Another Week, Another Woo

Normally, there would be another Will Ferrell project to announce, but it seems he's too busy actually making films to find any more to do. So, John Woo has kindly stepped in to pick up the slack, in his bid to become the Hardest Working Director (to add to his Nicest Man title.) Woo, currently working on the Unicef project All The Invisible Children, has already lined up the game adaptation Spy Hunter, the toy adaptation He-Man, his Chinese collaboration with long-time pal Chow-Yun Fat, The War of the Red Cliff, as well as an English language film with Fat, Land of Destiny, not to mention a musical project he told us about last year (click here). A man for whom multi-tasking is clearly not a problem, Woo has announced he will direct a remake of Le Cercle Rouge (The Red Circle, for those who can't remember their GCSE French). The original, starring Alain Delon, was directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, whose work had a profound influence on Woo (as can be seen by the 'borrowing' of elements from his Le Samourai in Woo's generally acknowledged masterpiece, The Killer, dontchaknow). With the noirish atmosphere of the original and the story of a thief and a murderer teaming up under pressure, the film is almost a return by Woo to the films that made his name in Hong Kong. You could even say he's come full circle