The Killer (2024 film)

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The Killer
Directed byJohn Woo
Written by
Produced by
  • John Woo
Starring
Edited byZach Staeberg
Music byMarco Beltrami
Production
companies
A Better Tomorrow Films
eOne Films
Taewon Entertainment
Atlas Entertainment
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Peacock
Release date
August 23, 2024
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Killer is a 2024 American action thriller film directed by John Woo. It is a remake of the 1989 film of the same name. It stars Nathalie Emmanuel, Omar Sy, Sam Worthington, Diana Silvers, Saïd Taghmaoui and Hugo Diego Garcia.

Plot

Zee is a feared contract killer known as "the Queen of the Dead,” but when she refuses to murder a young blind woman, she finds herself hunted both by criminal colleagues and a determined police detective.

Cast

Production

In 1992, American filmmaker Walter Hill and David Giler wrote a screenplay for Tri-Star Pictures titled The Killer that was dated 6 April 1992.[1] The press release of this remake stated the script was written for actors Richard Gere and Denzel Washington.[1] In June 1992, it was announced Walter Hill and Giler were writing a script titled Hong Kong based on The Killer with Hill directing.[2] The producers had difficulty with the relationship between two main characters in the script as they felt that American audiences would interpret it as a homoerotic one. Producer Terence Chang, who worked with Woo on several productions, suggested to the American producers to have Hong Kong actress Michelle Yeoh play the role of the police officer to resolve any homoerotic reading of the film.[3] A year later, screenwriters Jim Cash and Jack Epps, Jr. were hired by producers Charles Roven and Robert Cavallo to write a screenplay based on The Killer for Tristar, in which they wrote a third draft of the script was that was dated on 23 August 1993 which featured a story of a Caucasian hitman living in Hong Kong. This screenplay moved the focus from the pairing the hit man and the police detective characters to the characters of blinded night club singer and the hit man.[4]

In October 2007, The Hollywood Reporter announced that a remake of The Killer was announced with Korean-American director John H. Lee directing. The remake would take place in Los Angeles's Koreatown, Chinatown, and South Central. Lee named The Killer as one of his favorite films and that he was excited to make his own version of the film.[5] Lee's version was set to be produced by Woo, and star Jung Woo-sung and shot in 3D.[6] Seven Stars Film Studios was slated to finance the production with a screenplay by Josh Campbell.[7] Sarah Li was initially cast to play the role of the blind singer.[7] Woo spoke about the remake in October 2015, stating that Lee's film was in development for some time and Lee eventually took on other projects.[8] Woo commented in 2015 that he would return to Hollywood after filming Manhunt (2017) in order to make an American adaptation of The Killer.[8] Universal Pictures was announced to be developing the film with a script written by Eran Creevy based on drafts by Josh Campbell and Matt Stuecken, with additional contributions by Brian Helgeland.[9] Actress Lupita Nyong'o had been cast for the lead role.[9] Woo said that filming would begin in January 2019.[10] About the decision of flip both the gender and race of the lead, Nyong'o remarked that she "did not see it coming, either", stating that she had received, read and liked the script without having seen the original movie.[11] However, Woo told Deadline in November 2019 that Nyong'o had left the film due to scheduling conflicts as a result of a script rewrite.[12] In May 2022, it was announced that the film would be directed by Woo, produced by Universal and released exclusively on Peacock.[13] In August 2022, Universal announced that Omar Sy would lead the film as the cop character.[14] In March 2023, Nathalie Emmanuel was cast as the lead role.[15] Woo returned to work on The Killer following a multi-month hiatus on shooting the film in Paris shoot due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.[16]

Release

The film will be released on August 23, 2024.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b Heard, 1999. p.79
  2. ^ Wells, Jeffrey (19 June 1992). "Orient Excess". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  3. ^ Heard, 1999. p.80
  4. ^ Heard, 1999. p.81
  5. ^ Landreth, Jonathan (8 October 2007). "Woo's "Killer" gets a new U.S. contract". Reuters. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  6. ^ "John Woo's 'The Killer' to get English-language remake". The Independent. London. 1 February 2011. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  7. ^ a b Cremin, Stephen (18 May 2012). "Wu backs Woo's Killer". Film Business Asia. Archived from the original on 28 May 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  8. ^ a b Gallagher, Chris (26 October 2015). "John Woo keeps aim on 'The Killer' remake". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 27 October 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  9. ^ a b McNary, Dave (30 April 2018). "Lupita Nyong'o to Star in 'The Killer' Remake With John Woo Directing". Variety. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  10. ^ Keeley, Pete (August 24, 2018). "'Hard Target' at 25: John Woo on Fighting for Respect in Hollywood". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  11. ^ Obenson, Tambay (14 December 2018). "Lupita Nyong'o Is at the Height of Her Powers, Even Before John Woo's Remake of 'The Killer'". Indie Wire. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  12. ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (November 16, 2019). "John Woo Says Lupita Nyong'o No Longer Attached To 'The Killer' Remake, Talks 'Face/Off' Reboot, Chimes In On Superhero Movie Debate". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  13. ^ Petski, Denise (2022-05-02). "Original Films From LeBron James, Will Packer & John Woo To Premiere On Peacock In 2023". Deadline. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
  14. ^ "'Lupin's Omar Sy to Lead John Woo's Reimagining of 'The Killer' for Peacock". 4 August 2022.
  15. ^ "'Game of Thrones' Nathalie Emmanuel to Co-Star Opposite Omar Sy in 'The Killer' for Universal, Peacock and John Woo". 14 March 2023.
  16. ^ Bradesco, Charles (November 23, 2023). "The Return of John Woo: 'I Still Know What I'm Doing'". The Guardian. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  17. ^ Vejvoda, Jim (June 21, 2024). "The Killer: Exclusive First Look at John Woo and Peacock's Reimagining of the Action Classic". IGN. Retrieved June 23, 2024.

External links

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