John Woo movies always have a spark – the legendary Hong Kong director is responsible for some of the greatest (and most bonkers) action ever committed to the screen, in Hard Boiled and Face/Off and The Killer, to name but a few. But we’ve never had a John Woo movie with Sparks – the legendary cult pop duo also known as Ron and Russell Mael, behind such earworms as ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us’. Until now, that is. Because, as the filmmaker tells Empire in a major upcoming interview, he’s currently working with the art-pop icons on a very different kind of Woo movie.
“My next project is actually a half-musical,” Woo confirms to Empire. “I’m going to be working with the Sparks Brothers, who wrote the script and songs — we are just starting work on some changes to the script.” While the filmmaker didn’t confirm the name of the project, all signs point to it being X Crucior, a film described by Focus Features when initially announced as a ‘musical epic’. Having long declared his dream to make a musical – back in the 1990s, he came close to adapting The Phantom Of The Opera into a big-budget songfest starring John Travolta – Woo tells Empire that the Sparks collab will require a change-up from his usual production style. “It will be my first movie where I don’t need to hire a stuntman,” he laughs.
Of course, this isn’t Sparks’ first foray into big-screen entertainment – their work was chronicled in Edgar Wright’s documentary The Sparks Brothers, while they collaborated with Leos Carax on ‘rock opera’ musical Annette. Last week, Sparks shared a photo with Woo on Twitter – and note the ‘#xcrucior’ hashtag in there:
Beyond his Sparks film, Woo – whose latest work is a remake of his own legendary hitman movie The Killer, this time starring Nathalie Emmanuel – has plenty more in the pipeline. “I have a Western project; a wonderful script from Brian Helgeland,” he reveals. “It has a lot of romance and a lot of emotion and exciting action.” The director continues to fire on all cylinders, then. While flying through the air. With doves. In slow-mo.
Read Empire’s full John Woo interview in an upcoming issue.