With Jan De Bont’s kinetic thriller Stopping Power now officially stopped and lacking power, John Cusack has a window in his schedule – and right now, period thriller Shanghai is set to be the project that climbs through that window. In fact, it’s already busted the latch in preparation.
Directed by Mikael Hafstrom, who helmed Cusack’s sleeper hit 1408 earlier this year, Shanghai is a conspiracy thriller about an American (that would be Mr. Cusack) who returns to the Chinese city of Shanghai – which was then under Japanese rule - four months before Pearl Harbour was attacked, to find that his friend has been killed.
Needless to say, our hero is a bit narked and embarks on an investigation that eventually uncovers a conspiracy involving the American government!
Along the way, though, he falls in love with a local – and the Weinstein Company, which is bankrolling the enterprise, have already secured Gong Li in that role. Good choice.
Sounds like Shanghai, which is written by Hossein Amini and produced by, among others, Mike Medavoy, could be an interesting prestige thriller; certainly, it’s something to keep an eye on. Filming is set to take place in - where else? - Shanghai early next year.