Bruno Wu’s Seven Stars Film Studios (SSFS) has agreed to finance John Woo and Terence Chang’s English-language remake of iconic Hong Kong action film The Killer.
Woo and Chang will produce the $30m film through their Lion Rock Productions, with Lion Rock’s Lori Tilkin as executive producer. John H. Lee (A Moment To Remember) is set to direct from a script by Josh Campbell (One Square Mile). The cast will include Chinese actress Sarah Yan Li.
The film will start shooting in the fourth quarter of 2012 in Toronto. Set in contemporary Los Angeles, the remake follows a contract killer who falls in love with the only living witness to his latest job – a female singer who was blinded during the hit.
The financing deal was closed by Seven Stars’ recently-appointed CEO Fred Milstein prior to Cannes.
Seven Stars Global Entertainment (SSGE), the parent company of SSFS, is building a $1.27bn film and media hub, Chinawood Global Services Base, in Tianjin to facilitate Sino-foreign co-productions. The ambitious start-up also operates two funds – one for investing in media companies and the other for film financing.
Speaking at a press breakfast in Cannes, Wu said he aims to “participate in global content, which is English-language but has Chinese elements.” He also revealed that he was among the bidders for Summit Entertainment before it was acquired by Lionsgate.
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