?), Mission: Impossible 2 and the Red Cliff movies. He’s about to see the second part of his passion project, The Crossing, released in China…

John Woo (Face/Off) is set to direct a remake of Manhunt, based on a novel by Japanese writer Juko Nishimura, for Hong Kong-based Media Asia Films. The story follows a prosecutor framed for rape, murder and robbery who sets out to clear his name. The book was previously adapted for the screen in 1976 by Japanese…

After last helming 2009’s Red Cliff II, veteran director John Woo returns to the big screen in December with The Crossing. A passion project for Woo who came to Cannes in May to talk up the Beijing Galloping Horse production, it’s been dubbed by local media as the Chinese Titanic. The two-part epic is set during the…